Freedom in Arizona

If you think that you are free, in any state other than Arizona, you need to think again.  Road-rage shootings, which seem to have gone out of style in California, are being revived here in Arizona.  I’m sure that after you read this uniquely American story, you will conclude that since it is being posted on April 1^st it must be an “April Fool’s” joke, but what seems like a joke in other states, is no joke in Arizona. 

The headline on page A2 of the Arizona Daily Star of March 28^th was, “Man acquitted in road-rage shooting death in Oro Valley.”  The account of the incident is short and sweet.  On February 13, 2013, David Arnold Mota, 22, “accidentally” cut off Joshua Stephen Switalski, also 22, who then pulled up along Mota’s car, where a verbal argument ensued.  Switalski pulled ahead and Mota used the semi-automatic handgun he had in his car to shoot Switalski, also in his car, in the back, penetrating his lung and heart, ending his life.

Mota then drove to a side street and removed the mirror from his vehicle, which he had accidently shot a hole in.  The conclusion could reasonably be drawn that he was fleeing from the scene of a crime and trying to remove some of the criminal evidence.  He never called 911 to report the incident.  Mota must have believed that he had committed a crime, but the jury decided differently and acquitted him of all charges.  The charges included first-degree murder, drive-by-shooting and aggravated assault.  I don’t see that any of those charges are an overstatement.  The man may be out in his car legally, with his loaded gun, today.

I’m pretty sure that even in Arizona you can’t legally shoot a deer from a moving vehicle, but you obviously can legally shoot a man from a moving vehicle.  In a sane state you are not allowed to have a loaded gun in a vehicle.  In Arizona, a law is pending, allowing you to carry a concealed weapon into a public building.  It has passed the legislature and is waiting for our governor to sign into law.  We already can legally carry a concealed weapon into a bar.  All of the successful legislation in Arizona, since the recent mass murders here and around the nation, has been designed to take the teeth out of gun safety legislation.  In our state, you are in more trouble if you overstay your welcome at a parking meter, than if you shoot someone from your car.  Welcome to the state where freedom rings.  God Bless America and God Bless Arizona.  Screw sanity.

Comments are welcome, Old Buz