Guns and death... Is there a link?

Will wonders ever cease? At a gun show in Massachusetts this week, eight-year-old Christopher Bizilj shot himself in the head using an Uzi submachine gun. As the shock of the tragedy sinks in many are wondering, "How could this have happened?" Uziel Gal obviously designed the weapon for the pudgy fingers of preteens, didn't he? And in general, guns and children go together like peanut butter and jam, right?

Christopher's own father is completely baffled: "This accident was truly a mystery to me. This is a horrible event, a horrible travesty, and I really don't know why it happened." Indeed! Let's go over the facts: Adult men hand an eight year old a loaded Uzi. The boy aims it at a pumpkin. He presses the trigger and the gun recoils violently spraying bullets everywhere. In the melee at least one of the bullets enters and exits the child's skull. I for one don't see where things went wrong. What on earth can explain this fabulous enigma!?

The tragedy will likely remain a mystery. Don't try to rationalize it, don't try to look for the causes, it was just a freak accident. My only worry is that men might think twice before exposing their kids to other high-performance military weaponry. My heart goes out to those who might hesitate as they bend down to hand the loaded automatics to their children. Will they ask themselves, "What if the good lord sees fit to have this child blow his head off? Oh dear me, protect this boy while he unloads a cartridge or two." Yep, the profound chaos of chance must be blamed for Christopher's death. All that can be said for sure is that it wasn't because he was firing an Uzi submachine gun at a gun show. Certainly not that.

A Love and Hate Story

"Young man, get out of my mind,
My love for you is way out of line,
You're too young, man,
You're much too young, man!"

As the rapture of Gary Puckett and The Union Gap's chorus fades and another verse tells the tale of forbidden love, I think of the far-right Austrian demagogue Joerg Haider and his disciple/lover Stefan Petzner. Haider died earlier this month in a horrific car accident in southern Austria after leaving a swinging (is there any other kind?!) disco as drunk as can be. Apparently, Haider had been drowning his troubles in vodka following an argument with Petzner earlier that evening.

Together the men led the Alliance for the Future of Austria, an old-school European political party and guiding voice for closed minds and borders. Haider had intended for Petzner to lead the party after his retirement but Alliance party administrators have decided to pass on the young protege after Petzner's now infamous tell-all, teary-eyed interviews where he admitted a "special" relationship to the elder bigot.

It will be interesting to read in the coming months and years just how thorough-going Joerg Haider's duplicity and hypocrisy actually were. Unfortunately for the Austrians, they may never know the true Haider, not because such information will be lacking but because, according to Austrian gay rights advocate Christian Högl, "Haider could be having sex in front of the cameras with a man, and Austrians would pretend not to see it."

The moral of the tale: Hate, hate and hate some more, but you'd better not be gay while you do it.

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