I remember walking to lunch one day back in 2002, in early October, discussing some shootings that had been reported either that morning or the morning before. This was not a normal topic for conversation — shootings in the DC area are not uncommon — but these were sniper attacks and not taking place in the “bad” sections of town. After news of a few more attacks rolled in, there was a palpable sense of uneasiness that began to permeate the area, rising to out-and-out fear. People, including myself, changed their behavior about going out in public areas; I remember putting off getting gas until I could go to a station where I would be on the inboard side of the pumps and not present myself as a target to someone who might be hiding across the street. A few days later, an FBI employee was shot at a Home Depot parking lot a block or so away from that station — a store in a mall I frequent, and within walking distance of my abode (this has been empirically determined, repeatedly). I’ve stood in that lot, and often drive by the lot across the street where the snipers’ car must have parked.

It doesn’t much matter that the odds of getting shot were small. Fear is a raw emotion. When pitted against rational thought, it’s a good bet that fear is going to win, even if the level of fear is not rational. John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo terrorized the people of the greater DC area for three weeks and killed ten people. Today, Muhammed is scheduled to die, and barring an intervention by the governor, he will. I’m not generally a supporter of the death penalty; I think it’s handed out too freely and I have a hard time reconciling it with the notion of a civilized society. But today, Muhammed is scheduled to die, and I find that I have no problem with that.