We can't cover every so-called mass shooting that happens, at least by the Gun Violence Archive definition. For one, most of them are gang-related or something like that, and therefore difficult to actually cover from where we are. Second, they're not mass shootings.
But, if enough people get hurt, that becomes a difference without much meaning in the eyes of people who live in these communities.
In Bloomington, Indiana, a shooting over this past weekend resulted in seven people being injured. It was during a homecoming celebration, and the mayor there has some thoughts as to why this happened.
Shockingly, none of them have anything to do with the people responsible.
Bloomington Mayor Kerry Thompson is blaming Sunday morning’s shooting of seven people on Kirkwood Ave., during Homecoming weekend, on Indiana’s gun laws, saying on social media Sunday afternoon that she was planning a push to help make changes.
...But, Thompson said she believes Indiana’s gun laws are at least partly to blame for what happened.
“As we all know, Indiana has lax gun laws that prevent communities from developing safety measures at large gatherings,” she said. “And, while we can ask people not to bring firearms to large public gatherings, it’s not enough.”
Thompson said she would ask for a new law that allows cities to use the same protocols as stadiums and for private events, where people have to go through metal detectors.
The problem is that large public gatherings are public. It's almost impossible to secure something outdoors like that, especially when the general public is invited. While Thompson says there was a law enforcement presence of what should have been sufficient size, the reality is that this area isn't exactly the safest neighborhood out there.
In April, nine people had to seek medical attention due to injuries sustained when gunshots sent a large crowd scattering. Then, in September, a 19-year-old man was shot in the neck on Kirkwood Ave. Then you've got this shooting that took place on November 1, and you're starting to see a pattern here. Three shootings on a single street in the same calendar year and you're not exactly looking at a nice place to go for a midnight walk, you know?
It's not the highest crime area in Indiana, mind you, but the fact that this is happening is telling.
What it's not telling us, though, is that the lack of city-specific ordinances or extra security measures are the issue. The problem is that there are people in Bloomington who seem to think violence is the way to deal with an argument, even if the people they disagree with are in a large crowd. These people care nothing about the safety of others, only about saving face because they're too insecure to handle insults and disagreement.
I'll give her credit for not immediately jumping to screaming about gun control, as I'd expected when I first encountered this piece, but it's still the same kind of thinking, and it's wrong.
Does the violence work better for her if it happens somewhere else? That's all she's doing if she does somehow manage to get the state to approve this level of security for these public events.
And, to be fair, it actually is gun control, because it'll stop good guys with guns, not just at the event itself but for people traveling to and from their vehicles to the event. That's not how any of this is supposed to work.
Either way, I get the desire. I also get that everything behind it is completely wrong.