If more guns made us all safer, you’d think a police station would be one of the safest places in which to work. After all, people not only carry guns, but they regularly train to keep their shooting skills at top levels. These are people who know guns, know what they’re doing, and are taught to anticipate trouble.

This all proved to be of no help to the two Fairfax County, Virginia police officers who were killed at their police station on May 8, 2006 by Michael Kennedy. I mentioned this incident in my December 21, 2006 blog entry. A front page story in The Washington Post today (April 6, 2007) gives more information on what happened before May 8th that helped lead to this tragedy.

A new 21-page Federal indictment charging the shooter’s father describes a house where there were at least “20 guns, including assault rifles, a semiautomatic shotgun, two semiautomatic rifles, bolt-action shotguns and semiautomatic pistols� along with “more than 2,500 round of ammunition.�

The 18-year old shooter, who used his father’s 9mm semiautomatic pistol to shoot the family dog in February 2006, is described as “having a penchant for assault rifles� and posing for a picture with friends “holding an AK-47.� After Michael Kennedy’s mother signed a waiver allowing her then-minor son to fire assault rifles at a shooting range, less than two weeks later his father bought an AK-47 that Michael considered to be “his gun.� This was one of the guns Michael Kennedy took with him to the Fairfax County police station.

One of the negative responses to my April 3, 2007 blog by “Afrikaner” (comment #29) suggested that people should “…pull out your favorite assault rifle and give it a hug. It will make you feel better.â€�

When are we going to realize that “a penchant for assault rifles� can easily lead to violence, and that a well-armed workplace can’t prevent deadly violence from happening? Strong sensible laws making these weapons less easily available to people like Michael Kennedy and his father would help prevent deaths and injuries.