'Like a battle zone': Witness describes scary moment shots rang out at Highland Park parade

A number of people were killed at a July 4th parade in Highland Park, Illinois, Highland Park police announced in a press conference. The suspect remains at large. CNN's Adrienne Broaddus talks to Zoe Pawelczak, a parade attendee who was present as the shooting occurred. #CNN #News

[donfink]

The Land of the "FREE!" Who the hell would want to live in the USA, where the politicians are more worried about keeping their kick-backs flowing than protecting the citizens.

[dunmatta]

How do people in the military which are trained in firearms have so many restrictions with a rifle yet a citizen can carry it around like a toy in public?

[couragekarnga]

Hey, America, wouldn't it be nice if we had the freedom to go out in public and not think about getting shot? I think so.

[greorbowlfinder]

We are a country without a nation. The only thing we share is/are insults and violence.

[OscarNN]

Can't think of anything more American than this. Happy 4th of July!

[NeilCrouse]

*Last statement on video: "It was disgusting"...*
*Yes, .. yes it was!! And as long as incredibly uninformed and weak Americans allow corporate rule to guide their morals, it will remain disgusting ...*

[scottsmith]

Happy 4th of July!! 10 year olds can be mother's now and mass shootings every other day. Normal day in America. Glad we have such great people to make the changes necessary to fix the problems...Right??? (Note sarcasm for those who don't get it)

[mikeoxbig]

“Thoughts & Prayers.”

- The party of Life & Family values

[tartvtheafricanrepublic]

*How come "the good guys with guns" are always absent when the bad guys go on shooting sprees with assault rifles? This is a very sick society, and what a way to celebrate it's birthday. Also, Glad that NRA came through with Ammo, yet again*

*Totally senseless!*

[tommyoliver]

REPUBLICANS AND THE NRA SENDS THEIR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS. ENJOY YOUR FREEDOM!

[georgecass]

Don't worry everyone will send their thoughts and prayers 🙏 . Then it'll be forgotten about like all the rest .

[Yanquetino]

This woman was in such shock that her emotions were numb. It wouldn't surprise me if this evening she has a serious breakdown as the horror of what she witnessed sinks in. Gawd, what a stupid, senseless country this is.

[DavidJ]

In 1994, Congress passed the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act — commonly called the assault weapons ban.

It prohibited the manufacture or sale for civilian use of certain semi-automatic weapons. The act also banned magazines that could accommodate 10 rounds or more.

In 2004, the Republican led Congress refused to renew the 10 year assault weapons ban after it expired.

Before the 1994 ban:

From 1981 – the earliest year in our analysis – to the rollout of the assault weapons ban in 1994, the proportion of deaths in mass shootings in which an assault rifle was used was lower than it is today.

Yet in this earlier period, mass shooting deaths were steadily rising. Indeed, high-profile mass shootings involving assault rifles – such as the ki//ing of five children in Stockton, California, in 1989 and a 1993 San Francisco office attack that left eight victimsDead – provided the impetus behind a push for a prohibition on some types of gun.

During the 1994-2004 ban:

In the years after the assault weapons ban went into effect, the number of deaths from mass shootings fell, and the increase in the annual number of incidents slowed down. Even including 1999’s Columbine High School massacre – the deadliest MassShooting during the period of the ban – the 1994 to 2004 period saw lower average annual rates of both mass shootings and deaths resulting from such incidents than before the ban’s inception.

From 2004 onward:

The data shows an almost immediate – and steep – rise in mass shooting deaths in the years after the assault weapons ban expired in 2004.

Breaking the data into absolute numbers, between 2004 and 2017 – the last year of our analysis – the average number of yearly deaths attributed to mass shootings was 25, compared with 5.3 during the 10-year tenure of the ban and 7.2 in the years leading up to the prohibition on assault weapons.

Saving hundreds of lives

We calculated that the risk of a person in the U.S. dying in a mass shooting was 70% lower during the period in which the assault weapons ban was active. The proportion of overall gun homicides resulting from mass shootings was also down, with nine fewer mass-shooting-related fatalities per 10, 000 shooting deaths.

Taking population trends into account, a model we created based on this data suggests that had the federal assault weapons ban been in place throughout the whole period of our study – that is, from 1981 through 2017 – it may have prevented 314 of the 448 mass shooting deaths that occurred during the years in which there was no ban.

Michael J. Klein,  New York University
The Conversation
Published: June 8, 2022

[williamriley]

At this rate just imagine how bad things will be 5 years from now.

[DavidJ]

Republicans; "The gun shots you heard was the sound of freedumb. Enjoy!!"

[BillySBC]

Somewhere the US Supreme Court giggles with delight...

[lazerblu]

I'm Shocked... Who could have predicted this?

[Sundae_Times]

In my country, where firearms are illegal, our total annual murder stats (by any means) are in mere triple figures (809 last year), whilst your gun stats alone are 5 figures (20, 982). Adjusted for population size, our total annual rate is 1.2 per 100, 000, compared to the US's 6.3 per 100, 000. And that pattern is consistent in nations where they're banned.

[ghsense]

She seems way too calm for someone who just saw someone just shot in the head

[nnsnumbersandnotesunlimite]

Let us thank the supreme court for the free carry in the streets. Happy times for criminals and lunatics.