Chief's Celebration Ends in Gunfire

 

by Pa Rock

Missourian

Missouri, one of the gun-happiest states in the US, chalked up another mass-shooting yesterday when a victory celebration for the Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs was brought to an end with gunfire that killed one and injured more than twenty others, nine of them children.   Some of the wounded are reportedly in critical condition.   The woman who was killed was a Kansas City area radio DJ and the mother of two children.  There was also a report that the children of the woman who was killed were injured in the shooting.

Two fans tackled and brought down one man with a gun.  Police reportedly have three people in custody who may have played a role in the shooting.

The shooting occurred at the end of the parade route near historic Union Station in Kansas City where more than a million people had gathered to honor the Kansas City Chiefs after their overtime win against the San Francisco 49ers in last Sunday evening's Super Bowl LVIII.  In addition to the Kansas City Chiefs' team members, owners, and management, the crowd also included Kansas City's mayor, chief of police, and many local dignitaries.  One news report stated that over eight hundred area police were on duty in and around Union Station at the time of the shooting.

Missouri's Republican governor, Mike Parson, and his wife were also at the event, and after the report of the shooting, Parson, a former rural county sheriff and gun rights supporter, was throwing out thoughts and prayers like they were parade confetti.

The Missouri Republican legislature has done everything within its power to insure that tragedies such as what happened in Kansas City yesterday go right on occurring.  The state lawmakers have checked every box on the NRA's wishlist.   In Missouri you do not need a permit to purchase rifles, shotguns, or handguns, nor do you have to register any of those weapons.   Owners of guns are not required to be licensed in the "show me" state, and permits to carry are not required, even for concealed handguns or open-carry guns.

The "Wild West" begins at the St. Louis Arch, and our politicians are proud of it.

Stand strong, Kansas City, in defiance of the craziness.   Ignorance and violence cannot be permitted to prevail and rule our lives.