There’s already been ample commentary about the Jan. 8 horror in Tucson, Ariz. Six people, ranging from a 9-year-old girl to a federal judge, were killed, and 14 were wounded, among them Gabrielle Giffords, who represents that part of Arizona in the U.S. Congress. The suspect, 22-year-old Jared Loughner, was captured at the scene.
Responses have ranged all over the political map. Liberals accuse conservatives of provoking such actions with violent “crosshair” and “Second Amendment solution” rhetoric, and there’s always the issue of firearms. Conservatives respond that by all accounts, the suspect was four kinds of crazy and a dedicated assassin can always find a gun, no matter what laws are in effect.
But there’s one aspect of this that bothers me a lot, and one I haven’t seen addressed elsewhere. Rep. Giffords was shot while meeting her constituents in an informal setting, where anyone could meet and talk with her.
It’s something I call “informal access,” and I believe it’s an important aspect of our democracy. That is, if you end up in line at the grocery store with the mayor or a county commissioner, you’re more likely to express what’s on your mind at the time than if you write a letter or make an appointment. Of course, the higher the office, the less likely a chance encounter, but some officials go out of their way to be avaliable, as Giffords did at that shopping mall.
And the public officials I’ve known tell me that they get some of their best input that way, at encounters outside their offices.
After these awful shootings, there will doubtless be more security and less informality. Our public officials will get even more isolated. That can’t be a good thing, even if it’s easy to understand why.
Ed Quillen is a freelance writer in Salida, Colorado.
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