Shooting at Family Research Council

[Content Note: Guns, violence, terrorism.]

There was a shooting at the anti-gay Family Research Council's D.C. offices yesterday, which left a security guard wounded. He is now in stable condition.

D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said the shooter walked into the lobby of the building at about 10:45 and was confronted by the security guard as if the guard were asking him where he was going.

The man then took out a gun and opened fire on the guard, Lanier said. The guard and others wrestled the man to the ground, disarmed him and waited for police, she said. The guard was then taken to the hospital and is in stable condition, the chief said. FBI officials said the guard was shot in the arm.

...The shooter is in FBI custody and has not yet been charged, authorities said. A law enforcement official said at one point in the scuffle, the shooter expressed views that differed from those of the Family Research Council. The official also said the shooter was carrying a bag that had a Chick-Fil-A bag inside.

Tony Perkins, president of the FRC, was a prominent Chick-fil-A defender: "Chick-fil-A is a Bible-based, Christian-based business who treats their employees well. They have been attacked in the past about their stand. But they refuse to budge on this matter, and I commend them for what they are doing."

The shooter, identified as Floyd Corkins, had been volunteering at an LGBT community center for the past six months.

In response to the shooting, about 40 LGBT organizations released a joint statement:

We were saddened to hear news of the shooting this morning at the offices of the Family Research Council. Our hearts go out to the shooting victim, his family, and his co-workers.

The motivation and circumstances behind today’s tragedy are still unknown, but regardless of what emerges as the reason for this shooting, we utterly reject and condemn such violence. We wish for a swift and complete recovery for the victim of this terrible incident.

Meanwhile, anti-gay organizations are blaming LGBT activists and allies, as well as the hate group tracking SPLC, for the shooting:

The National Organization for Marriage (NOM), one of the nation's leading opponents of same-sex marriage, told The Hill the shooting was a direct result of the Southern Poverty Law Center's decision in 2010 to place the FRC on its list of hate groups for its rhetoric on gays.

..."Today's attack is the clearest sign we've seen that labeling pro-marriage groups as 'hateful' must end," [Brian Brown, the president of NOM] said in a statement issued following the shooting.

"For too long national gay rights groups have intentionally marginalized and ostracized pro-marriage groups and individuals by labeling them as 'hateful' and 'bigoted.'"

The shooting was unequivocally wrong and the shooter should be held responsible; I couldn't be more disgusted with this guy, for many reasons.

That said, I'm not going to mince words here: Attributing his actions to the identifying as bigoted and/or hateful groups that want to entrench second-class citizenship of people belonging to the LGBTQI community is a parody of legitimate concerns about violent and eliminationist rhetoric.

And, in the wake of yet another shooting, I will ask again: At what point will we take gun reform seriously in this country? How many people will have to be injured and killed before we reconsider our truly foolish gun laws? Will second-amendment fetishizing conservatives reconsider their position on guns now that the guns are being turned on them...?

This shit doesn't happen in a void. This "lone gunman," like all the others before him, was socialized in a culture steeped in the glorification of guns and gun violence. We are all accountable.