The Baltimore Sun published an extensive article (which you can access here) that covers the shooting at The Mall in Columbia on January 25 of this year. After reading the piece, I could do nothing but shake my head as the chilling details sounded all too familiar. After the Newtown tragedy, I had become heavily engaged in researching and commenting on gun control issues, including the factors commonly found around mass shooting incidents. This incident at The Mall in Columbia was a textbook case of points that gun rights advocates have been stating all along, but these points seem to fall on deaf ears, or at least they fail to sway those who have an agenda to disarm law abiding citizens.
Key Points
1. The shooter was inspired by the mass shooting at Columbine High School in 1999. He waited until the exact time that the Columbine shooters began their shooting spree to start his own shooting spree. He even committed suicide in the same manner as one of the Columbine shooters.
2. The shooter suffered from mental health issues and indicated in his journal that he had been hearing voices in his head. He also indicated a lack of emotions and feeling of empathy. Although he admitted to hearing voices to a doctor, he did not seek or receive any treatment afterwards.
3. The shooter had been planning the incident for months prior to the January 25th incident. He had been researching mass shootings, especially Columbine.
4. The shooter brought plenty of ammunition and even a bomb that did not detonate. The police have no answer as to why he chose to end his shooting spree at the time he did, as he could have easily kept the shooting spree going.
5. The shooter carried out his plans with a Mossberg 500 shotgun that he purchased on December 10, 2013, well after Maryland's new Firearms Safety Act went into effect on October 1st of the same year, which included an "assault weapons" ban. The shotgun that was used is one of the more popular shotguns available, and is not considered an "assault weapon." It is clear that the shooter had time to reload and plenty of ammo to use. The shooter fired 9 rounds, which is more than this particular shotgun can hold at one time.
During the press conference that revealed all of these details, Howard County Police Chief William McMahon pointed out the need to focus on mental illness. This is something that many gun rights advocates have been saying all along. Nothing in Maryland's Firearms Safety Act of 2013 does anything to address situations like this despite the fact that the Newtown incident, which shares many of the key points above, was used as an excuse to pass the legislation.
I'll leave you with this quote from Mr. Vincent DeMarco of Marylanders to Prevent Gun Violence and my reaction.
Based on what we know, this tragedy could have been much worse. The shooter bought the shotgun he used at a gun store in Rockville, MD in Decemeber of 2013. This was after Maryland's new Firearm Saftey Act of 2013 went into effect on October 1. As a result, the shooter was not able to buy an assault weapon or a magazine that could fire more than 10 bullets at one time. We will never know how many lives were saved because he could not buy an assault weapon such as an AK-47. We hope this will inspire other states and the federal government to also ban these weapons of mass destruction.
Thank goodness that the shooter didn't choose to emulate the Columbine or Virginia Tech shooters and just bought multiple guns with multiple magazines and ammunition. At the end of the day, the tool doesn't matter. It's the mindset of the individual that does matter, but I'm sure for people like Vincent DeMarco, they can't be bothered with things like that when it doesn't suit their political agenda.
Minor edit: Although this was not brought up in the original Baltimore Sun article, another key point that this incident shares with almost every other incident is that it happened in a gun free zone. However, in Maryland a carry permit is almost impossible to obtain anyways since Maryland is a "may issue" state.
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