Hey, nobody has died – yet – from the latest episode in our favorite All-American pastime: Shooting people with guns because — just because we can. Oh and 2nd amendment, etc.
Police today are searching for three suspects after 19 people, including two children, were shot in New Orleans on Sunday while watching a Mother’s Day parade.
Ten men, seven woman, a girl and a boy, both age 10, were hit when wild gunfire opened up at about 1:45 p.m. as the parade marched along North Villere Street, according to police spokesman Garry Flot.
Two victims are undergoing surgery, Flot said in a statement. Three were reported in serious condition. The children were grazed and are in good condition, he said. It was unclear if the victims were marching or bystanders watching the parade.
Personally, I think I’m going to avoid all parades, marches, and large gatherings for the time being. Oh wait, my daughter is graduating from high school this year. Darn. Hope they employ metal detectors. Yes, I am serious.
I still can’t get past someone shooting INTO A PARADE
Or a school. Or a movie theater. Or a … Or a …
Clearly, more guns would have helped the situation. /snark
… to the tyranny of too many parades.
A couple of years ago I went on a vacation to the Black Hills in SD, and we stopped in a town called Hill City. It’s a nice little town, a few art galleries, a historic restaurant, a fantastic dinosaur museum. They also had at that time a traditional “gunfight” show that took place in the middle of town.
The show was run by volunteers who used real guns that fired blanks of some kind. Because the guns are real, there are a variety of protocols that should be followed to ensure they are never loaded.
In any case, one day after we stopped by Hill City they held the gun fight and one of the volunteers apparently forgot that he had previously loaded his gun with real bullets. Not kidding. He was using the gun that was used his fake gunfight for target practice at home. Talk about dumber than a bag of hammers.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/06/20/Gunfight-wounding-was-repeat-incident/UPI-60391308599217/
It’s a good reminder that even when nobody intends to hurt a damned soul, guns are designed to hurt people, and, to paraphrase Jurassic Park, “bodily injury finds a way…”
And of course, as the Mother’s Day incident shows us, there are plenty of people who DO want to hurt somebody.
I live in SW Ohio in a decent-sized city and Saturday night at a local club in the quiet suburbs, some guys had a gunfight in the parking lot. Two young men were killed and several bystanders were wounded. The club has a checkered history and lost its liquor license at one point because calls to the police happened several times a night. Some genius reinstated the license and the breakouts got worse. Now two people are dead.
Guns are the common denominator. Guns with alchohol, guns in the hands of children, guns in the hands of those with mental health issues, guns in the hands of people with anger management issues.
It’s all about the guns.
Yes, #GunFAIL continues unabated.
And on that DK list is another Dayton suburb, Beavercreek, which is 88% white and affluent, reminding everyone that gun violence is everywhere; it’s not just an “inner city” problem.
It’s good to see that a lot of people are using social media to promote the constant deluge of stories about gun violence. This may create a consciousness-changing movement that might lead to real change in the end.
And it’s really important that this happen soon. The crazy is growing and getting crazier.