The Arizona Shootings: Getting to the Missing Point --- "It's Guns, Stupid" (Matlin)

The repercussions and the debate around this episode will continue for years. But you can be certain that a question  poseed elsewhere --- “Where did the alleged attacker Jared Lee Loughner get the gun?” --- will not be a priority in America. From The New York Times to The Washington Post to CNN and MNSBC, this query was not being posed, let alone answered. No one wants to touch the subject of gun ownership. It has become the third rail of politics.

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The Arizona Shootings: What We Know and Don't Know

More than 36 hours since the mass shooting in Tucson, Arizon, killing six people and wounding 14, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, many facts and claims have surfaced: some of them have been proven wrong, notably the report on Saturday that Giffords had died, and some have held up affirmed. But beyond that, many questions remain unanswered.

Giffords, a Democratic Party house member from Arizona’s 8th congressional district, was holding an open meeting with her constituents just after 10 a.m. on Saturday in the Safeway supermarket parking lot in Casas Adobe, near Tucson. The Congresswoman held such meetings, called "Congress on Your Corner", regularly. As the meeting started with the Congresswoman, her aides, and several dozen of her constituents, a 22 year-old white male named Jared Lee Loughner arrived at the scene.

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Latest on Arizona Shootings: 6 Dead & 13 Wounded, Congresswoman Giffords Critical, 2nd Suspect Sought

Photo: Matt York (Associated Press)US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona is in critical condition after surgery for a single "through-and-through" gunshot wound to the head.

Giffords, a Democrat, was the first victim in a mass shooting as she held a "Congress on Your Corner" event outside a Safeway supermarket in Tucson. The gunman, alleged to be 22-year-old Jared Loughner, then fired into the crowd, killing six people, including Federal Judge John Roll and a 9-year-old girl. Thirteen other people, including Giffords, were wounded.

The shooting took place about 10 a.m. local time (1700 GMT) on Saturday. The gunman used a semi-automatic Glock pistol, firing about 20 shots, before he was overpowered as he tried to reload.

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