Highland Park to Greenwood Park Mall

 

Tomorrow, July 18, will be two weeks since the 4^th of July mass shooting in Highland Park, IL (Terror in Highland Park).  Highland Park being two towns to our south, it was the closest I have ever been to this kind of scourge that plagues our country. 

This evening I was sitting at an outdoor concert of 60s and 70s R&B and Soul music in Lake Bluff.  Lake Bluff is one town to our north.  The concert was in their cozy little town center on the green with a gazebo where the band was set-up.  It was a most pleasant, 70 degree, evening and there was a good sized crowd.  Families were there picnicking on blankets or, as we did, seated in camp chairs.  We were eating dinner and enjoying the beautiful weather, toe-tapping music, and our dinner.  Children were running to and fro having a great time.  A few people danced.  Basically, everyone was enjoying themselves.  It was pure Americana.

As I was sitting there, I looked around and saw the quaint Tudor buildings around the green.  A thought struck me, the Highland Park gunman was on top of a building in their town center.  I looked around to see if there were any greater police presence.  I noticed one police car when we arrived but it was no longer there.  

Then I realized that it was not even two weeks since the Highland Park shooting.  It seemed like ages ago.  The shock and terror everyone around here was feeling dissipated rather quickly, too quickly, and we had all resumed our normal routines, me included. 

Part of this is because these mass shootings are rare enough, that we are not really that worried being involved in one.  The other more distressing part is that we are numb to the frequency of this mass shootings.  We are concerned and shocked for a day or two, and we move on. 

While writing this piece, I learned there was another mass shooting earlier today in Indiana.  In a mall outside of Indianapolis, the Greenwood Park Mall.  A gunman armed with a rifle and several magazines, opened fire in the food court there and killed three people and injured two others.  A bystander, carrying a legal weapon, immediately opened fire and killed the perpetrator thankfully.

In less than two weeks, we experienced another incident.  It has been fifty-four days since the horrific school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.  We really have to put a stop to these shootings.  People are clamoring to renew the ban on assault weapons, e.g. the AR-15, with large capacity magazines.  This seems to make the most sense given the Washington Post statistic that is being shared across social media.

• Assault weapons were banned from 1995 to 2004 and mass shooting decreased 37%.
• After the ban ended in 2004 mass shooting increased 138%.

Is this true?  It certainly seems to make sense.  It appeals to our wanting a simple and easy fix.  There is a couple good articles on this subject.  One is in the Austin American-Statesman and the other is from Rand.

Another solution is to arm more people so we can defend ourselves and others when a mass shooting occurs.  What could possibly go wrong if we were to advocate this?

For the time being, I think I am on the side of banning assault weapons and large capacity magazines as a start.