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Tag: shooting
The Gun

Zombie Republicans Keep Making Sure That Guns Kill Kids

Right after a 28-year-old shot six people to death at a small Christian school, Rep. Tim Burchett, a Tennessee Republican, emoted on camera. "Three precious little kids lost their lives," he said with sad resignation, "and I believe three adults."

Burchett then defended the killer's right to own the three weapons she carried onto the grounds of the Covenant Presbyterian Church, located in a pretty Nashville neighborhood.

"It's a horrible, horrible situation, and we're not going to fix it," he said. "Criminals are gonna be criminals, and my daddy fought in the Second World War ... he told me, 'Buddy, if somebody wants to take you out and doesn't mind losing their life, there's not a whole heck of a lot you can do about it.'"

He's not entirely wrong about criminals being criminals. But criminals elsewhere don't have the easy access to the firepower that this woman used to rapidly kill six on a lovely spring day.

Did Burchett see this quiet, leafy neighborhood as comparable to the jungle hells of wartime Pacific? And must he rationalize sick people wanting to "take out" 9-year-olds, when, actually, there are things to do about it.

No matter. There's no making moral sense of the political zombies who take orders from the National Rifle Association.

But there are civic and political leaders who can see how rampant gun violence can damage their economies. Nashville has been a hot growing city, but corporations considering a move there must be taken aback by this latest mass murder.

Such outrages are happening elsewhere, but this one happened in a state where a woman being treated for severe mental disturbance and whose parents didn't want her to have guns was able to legally purchase seven of them, including two assault-style weapons. Tennessee already allows permitless carry, with no requirement for training. And, of course, guns don't have to be licensed.

Bills are now before the state legislature that would let 18-year-olds carry long guns in public without a license. It should be hard recruiting high-quality workers to a place where they must assess whether a fellow shopper carrying a rifle is OK or will explode if you accidently bump your cart into his?

There is widespread support for universal background checks, for safe storage, for red-flag laws to prevent someone who might commit harm purchase an AR-15. Only 19 percent "strongly oppose" more gun laws.

Very few airline passengers want to crash their planes. Nonetheless, we accept stringent security checks at airports.

It may be true that you can't entirely stop someone willing to sacrifice her own life from killing others, you don't have to swamp America with the killing machines that most anyone — criminal, nuts or both — can buy. And today's are more powerful than the weaponry used in Vietnam.

And it's not just the guns themselves. It's the worship of them. It's the politicians who send out Christmas cards of themselves grinning as they brandish assault rifles. There isn't much we can do about these people's right to mock a religion of peace, but we can easily vote them out of office.

Nashville police prevented a bigger horror by their fast and brave response. But suppose road work had slowed the response by two minutes? Are we supposed to find solace in there being only six dead?

When employers consider relocating, they may well look at numbers in addition to tax rates. They may include the number of gun deaths per 100,000 population — which is 3.7 in Massachusetts but 21.3 in Tennessee.

And as the Nashville example shows, putting children in private schools is not enough to protect them from gun violence.

Follow Froma Harrop on Twitter @FromaHarrop. She can be reached at fharrop@gmail.com. To find out more about Froma Harrop and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators webpage at www.creators.com.

Reprinted with permission from Creators.


At California Gun Fair, Recent Massacres Go Unmentioned Amid Brisk Sales

At California Gun Fair, Recent Massacres Go Unmentioned Amid Brisk Sales

Ontario (United States) (AFP) - With ammunition, rifles and bullet-proof vests on display, business is brisk at a Los Angeles area gun show -- so much so you'd never know a mass shooting unfolded nearby just days ago.

Thousands of people turned out this weekend in the city of Ontario in California to view dozens of stands at the trade fair called the Crossroads of the West Gun Show.

Women pushing baby strollers looked at small pistols while strapping young men examined military-style semi-automatic riles that can handle several calibers of ammo. The vibe is cheerful. Kids under 12 get in free.

Most people did not want to address the elephant in the room, though, even as the state mourns.

A mass shooting at a dance hall in Monterey Park, a 30-minute drive away, left 11 dead on September 21. Two days later, another shooter killed seven more people at farms in Half Moon Bay, near San Francisco. In both cases the shooters were elderly Asian men.

"Nobody talks about these incidents, but there is a spike in purchases this week," said a vendor at the show, Crystal Markanson.

"Every time that the media talks about a mass shooting, people buy guns because they're afraid that they'll get taken away."

'Crazy Psychos'

The latest chapter in America's relentless gun violence crisis reignited an old debate on firearms control.

Yet again, President Joe Biden called for a federal ban on military-style assault rifles, the kind of gun often used in these mass killings.

But with Republicans in Congress steadfastly opposed, the idea has no chance of becoming law.

"Targeting specific styles of guns is not the right answer," said Brett Reeves, a 34-year-old air conditioning salesman who wore a cowboy hat.

In California, which has some of the country's toughest gun laws, assault rifles have been banned for more than 30 years.

"And yet we keep hearing about mass shootings," Reeves added.

The self-described libertarian owns a dozen or so guns, from pump action rifles to pistols, and none of them are registered with authorities. He has built them himself with gun parts he buys at shows like this one he is taking in now.

Reeves said he was not surprised to learn the gun used in the Monterey Park shooting was illegal. That is because it is considered an assault weapon.

"Restrictions are only pushing people to go underground," said Reeves, who described himself as big on guns for self-defense.

"And crazy psychos are going to continue targeting innocent people," he added.

Texas is a lot safer than California because there in the Lone Star State, Reeves insisted, it is easier to carry a gun out in the open.

"You have to be able to protect yourself against those crazy people," said Reeves.

'Our Laws Are Working'

Garen Wintemute, director of the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California, Davis, said: "Our laws are working. California's rates of gun violence are much lower than in the rest of the country."

But he noted that the country is awash with 400 million guns. The US population is about 330 million.

Unlike other places in the US, you can't just buy a gun at the Ontario show and take it home.

Buyers must prove they are at least 21, undergo a background check and, if they clear, wait 10 days to take delivery of the weapon.

Thanks to restrictions like these, compared to citizens of other states, Californians are about 25 percent less likely to die in mass shootings, says the Public Policy Institute of California.

"These tragedies need to stop. People should be safe and not get shot," a man named Adolfo Garcia said as he left the fair after stocking up on bullets for his semi-automatic rifle.

Texas Gov. Abbott Skipped Every Single Funeral For Uvalde Victims

Texas Gov. Abbott Skipped Every Single Funeral For Uvalde Victims

The country continues to mourn the lives lost at the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, even as more information about the incident continues to surface online. Along with other recent mass shootings, Uvalde has sparked much-needed talk regarding gun control and gun legislation nationwide. But while many officials continue to reference the tragedy in efforts to create change, some seem to be attempting to forget it.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has come under fire for skipping the funerals of the two teachers and 19 children killed in the Robb Elementary School shooting. Scheduling records obtained by local media show that not only did he not attend the funerals, but never planned to do so.

The schedule, obtained by ABC News affiliate KXXV, confirms that not only did Abbott not attend any funerals but he last visited the town of Uvalde on June 5, nine days after the mass shooting, for a memorial event. The schedule details Abbott’s whereabouts between May 25 to June 14, and included only three visits to Uvalde since the tragic incident.

Not only did Abbott not attend any funerals, but several parents have said that the governor’s office did not reach out to them since the tragedy.

Angel Garza, father of 10-year-old victim Amerie Jo Garza, was one of them.

"We've had Sen. Gutierrez in our living room, willing to come and talk to us," Garza said during a press conference on July 13, according to KXXV. "We've had Beto O'Rourke coming to our private meeting to fight with us. He marched with us. That means something to us. The fact that you're reaching out just to see how we're doing means something to us."

Garza continued: "Everybody that's getting ready to vote, I want you guys to know that. These guys don't have compassion for us. They don't care. [Abbott] doesn't care that all these children were murdered and these teachers were murdered. Y'all need to realize that."


In response to this, Abbott's office told the Texas Chronicle that Abbott had visited "every family who requested a meeting.”

"Many families requested private funerals, and the Governor and First Lady instead sent flowers and condolences to let the loved ones know they remain in their prayers," the statement said.

But which families he visited, when, and where is unclear as per the released schedule. His schedule only shows several public vigils he attended, the last one being on June 5.

The families directly impacted by the tragedy aren’t the only ones criticizing Abbott’s lack of care, though.

In an interview Monday with MSNBC, state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, who represents Uvalde, criticized Abbott for not returning to Texas town. According to Chron, he alleged that Abbott has not been back since May 29, despite June 5 being the last time the governor's schedule suggests he visited.

"I don't want this to sound like some political assault on him, but at the end of the day he hasn't been there since Day 5, when the president came... We had a failed response on giving resources to families," Gutierrez said. "He did not go to one single funeral—and quite honestly, many of the families didn't want him there."

In addition to Abbott, several Texas officials have come under fire for their failure to respond to the situation during and after. Recently released footage and a report found that while over 300 officers were at the scene, police badly mishandled their response, waiting for more than an hour before confronting the shooter. Officers also prevented parents from accessing the building to try and rescue children. A mother who was successful in rescuing her children backed this claim, saying that she was not only aggressively told to stop but has faced harassment since sharing her story, Daily Kos reported.

Family members and those impacted by the shooting are asking lawmakers to change laws when it comes to buying AR-style rifles for individuals age 18 to 21.

As a result, county commissioners passed a resolution calling for a special session to raise the age to buy AR-15s. Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin also said he was in favor of raising the age and requiring a class.

"This isn't some plot or anything, this is real life, this is hurting all of us," Angel Garza said.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Six Killed By Sniper At July 4 Parade In Chicago Suburb

Six Killed By Sniper At July 4 Parade In Chicago Suburb

Highland Park (United States) (AFP) - A gunman armed with a high-powered rifle shot dead at least six people at a parade to mark US Independence Day in a wealthy Chicago suburb on Monday -- the latest in a series of shocking mass shootings, this time on a holiday celebrating all things American.

Emergency officials in Highland Park, Illinois said around two dozen people, including children, were wounded with some in critical condition, and a massive police manhunt was underway for the shooter, who was still on the loose.

Police said they had apprehended a 22-year-old suspect named Robert E Crimo III, warning that he was considered armed and "very dangerous." A Chicago musician of the same age and with the same name goes by the stage name "Awake the Rapper" online.

Firing into the holiday crowd from a nearby rooftop, the gunman triggered scenes of chaos as panicked onlookers ran for their lives, leaving behind a parade route strewn with chairs, abandoned balloons and personal belongings.

"Everyone thought it was fireworks," one parade-goer, identified only as Zoe, told CNN.

"My dad thought it was part of the show, and I'm like, 'Dad, no... something is wrong.' And I grabbed him. And I looked back at him, and then it was just a sea of panic, and people just falling and falling."

As they ran, she said that some 20 feet behind her, "I saw a girl shot and killed... saw her die."

Zoe said they first hid behind a dumpster before police pulled them into the basement of a sporting goods store with other parade spectators, several of whom were injured, including a man who appeared to have been shot in the ear and a girl who was shot in the leg.

When they were finally able to leave, she told CNN, the parade route resembled "a battle zone. And it's disgusting."

Police officials said the shooting began at 10:14 am, when the parade was approximately three-quarters of the way through.

"It sounds like spectators were targeted... So, very random, very intentional and very sad," said Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli.

Lake County coroner Jennifer Banek said five of the six people killed, all adults, had died at the scene. The sixth was taken to hospital but succumbed to wounds there.

Fire chief Joe Schrage said among the wounded was at least one child, in critical condition.

Dr Brigham Temple of Highland Park Hospital, where most of the victims were taken, said that it was treating 25 people with gunshot wounds aged eight to 85.

He said "four or five" children were among them, and that 16 people were later discharged.

Police said the shooter was using a "high-powered rifle," and "firearm evidence" had been located on the rooftop of a nearby business.

"All indications is he was discreet, he was very difficult to see," said Covelli.

From Celebration To Mourning

The shooting cast a pall over America's most patriotic holiday, in which towns and cities across the country hold parades such as the one in Highland Park while citizens -- many dressed in variations on the US flag -- hold barbecues and other celebrations.

"On a day that we came together to celebrate community and freedom, we're instead mourning the tragic loss of life and struggling with the terror that was brought upon us," Highland Park's mayor Nancy Rotering said.

President Joe Biden voiced his shock and vowed to keep fighting "the epidemic of gun violence" sweeping the country.

"I'm not going to give up," he said.

Last week, Biden signed the first significant federal bill on gun safety in decades, just days after the Supreme Court ruled that Americans have a fundamental right to carry a handgun in public.

The shooting is part of a particularly grim wave in the gun violence crisis in the United States, where approximately 40,000 deaths a year are caused by firearms, according to the Gun Violence Archive website.

The deeply divisive debate over gun control was reignited by two massacres in May that saw 10 Black supermarket shoppers gunned down in upstate New York and 21 people, mostly young children, slain at an elementary school in Texas.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 309 mass shootings carried out in the US so far in 2022 -- including at least three others on July 4, though without any fatalities.