In light of the recent shooting involving Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Vivekananda Kandarpa, a 71-year-old retired aerospace engineer, thinks the political climate in Arizona will get worse before it gets any better because of the heavily conservative influence within state.

Kandarpa is a registered independent who voted for Giffords. Before that, he was a long- time registered Republican. He has lived in Tucson for about three years. He believes the climate will get worse because of the heavy influence of people with right-wing views.

“There is a lot of influence from the Tea Party. Democrats are going down,” said Kandarpa, “only one area of Arizona is Democratic.”

Kandarpa says the current state of Arizona reminds him of the “Goldwater Era.” In 1964, Republican Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater said that “extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice, and moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.”

Kandarpa says that people’s views in Arizona as whole match up with Goldwater’s ideals.Though he accepts the fact that people have the right to bear arms in a state like Arizona, he says that people shouldn’t be allowed to carry guns at all, especially concealed weapons.

“I am completely against concealed weapons,” said Kandarpa, “Obviously a lot of people are against it too. In most buildings on campus and in restaurants, there are no weapons allowed.”

Though he doesn’t like guns, he understands why people take advantage of the ability to purchase guns under Arizona’s gun laws. There are people who carry guns for their own protection due to border issues relating to Mexico.

“In Arizona, people have guns to defend their homes. Because of all the border issues, people are afraid of the mafia.” says Kandarpa.

Kandarpa says that if gun laws do change, they will not for a very long time. If they did change, he feels that shootings such as the one at Virginia Tech and the one of Giffords would not happen as frequently.

“It’s going to take a long time in Arizona,” said Kandarpa, “but if it’s controlled, it won’t happen as frequently. But here, laws aren’t going to change that fast. People here love their guns.”