Grief and a Gun

At West Anaheim Medical Center a horrifying contradiction of our stressful times was played out Tuesday. A hospital, with its commitment to the care of the sick and injured, briefly became a stage for violence and death. That morning a gunman, reportedly distressed over the death of his mother at another hospital, shot and killed three employees at the Anaheim center before being subdued by bystanders.

Hospital violence, aggravated by the flood of guns in our midst, has become a grim fact of life in the big cities. Los Angeles and other major urban centers have been forced to respond by installing metal detectors and other security measures. These measures are expensive, but Tuesday’s shootings demonstrate that increased security must be considered in suburban hospitals and emergency rooms as well.

This sad reality was evident in the tragic death of a maintenance supervisor at West Anaheim who rushed to disarm the assailant and prevent him from reaching the lobby.

Anaheim, whose image is closely associated with Disneyland and the agrarian past of Orange County, now suffers the urban problems of crime, gangs and guns. Hospitals in once bucolic places now must consider measures beyond compliance with state laws requiring locked access to treatment areas and emergency rooms. West Anaheim Medical Center, which installed bulletproof glass in the emergency room last year, should now consider hiring additional security guards and deploying metal detectors.

The evidence is clear: too many firearms too easily available to those with a grievance. Even fresher evidence of this insanity is Wednesday night’s shooting massacre at a Fort Worth church youth meeting.

In Anaheim, there were heroes who should be remembered. The response of several employees and patients, armed with only their courage, prevented further injury in the rampage. These individuals served as a shining example on a dark day.