San Bernardino Shooting Investigated as "Act of Terrorism"
A perfect storm for the policy agendas of gun grabbers and Muslim bashers, of right-wing and left-wing statists.
The FBI confirms that it is investigating the San Bernardino shooting that left 14 dead and more than 40 injured as "an acto fo terrorism." From the Wash Post:
The Pakistani woman who teamed with her husband in the San Bernardino massacre that killed 14 people on Wednesday pledged her allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State, the clearest indication yet that the mass shooting was an act of terrorism, according to two law enforcement officials.
The revelation brought a new focus to Tashfeen Malik, 27, the enigmatic woman who police say carried out the killing spree on Wednesday alongside her husband, Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, before they were both slain in a frenzied shootout with officers later that day.
Malik posted a statement on Facebook referring to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the emir of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, the militant group that says it has established a caliphate in Syria and Iraq. A Facebook official confirmed the nature of the posting.
So how does that change things?
In many ways, it creates a perfect storm for right-wing and left-wing statist responses.
Liberals and others generally predisposed toward stringent gun control were already pressing for tighter and tighter restrictions on gun ownership and Second Amendment rights despite the fact that gun violence is at its lowest levels in 20 years—a period during which more and more states liberalized gun laws and individuals were given the ability to own and carry firearms at unprecedented rates.
Conservatives and those on the right had been calling for tighter and tighter controls on immigration generally—see Donald Trump's assessment of Mexicans for only the boldest articulation of xenophobia—and others, even including the libertarianish Republican Rand Paul, have called for a moratorium on refugees from majority-Muslim countries we're bombing and droning the hell out of.
Expect each side in this moment to go over the top in demanding all sorts of new and/or intensified powers to restrict your and my freedoms. That the new rules and procedures will do little or nothing to increase safety won't really be discussed.
