The Pittsboro Town Board passed a formal resolution last week condemning the Dec. 8 assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords that killed six people and injured 13.

An alderman in Carrboro says Pittsboro's resolution does not go far enough.

And Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton's personal reaction to the shootings, posted on his Facebook page, has one constituent criticizing the mayor's use of a four-letter word.

The Dec. 10 resolution from Pittsboro, the Chatham County seat, supports open forums that are safe for civil debate. The resolution says the town of Pittsboro "offers support for Congresswoman Giffords and its deepest sympathy for the victims of this attack. And further resolves to condemn the violence that was expressed in this attack ... as such actions have no place in a civil society."

In Carrboro, Chilton asked his board members by e-mail if they would like to consider a similar resolution.

"Absolutely," Alderman Randee Haven-O'Donnell wrote back, "civil discourse is to be respected and upheld, all violence condemned."

Alderman Dan Coleman recommended a more strongly worded resolution.

"I would not vote against this, but I do not particularly support it. It strikes me as a fairly bland response," he wrote. "If we are to have a resolution, I prefer one that does not just single out he who pulled the trigger but also those who put the gun in his hand and aimed it."

The Arizona shootings have sparked a national debate about whether political rhetoric has contributed to a breakdown in civil discourse.

Former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin released a video last week accusing journalists and political analysts of inciting hatred in the wake of the shootings. Last spring, Palin targeted Giffords' district as one of 20 the GOP should take back, posting a map that marked each one with the crosshairs of a gun sight, according to the Associated Press.

Chilton, who thought his board would likely discuss the shootings at its meeting Tuesday, expressed his own anger at the accused shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, on Facebook:

"Shooter, you probably think you did this for your country, but like Timothy McVeigh you are America's worst enemy,' he wrote. "You don't deserve the kind of civilized trial and punishment that you will end up with. F--- you."

On Monday, Chilton stood by his choice of words.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with expressing my gut reaction to such a turn of events," he said. "I think Loughner ought to get a fair trial like anybody, but that's different from what he deserves."

Chilton said he thinks Loughner knew the difference between right and wrong.

Carrboro resident Carter Hubbard sent a letter to local media questioning the mayor's language (see Letters, page 4).

"I am not denying my mayor's human right to emotional response,' she wrote. "It is often difficult to separate the private person from the political one.... One could have hoped for a mayor that took a positive, unifying leadership role in the community."

Chilton, who called Hubbard a friend, said he thinks his language was appropriate.

"I wasn't expressing myself as a mayor; I was expressing myself as a human being,' he said, adding that he considered his comments public. "I think that is a legitimate expression. It was a moment that called for it."