Does Hain shooting show citizens can't be trusted with guns?

October 8, 9:50 AMGun Rights ExaminerDavid Codrea

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(Jim Zengerle/AP Photo)

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The Lebanon Daily News tells us Meleanie Hain and her husband Scott have been found dead from an apparent murder/suicide following "a two-hour standoff with police outside their home."

Their headline calls her a "pistol-packin' soccer mom," and the story tells us "she gained national notoriety last year after she brought her loaded handgun to her 5-year-old daughter's soccer game."

Notoriety. People who believe they have a right to the means of self defense are portrayed by the media as notorious. And kooky. And comments under this story--and in other accounts, reflect and amplify this, telling us about "those who live by the sword," some viciously disparaging Hain as a person, and generally exploiting this terrible incident to attack the notion that citizens have adequate competence or temperament to be trusted with guns.

Because we're not trained law enforcement "Only Ones," you see.

As with all developing stories, "facts" are subject to change as more developments and information unfolds. At this point, I note two additional factors to consider:

Several neighbors said they heard or saw the couple's children run from the house screaming, "Daddy shot Mommy!" shortly before the 911 Center was called at 6:20 p.m.

So the "pistol-packin' soccer mom" was not the shooter? Meaning neighbor Debbie Mise's I-told-you-so "she just wasn't right" hoplophobia may not have made her the predictor of events she seemingly claims to be? Meaning...what exactly... about comment posters taking swipes at all gun owners over this?

And the second piece of potentially relevant information?

Her husband was a parole officer in Berks County and a former prison guard at the State Correctional Institute in Camp Hill. He also had worked part-time for Lebanon County Central Booking.

The point here is not to point fingers at law enforcement--no group should bear responsibility for aberrant individual acts. That said, we cannot stand by while the fitness of citizens to keep and bear arms is disparaged on the grounds that we just haven't had proper vetting and training like the professionals.

For now, let's see how things continue to unfold. We'll no doubt learn much more in the coming hours and days. Hopefully, someone is there to take in and love the children, who truly are the main people to be concerned about now.