The Ultimate Selfish Act

They say that suicide is the ultimate selfish (not to mention cowardly) act.  Suicide by mall, such as we saw at the Garden State Plaza in New Jersey last night, is even worse. Even though, thank God, the gunman's was the only life lost, just think about the incredible toll it took:

• The human terror wreaked on the innocent bystanders.
• The millions of dollars in lost revenue that the stores -- closed at least for today, if not longer -- will suffer.
• The municipal cost of fielding police SWAT teams.
• The clean up cost for any property damage.
• The psychological cost to people who may now be afraid to visit congested public spaces.
• The unimaginable pain of the gunman's family, and the possible guilt they may feel by association.
• The social cost to the community.

All that, from one man with a rifle. How much more is it going to take for us to do something about the appallingly easy access we have to guns in this country?