July 4th: Chicagoland Celebrates 2nd Amendment

On the morning of July 4th, an Illinois firearms enthusiast joined Highland Park‘s small town Independence Day parade by firing his assault-style rifle at it, killing 6 fellow citizens outright and mangling the bodies of dozens of others, including children. An illinois Republican gubernatorial candidate urged citizens to “move on and … celebrate the independence of this nation.”

US gunshot deaths so far this year: 22,434.

God Bless America.

Update:

“7th Person Dies Day After Highland Park Parade Mass Shooting,” NBC 5 Chicago

More:

“Horror on the Fourth: Suspect in custody after 6 killed, dozens wounded at Highland Park Fourth of July parade,” Lynn Sweet, Manny Ramos, Elvia Malagón and Sophie Sherry, Chicago Sun-Times

“Guns Killed More Than 220 People Over July 4 Weekend Alone,” Alice Tecotzky, Daily Beast

“Marjorie Taylor Greene Tweets Predictably Fact-Free Theory About Highland Park Massacre,” Zachary Petrizzo, Daily Beast

“‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens,” The Onion

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Supreme Court Requires Blood Sacrifice

The Supreme Court of the United States thinks you should be able to carry a concealed handgun in public just because you think it’s cool and want to feel like a big shot. For over a century, New York had required gun owners to have a reason to carry a concealed weapon. Police issued concealed carry permits to business owners who carry bags of cash to a bank’s night deposit facility, those who had a demonstrable proper cause to be concerned for their personal safety, and so on. Now any dumb schmuck who hasn’t been caught committing a crime — yet — will be enabled to do so, with deadly consequences, thanks to six SCOTUS conservative ideologues. That doesn’t sound like a “well-regulated militia” to us.

What can you expect?

• More gunshot deaths, murders and suicides.
• More civilians killed by police, who will be more likely to assume that anyone they come into contact with is armed with a concealed deadly weapon.

More:

“Supreme Court strikes down New York’s concealed carry gun law,” Oriana Gonzalez, Axios

“U.S. Supreme Court expands gun rights, strikes down New York law,” Andrew Chung and Lawrence Hurley, Reuters

“Supreme Court strikes N.Y. law, finds right to carry guns outside home,” Robert Barnes and Ann E. Marimow, Washington Post

“SCOTUS Strikes Down New York Gun Control Law, Expanding Gun Rights In Wake Of Mass Shootings,” Kate Riga, Talking Points Memo 

 

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San Jose Requires Liability Insurance for Gun Owners

On Tuesday, the City Council of San José, California voted to require gun owners to carry liability insurance and pay an annual $25 fee for each weapon they own. The ordinance was drafted last year after a mass shooting at a transit station in the city.

“While the Second Amendment protects every citizen’s right to own a gun, it does not require taxpayers to subsidize that right,” said San José mayor Sam Liccardo in a statement.

U.S. states and DC require automobile drivers to obtain liability insurance or post cash bonds against liability, and motor vehicles, unlike firearms, aren’t even designed to be killing machines. Nowhere does the Second Amendment forbid a well-regulated program to ensure firearms responsiblity.

More:

“San Jose passes first U.S. law requiring gun owners to get liability insurance and pay annual fee,” CBS News

“A city will require gun owners to have liability insurance in an effort to incentivize safety,” Timothy Bella, Washington Post

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Suicide Gunman Kills Nine Americans

A gunman fatally shot nine co-workers in San Jose California on Wednesday before killing himself. According to police, the American firearms enthusiast had two semi-automatic handguns and 11 full magazines of ammunition. The American citizens he shot to death are: Paul Delacruz Megia, 42; Taptejdeep Singh, 36; Adrian Balleza, 29; Jose Dejesus Hernandez III, 35; Timothy Michael Romo, 49; Michael Joseph Rudometkin, 40; Alex Ward Fritch, 49; Abdolvahab Alaghmandan, 63; and Lars Kepler Lane, 63.

So far this year, the United States has experienced 15 mass murders (four or more people killed in each instance) and 232 mass shootings (four or more people injured or killed), and it’s not even Memorial Day.

More:

“Ten dead, including gunman, in San Jose rail yard mass shooting; victims identified,” Hayley Smith, Richard Winton, Maura Dolan, and Leila Miller, Los Angeles Times

“‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens,” The Onion

Updates:

“Heroic San Jose Victim ‘Ran Around Building’ Warning Colleagues to Hide From Shooter,” Jamie Ross, Daily Beast

“Molotov cocktails, guns and 25,000 rounds of ammo found in VTA shooter’s home: sheriff,” KTVU-TV News

“San Jose gunman had cans of gasoline, 22K rounds of ammo at home, officials say: What we know,” Christine Fernando, Christal Hayes, and Grace Hauck, USA Today

“San Jose mourns after deadliest shooting in region’s history: ‘We can’t sweep this under the rug,’” Abené Clayton, The Guardian

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Mass Shooting in Indianapolis Kills 8 People

A gunman murdered eight innocent human beings and injured at least seven others in Indianapolis, Indiana on Thursday before shooting himself dead. This is the third mass shooting in Indianapolis so far this year. Five people, including a pregnant woman, were killed in a January shooting, and three adults and a child were shot to death in March.

Indiana has some of the weakest gun laws in the United States, a country of lax gun safety laws and more guns than people, where there have been 45 gunshot mass murders in the last month, 147 in 2021 to date, more than one every day (details here).

So far in 2021, 12,421 people have been shot to death in the US, including 87 children under 12, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

More:

“‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens,” The Onion

“These are the victims of the Indianapolis FedEx mass shooting,” Fox 59 News

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Second Mass Shooting In a Week

Ten innocent people, including a police officer, were shot to death on Tuesday at a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado. Nine were random shoppers; the officer was responding to reports of the shooting. The murderer, wearing tactical clothing, was armed with an assault-style weapon he bought last week. Also last week: Boulder’s 2018 assault weapons ban was voided by a judge.

This follows a mass shooting in Atlanta last Tuesday, when eight people were murdered by a gunman who bought his high-capacity handgun the same day. Georgia is not among the 14 U.S. jurisdictions with a waiting period for guns purchases, to prevent such impulsive acts of violence.

More:

“‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens,” The Onion

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CDC Funds First Gun Violence Research in 24 Years

In 2019, there were over 39,000 gun deaths in the US, including 24,000 suicides and 400 mass shootings. That’s a health crisis, but a craven Congress blocked medical research into gun violence. Until now:

“Last week, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the recipients of nearly $8 million in funding to 16 research groups across the US to study firearm injury prevention. Their objectives over the next few years are to find ways to enhance safety and lower gun deaths and crime, either by evaluating current strategies in practice or proposing new ones. Research grants on the same topic awarded by the US National Institutes of Health are still under consideration.”

— “Researchers begin the first wave of US-funded gun injury prevention work in decades,” Katherine Ellen Foley, Quartz

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The gun violence solution we’re not talking about

89 percent of Americans want expanded background checks for gun purchases. While background checks make obtaining guns more difficult, they don’t have any effect on gun deaths. what would? Gun licensing. Madeline Marshall of Vox explains.

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San Francisco Declares the NRA a Domestic Terrorist Organization

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has passed a resolution declaring the National Rifle Association a “domestic terrorist organization” and urges the city to examine its financial relationships with companies doing business with the group. The Board, the city’s legislative branch of government, passed the resolution unanimously. It reads, in part:

“The National Rifle Association musters its considerable wealth and organizational strength to promote gun ownership and incite gun owners to acts of violence.”

“The National Rifle Association spreads propaganda that misinforms and aims to deceive the public about the dangers of gun violence, and … the leadership of National Rifle Association promotes extremist positions, in defiance of the views of a majority of its membership and the public, and undermine the general welfare.”

More:

“San Francisco just passed a resolution calling the NRA a ‘domestic terrorist organization,’” Eli Rosenberg, Washington Post

“San Francisco Board of Supervisors designates NRA domestic terrorist organization,” Christien Kafton, KTVU News

“San Francisco Declares the N.R.A. a ‘Domestic Terrorist Organization,’” Mariel Padilla, New York Times 

Update:

There’s return fire from the NRA:

“NRA sues San Francisco over city declaring it a domestic terrorist organization,” Zack Budryk, The Hill

“NRA sues San Francisco after city labels it a terrorist organization,” Rebecca Falconer, Axios

“NRA is suing after San Francisco labels it a terror group,” Amanda Watts and Christina Maxouris, CNN

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American Ritual

“A Unique American Ritual: The School Shooting,” a short video from the New York Times.

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