Dark Day in Pittsburgh

This morning, I met my friend Steve over at the Quiet Storm, which turned out to be a wonderful antidote to the mini-hangover from the night before (that's another story). Waiting for Steve, the waiter came over with my much-needed cup of coffee, and then he stopped to talk to friends sitting at an adjacent table. He asked them whether or not they heard about the hostage situation over in Stanton Heights. "It's really big," he said. "They've got SWAT vans there and helicopters all over the place."

Then Steve arrived and the comment I just heard was pushed aside for breakfast and conversation with Steve about Lost, his 50 dates in the last 6 months, and his running the half-marathon this year (you go, boy!). I shared my upcoming likely new job news, who I've been drinking aforementioned cocktails with, and plans to buy a new house.

Then after some errand running I returned home to hear the awful news: the (alleged) premeditated murder of three Pittsburgh police officers on an ordinarily quiet and peaceful street in Stanton Heights.

According to the AP story, the alleged murderer, Richard Poplawski, 22, and his mother got into a domestic dispute. His mother fled to the basement and called 911 for help. Apparently this is exactly what Poplawski wanted, and anticipating the police's arrival, strapped on a bulletproof vest and armed himself with an AK-47 assault weapon.

The ordeal left three police officers dead, one wounded, and a fifth injured; Poplawski was shot in the leg during the four-hour exchange of gunfire.

While reports from friends express shock and disbelief at Poplawski's behavior, a troubling story is emerging of an individual who clearly had a long history with anger and authority. Expelled from North Catholic High School, he got his GED and enlisted with the Marines. There Poplawski was dishonorably discharged while still in basic training after throwing a cafeteria tray at another trainee. A Stanton Heights resident described Poplawski as violent, often fighting with neighbors: "He was just one of those kids that [neighborhood residents] knew to stay clear from."

After being jilted by his girlfriend, he moved to Florida and lived there a few years before returning to Pittsburgh, where he lived with his mother and grandmother. He got a job at a glass factory, but was laid off in early 2009.

Poplawski fancied himself a politico, and recently co-produced a weblog with a friend. It was likely during this time that Poplawski became convinced that the election of Barack Obama meant the end of what he considered to be his right to bear arms and his freedoms.

Somewhere along the line he collected a mini-arsenal of guns: besides the aforementioned AK-47, he also reportedly owned several powerful rifles and handguns, including a 357 magnum.

Being raised in a rural county, I grew up in an area where many people hunted, and for a lot of kids, getting their first gun and hunting with their dads on the opening day of deer season was a rite of passage. I understand everyone's right to bear arms; I understand it's protected by the constitution.

But I find it incredibly hard to believe that the founding fathers envisioned a country where a person can go out and buy military-style assault weapons designed not to take down a deer, but to eviscerate a human being, or to be able to own multiple, high-caliber guns. To allow people who have a history of violence, a history of mental health issues, to buy a gun about as casually as one can walk into a 7-11 and buy a pack of gum.

A similarly sad and disturbing story occurred earlier this week when Jiverly Wong, a recently-laid off worker returned to his former place of employment in Binghamton, New York, and began shooting people. Like Poplawsky, he was wearing body armour, brought multiple guns, and was heavily armed, killing 13 people and wounding several more.

Every time a tragedy like this happens, it seems like the story gets a lot of press, but from a preventative standpoint nothing is done. Everyone sat around and wrung their hands after the tragedy at Virginia Tech, but not one thing from a legislative aspect was done to change the gun laws in this country.

I hope that Obama uses these recent tragedies as an opportunity to address this and once and for all put stricter gun laws on the books--including tougher restrictions on firearm applications, and a ban on assault weapons like the AK-47 rifle that just took the lives of three of Pittsburgh's own men in blue.