The murder spree of a still-missing madman in central Maine is resulting in the usual political and social screaming back and forth. Including the loud (and vote-mongering) mea culpa of some Congress-crittur who is betraying his oath of office by in essence calling for the repeal of the Second Amendment, reversing his previous opposition to “assault weapon” bans.
Eighteen dead (originally reported as 22, for some reason) in two different attacks in Lewiston (an important National Guard basing town) by a man with well-known mental illness who is or was a Maine Army National Guardsman is a bitter pill. The city and their families and friends have our sympathy and we share their sorrow.
A recent story reports that several people died when charging at the killer. One of them was actually armed. With a butcher knife. Apparently no one else was armed – at least with a firearm – in either of these two crowded venues. Another woman was shot and killed as she stood at the bar and tried to call 9-1-1.
The blunt truth? Virtually none of these people need to have died at the hands of this monster in human form. Why?
As Rob Morse reminded us recently, one in four Americans owns a gun. Let us say that only one if ten has a handgun suitable for everyday carry. That is still 2-3 of every 100 Americans. Maine is a “permitless concealed carry” state.
But…
People – not even employees – are allowed by State law to have a gun in places that serve liquor to be consumed on-site. In other words, bars and grills and many other places are target-rich environments with little or no risk to the killer.
And apparently the people of Lewiston in these places were “law-abiding” citizens who could not force themselves to care for one another enough to violate a stupid, murderous state law. To be blunt.
But there is more. The people there were not taught the basics of defense against brutal, mad killers. No “duck and cover” – just panic and run away, giving the killer easy shots. Or stand at the bar and pull out your cell phone to dial 9-1-1 while not taking basic precautions. Rush head-on at the murderer giving him time for two shots to your chest.
And depend on 9-1-1? Oleg Volk, over the years, has created some posters addressing that stupidity. Here are a few of his best:
Visit Oleg’s blog and store.
The Price of Liberty 
Oh, and I was thinking (but forgot to add before I clicked on the “Reply” button) Indiana is a little more sane on carry laws. You can carry with you into bars or restaurants that serve alcohol. Supposedly you can even drink if you are so inclined. You just can’t get drunk.
Seems the legislators realized that crooks sitting in the parking lot watching to see who left their guns in the car was, um, sub-optimal.
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No, really? Or did the legislators themselves want to drink in those bars and carry?
‘Tis odd, but of all the places to have a mass shooting – in a saloon (okay, officially a bar and grill) last weekend, Dodge City is not one you’d expect. But four were shot and two died at an early-Sunday-morning shooting spree at the “Central Station Bar and Grill” in Dodge (well away from Front Street and on what used to be the “right side” of the tracks. The killer was captured in Oklahoma a few hours later: at least the two dead men and their killer were Mexican – I’d guess so were the other two victims. A lot different from the Old Wild West days where you were usually required to hang up your guns on a peg when you went into a saloon.
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“Eighteen dead (originally reported as 22, for some reason)…”
Cue Monty Python’s Holy Grail quip, “Got better.” Or maybe, “He says he’s not dead yet.”
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Ah, yes!
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