By Ray Cardello for July 5, 2023, Season 20 / Post 32

It used to be a weekend event in Chicago where we counted the dead and wounded from gun shootings. Now it can be any day of the week, and it might be Philadelphia, Atlanta, or a small town like Naples, Maine. No city or town in America is immune to gun violence from some deranged individual with their agenda. The only thing guaranteed is the Right will call for stricter use of the laws already on the books, and Liberal District Attorneys will call a press conference to plead for more gun laws. Both are feeble demands, but the call for gun control to end these random, senseless shootings is worse than feeble. The claims are lazy. Gun controls have minimal impact on these ridiculous losses of life, for when the dust settles and the facts come out, most of the weapons used in these shootings were obtained illegally. The strictest gun laws in the country will not keep a person hell-bent on injuring and killing people from accomplishing their objective.

Look at the details of the shooting incident in Philadelphia during the holiday weekend. First, people were appalled that the event happened during the 4th of July celebration. Holidays or days of the week mean nothing to these killers. When they snap, they snap, period. The randomness of the shooting is most alarming to me. On the neighborhood security video, we see the shooter, alleged seems senseless when he is the man in the video pulling the trigger, raises the AR-15, and begins shooting round after round into a parked vehicle.

When he finished shooting, five innocent people were killed and two injured. The shooter was soon arrested without incident. Officers arrested Carriker during a chase on foot, and he had an AR-style rifle, a 9 mm handgun, a scanner that tracks emergency response radio traffic, and was wearing a bulletproof vest and ski mask, authorities said.

Authorities are also investigating a since-deleted social media page believed to belong to the accused gunman, 40-year-old Kimbrady Carriker, that includes a series of posts about guns, the Second Amendment, and the “loss of freedoms,” according to a law enforcement source. Initial reports from neighbors of Carriker indicate a growing rage, and many felt he was prone to performing the violent act he acted out on Monday night. This lack of action, not gun control, is the problem. People saw the person’s personality change but did nothing about it. His posts on social media showed he was a ticking time bomb; on Monday, the fuse was lit, and the carnage was left in his wake.

Carriker had no previous record, but many of the shooters recently have had multiple incidents where they were not incarcerated but let back into society to repeat their crimes. These DAs can continue to call for new laws, but until they enforce those on the books, they should skip the press conference and do their jobs.