In his short lifetime, Martin Luther King Jr. was a model of nonviolence. We can only imagine now how he would have reacted to the random violence of the last year, what kind of leadership he would have provided as we struggle to respond to the mass murders in Sandy Hook, Aurora and elsewhere.
King, of course, was himself the victim of gun violence. His life was ended at the age of 39 by an escaped convict who bought a high-powered rifle under a false name without being required to show so much as a driver’s license.
He would have turned 84 this year and, if he had lived, would certainly have provided wisdom based on his chief principle of nonviolence.
What would he have said about allowing guns in school zones, as Rep. Thomas Massie of Northern Kentucky and others want to do?
What would he have said about posting armed guards at the doors of every school, as the NRA proposes?
What would he have said about the general availability of high-capacity, rapid-fire weaponry designed to kill people in large numbers?
