Some of us are old enough to remember the grainy security camera footage out of Columbine. The two little punks waltzing around like they ran the place, guns in hand.
That's pretty much what most people think of when they hear the term "mass shooting." But what most counted by sites like the Gun Violence Archive is quite different.
See, GVA counts anything where more than four people are shot, other than the gunman/gunmen. They don't have to be killed, which is different than what most people think of.
That means many of these are gang-related gunfights where innocent people are caught up in the middle. Of course, I've been saying that for years. Now, though, we've got some video showing exactly what these kinds of "mass shootings" look like.
Well, we don't. It's over at X, and for some reason, the site wouldn't let me embed it, but go and take a look for yourself.
13 people were shot. Three of them died.
And at least some of the combatants sought cover in and amongst people just trying their best not to get shot. They're seeking shelter behind the non-combatants, knowing good and well that someone is trying to kill them.
The presence of full-auto switches should also be noted since those are illegal at the federal level, which shows this isn't due to a lack of gun laws on the books.
They're not really aiming, either. They're just sending bullets flying.
Couple that with seeking cover among the innocents, and what do you think is going to happen?
Again, despite all the protestations to the contrary, this isn't an issue of too few laws. Everything these twerps are engaging in is illegal already. Those guns per probably obtained illegally, too.
No, this is a problem where a large portion of people in this country have no respect for life or the rule of law. They seek cover behind people who just want to avoid getting shot, then return fire from that same point.
In a war between nations, this is considered a war crime. This is something reasonable countries agreed should be forbidden because using human shields is wrong.
But these guys are doing it on video.
How many other people were shot and/or killed not because of any reason other than some gang-banging jackwagon sought cover among people who wanted nothing to do with the gunfire erupting all around them?
I remember the days of the 1990s when drive-bys were the big thing. Someone would just drive by and hose down the sidewalk with gunfire. Innocent people were killed then, too, but at least it seemed the people being targeted just happened to be amongst them when crap went down.
This, though? This is even more disgusting.
These are the kind of people a large portion of our young people revere? These are the people they want to be like? This is the culture that much of Hip Hop has revolved around?
All I see are pathetic pieces of filth who got themselves into something they shouldn't have and expect everyone else around them to pay the price for it.
Let's understand that this isn't some super unusual thing. This is what happens in so many things reported as "mass shootings" by the media. They want us to believe guns are the problem, but they don't often show us this kind of footage. Sure, a lot of time, there isn't any, but why was this clip not all over NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, and Fox News? Why?
Because it doesn't push the narrative that guns are the problem.
Three people were killed and 10 others injured not because our gun laws are too lax, but because one group of people decided to turn a quite night in the neighborhood into something that would make the OK Corral look peaceful by comparison, and another group decided why not use their friends and neighbors as body armor?
That's the problem, and that's what many of these so-called mass shootings really are.
And it tells us where we need to address our efforts.
