Jim Logajan writes:

The authors of articles like the following would rather you not scrutinize
the underlying philosophy or thinking that yielded them:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_plane_crash_small_planes

Unfortunately, most readers will not scrutinize anything, but will simply take
the authors at their word.

Background checks would not have stopped this pilot, and he (apparently) had
no passengers with him, and his aircraft was small.

Trying to police general aviation is like trying to police every car and truck
on the road. The only difference is that just about everyone drives, so nobody
wants restrictions on that, whereas very few people fly. Pilots and their
hobby are perceived as elitists engaging in an activity that the rest of
society could do without because of its "danger."

Spend your money contributing to organizations that lobby in favor of GA, or
write the handful of representatives you're allowed to elect and tell them
what you think. If you don't work to maintain your freedoms, they go away.