Here's a fairly good summary on the current debate in the U.S. on the language of violence in politics.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/loner-triggers-vitriolic-debate/story-e6frg6z6-1225985204517

Poirot

No mention that Murdoch is a major player in creating the environment being debated.

Funny how talk of violence influences no one, but talk of sex or porn does, when you're a right w(h)inger.

Very good point, TBC.
Of course, that article was from the Australian.
I often wonder how these things are worked out...there was criticism of Glenn Beck and Fox News...and Beck does a sterling job of pushing the sort of mindset that creates division.
I watched a few of his shows recently and he actually refers to an encroaching danger called "they". "They" are doing this and "they" are doing that. So to his faithful legions, he is presenting an anonymous and threatening entity (somehow tied up with Obama and communism) and the people that are taken in by Beck feel as if there is a huge conspiracy that is coming to take their freedoms away.
This is the sort of mindset that feeds the neurosis of people...and it is not beyond reason to suppose that once in a while a particularly unbalanced person is going to take matters into their own hands

The best thing the Howard Government did was to ban semi-automatic and automatic weapons, pump action shotguns and introduce a national registration requirement.

I don't think Australia will ever get to the stage that America has let itself go under some skewed perception of freedom and individual rights. If it was so concerned about rights and freedoms there would be no illicit drugs - they would all be legal. If a government can recognise the harm in legalising mind altering drugs why not recognise the danger of the growth of gun ownership and obvious 'staring the in the face' statistics on gun related crimes and gun fatalities.

There was an interesting discussion on a program that said the nature of the political debate in the US has hit a new time low with a growth in hostility including the Palin gun/target map incident. While Palin is not responsible for the actions of a probably unbalanced shooter, the fact that guns are so readily accessible in America (it was a glock for goodness sake) and the alarm bells are ringing.

But alas, there have been numerous similar 'alarm bells' and they keep going off but no-one is listening.

Poirot

There is a conspiracy to take away their 'freedoms' indeed.

The freedom to be completely stupid and fearful.

It is a conspiracy of their own making.

Led by their nose rings, willingly, with their consent, into dullwittedness.

A Glock eh? Odd to see how unfettered USA investment in Israel has a blowback effect in the nation of the free.

Still, it could have been a legally owned RPG, or a bazooka even.