At least 65 Dead and 97 Wounded: Mass Shootings 2012

It's a sad night that brings me back to this blog that I've missed so much.

There has been another mass shooting at a shopping mall. Made me wonder how numb I am to news stories like this or how many people I've dishonored by not working harder to fight for protection of the collective good from those who for whatever reason, hold all the rest of us responsible for their own misery.

I don't have any answers but I sure wish there was an easy one.

Here's what a quick search has turned up. It may or may not be a complete list:

January 10, 2012: Three teenagers were shot dead in an ambush in Philadelphia, CBS reported at the time. The 30-year-old suspect opened fire on four teens in a car, killing three and injuring one

 February 21, 2012: Jeong Soo Paek burst into a spa his family owned in Norcross, near Atlanta, Ga. He killed four relatives before turning the gun on himself

February 27, 2012: A 17-year-old student, T.J. Lane, confessed to going into his Chardon, Ohio high school cafeteria and shooting students at random. Three students died and two were hospitalized, The New York Times reported. Lane said he stole the gun from a relative who had obtained it legally.

March 30, 2012: A gunman drove by and opened fire on a crowd of mourners outside a funeral home in Miami, Fla. Two people died and 12 more were injured, the Miami Herald reported. The mourners were gathered for the funeral of 21-year-old Marvin Andre, who also died in a shooting.

April 2, 2012: One L. Goh opened fire at Oikos University in Oakland, California. He killed seven people and injured at least three more. Goh was a former student at the school and was said to be angry that he was expelled for poor behavior, CNN reported.

April 6, 2012: Five African-American men were gunned down in separate incidents in Tulsa, Oklahoma, ABC reported. Police arrested Jake England, 19, and Alvin Watts, 32, and said that the murders were motivated by racism. Three men died and two were seriously injured.

May 29, 2012: Ian Stawicki went to a cafe in Seattle's University district, shooting and killing four people, ABC reported at the time. He then fled to a parking lot and shot another woman before killing himself. He wasn't thought to have known his victims.

July 20, 2012: James Holmes, 24, allegedly broke into a midnight premiere of "The Dark Knigh Rises" in Aurora, Colo., killing 12 people and injuring roughly 60 more. Later, police revealed that Holmes, a doctoral student in neuroscience, spent $20,000 on ammunition and weapons.

August 5, 2012: Seven people died after gunfire broke out at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. The gunman, identified by police as Wade Michael Page, also died in the shooting. He was a white supremacist and the shootings were said to be racially motivated.

August 13, 2012: Three people including a police officer were killed in shootings near the campus of Texas A&M University. The alleged shooter, Thomas Caffell, was said to be obsessed with video games and having financial problems. 

August 24, 2012: Jeffrey Johnson shot a former coworker and injured nine more people before being shot and killed by police. The shooting occurred near New York's Empire State Building during rush hour.  

September 27, 2012: The attack took place inside Accent Signage Systems, where a former employee walked inside the firm's building and fired shots. By the end of the day, five people were dead, including the gunman, who committed suicide, and four others were injured, three of them critically. One of those critically injured died the following day, and another man succumbed to his wounds on October 10. It was the deadliest workplace shooting in Minnesota's history 

October 21, 2012:  Police say three people were killed and four wounded in the Sunday morning shooting at the Azana Day Spa. Authorities spent much of Sunday afternoon looking for Haughton.They say they believe the shooting was related to a domestic dispute.The spa is a two-story, 9,000-square-foot building across from a major shopping mall in Brookfield, a middle-to-upper class community west of Milwaukee.

November 7, 2012: FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -- A parolee who worked at a California chicken processing plant opened fire at the business on Tuesday, killing two people and wounding two others, before taking his own life, authorities said. 

December 11, 2012:  A gunman opened fire in a suburban Portland shopping mall Tuesday, killing two people and wounding another as people were doing their Christmas shopping, authorities said.

 

Tom Emmer Smacked Down By Mark Dayton

Republican Tom Emmer was smacked down by Democrat Mark Dayton when both appeared at Game Fair a huge show for hunters here after he asked about Dayton's previous F rating from the NRA.

Moderator Ron Schara had asked if anyone had any questions for the candidates, Tom Emmer responded, "I do! I do!" Well.. take a listen to what happened next. (I'll put the transcript below)



Tom Emmer: I do. I do. Ah, Senator Dayton you talk about deathbed conversions. Ive explained why I do the things I do. Ah, if you could just explain to me and everybody else here in the state of Minnesota, how is it that you can have an F rating from the NRA and you can sit up here and tell us that you’re gonna defend sportsmen’s rights, you’re gonna defend my right and my children’s right to hunt and fish in this state when you got an F from the NRA? Have you had one of your own ah, deathbed conversions? Well, we wont call it deathbed, but one of your own conversions that you’re sharing with us today?

Mark Dayton: Well, I had a D rating from the NRA in 1982 when I ran for the Senate. I had a two- an A rating in 2000. There were two principal votes you can look em up ah, when I was a Senator. One was ah, banning Cop Killer bullets. And, ah, one reason that I have the endorsement of the Minneapolis Police and Peace Officers Association, Representative, is because I respect the law enforcement men and women. I was on a ride-along last week to, as Ive been several times with a police officer in St. Paul. And those guys wear bulletproof vests every time they go out there. Men and women. And anybody who wants to go out there and see them put their lives on the line to protect us.

And when the police chiefs and the police officers of this state and this nation send to us and say, Those bullets are made to kill us, then yeah, Ill vote to ban em. Does that prevent a law-abiding hunter or fisher, a hunter in this state from, from going out and hunting and fishing? Absolutely not.

How many of you, how many of you own Cop Killer bullets and use em against police officers? Raise your hand. How many ever fire a Cop Killer bullet against a police officer in this state? Raise your hand. Nobody’s, Representative Emmer, nobody. Nobody. And they shouldn't ever happen.

Now I'm going to a, a service, I'm sure you are too sir, next week for a sheriff, a deputy sheriff, in this state, who gave his life, a Maplewood police officer who gave his life. Men and women who die. And their children and their wives suffer for the rest of their lives And if I can prevent one police officer in this state from dying through a Cop Killer bullet I will do so as governor of this state. And I will at the same time support the right of every law-abiding Minnesotan to bear arms, to possess firearms as I do, use those for lawful purposes. And to insinuate otherwise is just, just untrue.

As always, many thanks to The Uptake for their invaluable coverage of Minnesota politics!