Yesterday, a jerk with a bad attitude and a rifle went on to a baseball field, asked people who were walking on the field what party they were with and shot the republicans. A baseball field where kids play. The only person on the field other than the shooter with a weapon were two Capitol Police officers carrying pistols. Special Agents Bailey and Griner were heroes and their story was told by Victory Girl Jodi here. These heroes kept this shooting from becoming a massacre. What is of interest is this: The only reason Agents Bailey and Griner were there was because they were the security detail for Steve Scalise. The rest of the congressmen playing had no security detail. Nor does their staff. Or their families. And that is an issue that needs to be looked at: what is reasonable security for Congress? And do they need more arms and armor?

Why one might ask do public servants need a full security detail? Well there is a lot of dumb stuff said by both sides which Nina addressed nicely here and here. Even though this may be a lone wolf, how about we all stop and tone the rhetoric and invective way way down.  All of us.  What makes this worse is that the shooter chose his targets as the AP reports here

The shooting occurred at a popular park and baseball complex in Alexandria, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, where Republican lawmakers and others were gathered for a morning practice about 7 a.m. They were in good spirits despite the heat and humidity as they prepared for the congressional baseball match that pits Republicans against Democrats. The popular annual face-off, which raises money for charity, is scheduled to go forward as planned Thursday evening at Nationals Park in Washington.

A park and baseball complex.  This is a place families and kids are at all summer at all hours.  It is disturbing how much this creep planned his act of terror.

Rep. Jeff Duncan of South Carolina said he had just left the practice and encountered the apparent gunman in the parking lot before the shooting. The man calmly asked which party’s lawmakers were practicing and Duncan told him they were the Republicans. The man thanked him.

Not just lawmakers or this would have been a horrible massacre: there thankfully were two hero cops.

Lawmakers noted their good fortune in having armed protectors on hand – “Thank God,” they exclaimed over and over – and said otherwise the shooter would have been able to take a huge deadly toll.

In this case, two police officers were the difference between life and death. Because nobody brings a rifle or their collection of guns to baseball practice, right? Nor do they have said weapons accessible in the outfield or on the pitcher’s mound.

Security concerns

USA Today discussed congressional concerns here:

Tensions about inadequate security for members of Congress flared during an all-member security briefing for lawmakers on Capitol Hill hours after Rep. Steve Scalise was shot during a baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia.

For good reason. The shooter caught these men at an unguarded moment in what appeared to be a normal day. He did stop people and ask what their party affiliation was like any good Daeshbag or terrorist would do. That is not acceptable. Ever.

According to one lawmaker who attended, members of both parties were united in airing their concerns, with representatives including Ann Wagner, R-Missouri, and Terri Sewell, D-Ala., among those speaking out. There was frustration, said the lawmaker who was not authorized to speak on the record about the private meeting, because some lawmakers including Cedric Richmond, D-La., had expressed fears last week about member safety. Richmond, who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus, raised his concerns directly to House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. He is also a close friend of Scalise.

Hoping that there can be a way to keep these men and women safe and do it without losing reasonable accessibility to our local congressman or woman. And dial down the rhetoric everyone. Please.