This month, this past year, had seen such an uptick in shooting and gun violence. This past Sunday was no exceptions with two mass shooting events within the same township with Beech Grove and Greenwood. Both involved multiple people getting hurt and a few deaths, however the Greenwood shooting came with an armed bystander killing the gunman.
The Greenwood shooter was armed with a rifle and pistol. He killed three and wounded another three before being shot by another bystander. I am extremely conflicted by this. Hear me out.
July 1st, Indiana enacted it's new law no longer requiring someone to have a permit to carry. Basically, if you have the money, you are free to purchases. Responsible or not. This will flood the city with more guns. Amid serious tension across the country as we speak.
Sunday a gunman entered Greenwood mall and opened fire. The first person he shot was someone who was also armed legally under the old law. Two minutes later, the gunman was dead by the hands of another bystander. Everyone labels this bystander as a hero and his picture, of course, is plastered all over social media as a clean cut, responsible, white boy who acted selflessly.
What no one is talking about is had Indiana tightened gun laws after the number of mass shooting the last few years, chances are the gunman would not have had access to guns in the first place has the gunman had access to resources, help, treatment, maybe there wouldn't be six victims of his anger. Greenwood mall has a no firearms policy that obviously no one respects, legal or illegal.
I also am angry over labeling this bystander as a hero. He is lucky at very best that no one else was hurt. He emptied his clip stopping the gunman. Anyone struck in the crossfire could have been fatal. He had no formal training. No military service. No police training. Just gun range and backyard targets.
I imagine he was running through his favorite scenes from any number of "Die hard" or Stephen Segal movies. To me it feels more like he is Indiana's version of Kyle Rittenhouse, an entitled white Karen with no respect or empathy for anyone but himself. I see his picture and wonder if this isn't the latest recruit for the Proud Boys or the Oath Keepers.
I am conflicted because the media, police, and politicians are hailing this guy as a hero, where in as fact, he was just lucky. Are we so callused in America now, that luck is a higher virtue?