State Sen. Lori Klein, the same woman who said last year in a floor speech that most Hispanic students want to be gangsters, is once again under fire after pulling a gun on an Arizona Republic journalist. But guys, her pink Ruger pistol is “”so cute.””
Klein first drew attention to the gun debate by taking her gun into the Capitol just two days after the Jan. 8 shooting that wounded 13, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, and killed six. Security tried to stop Klein, an Anthem Republican, from carrying the loaded weapon into the legislative chambers. But the incident escalated when Klein, in an ill-thought attempt to explain herself six months later, pointed the gun at a reporter from the Republic and trained the red beam of the laser sight on his chest.
“”Oh, it’s so cute,”” Klein said, according to a transcript of the interview. She added there was no need to worry. There was no safety on the gun, Klein said to reporter Richard Ruelas and photographer Mark Henle, but “”I just didn’t have my hand on the trigger, god.””
No one’s ever heard of a gun firing accidentally or anything. God. Except, perhaps, Gardena High School in Gardena, Calif., where a boy set a backpack down on a desk on Jan. 19 and ended up shooting two of his classmates. The Los Angeles Times reported that the gun discharged in his bag.
Klein, who said her gun “”isn’t a fashion statement or accessory”” (which is why it’s pink and carried around in what resembles a “”makeup case,”” according to Reulas), argued that it is a “”life-saving tool”” in a statement released by the Arizona Senate.
Klein also said that she would not grant any more interviews on the topic because it “”makes little sense to contribute to a media feeding frenzy”” pushed by “”individuals who never miss the opportunity to advance an anti-Second Amendment agenda.””
Other gun-rights advocates parroted Klein, and feared that President Barack Obama would push for more gun control legislation six months after the Jan. 8 shooting.
“”The gun rights community is going to look very carefully at the Obama administration’s proposals, and anything that interferes with the Second Amendment right as it is being enforced today by the courts will be tested,”” said attorney Alan Gura to Fox News.
Klein and other Second Amendment enthusiasts can argue that the media’s characterization of the incident is another attempt by liberals to demonize gun-owners. But it was Klein who broke every notion of gun safety when she pointed a loaded weapon, without a safety on it, directly at another person.
She also told the Republic that her father taught her gun safety, and that she owns several other guns, for which she received “”informal”” training. And informal polls show that’s not at all comforting.
While the gun rights community frets that Obama and legislators will steal away their precious guns and ammunition, it might be beneficial to ask the legislators on their side to stop being so ridiculous. First, it’s hard to take a legislator seriously when she calls her raspberry-pink gun “”so cute.”” Second, it’s even more difficult to trust that legislator if she’s careless enough to point a loaded weapon at a living creature without being formally taught how to properly handle it.
The gun rights debate isn’t driven by either Second Amendment nutjobs or crazed liberals seeking to expand government control and infringe on people’s rights. It’s driven by the thoughtlessness of people like Klein, who fail to understand that actions speak louder than words.
— Kristina Bui is the Summer Wildcat
copy chief. She can be reached at
letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.
