Free Republic

Just weeks before next month’s national election, Sweden has already matched its yearly record of fatal shootings. The fatal shooting of a man in Haninge on Thursday marked the 47th fatal shooting death in Sweden this year, matching the record number of fatal shootings set in 2020. The number of gun deaths increased by 75 per cent compared to last year.

I will never get over the fact that our society seems to produce a steady stream of young men who think it is heroic to murder innocent people. I read their histories. I look at the social science research. I’ve tried to understand the typical pathway they take to get to their evil behavior. The common thing to say about mass shooters is that they have mental health issues, but that’s often misleading. This has been studied in a variety of ways. A majority of mass shooters do not have diagnosed mental illness. It’s mostly the circumstances that drive them...

A New York Times guest essay argued that American gun culture has been made all the more fanatical because of its ties to Christianity. It also claimed that Christianity makes mass shootings more possible. Author Peter Manseau, a religious author, wrote in his Thursday piece, "But many of our fellow citizens don’t just own guns, they believe in them. They believe the stories told about guns’ power, their necessity, their righteousness." Manseau theorized that this is what has happened at the intersection of American Christianity and the Second Amendment. He opened his opinion piece with the question, "Is our gun...

Days after the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, staffers at Men as Peacemakers, a Minnesota group that works with students to break down gender stereotypes and reduce violence, checked in with participants to see how they were feeling. The students, who were mostly white, mirroring the state’s demographics, talked about lockdown drills they had practiced in school, but their responses were not very emotional, said Serrano Robinson, the group's youth restorative program coordinator. The mass shooting at Robb Elementary School on May 24 that left 19 children and two teachers dead “sadly seemed kind of normal” to them, he said....

The Naval Postgraduate School‘s Center for Homeland Defense and Security (CHDS), in conjunction with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), maintains a K-12 school shooting database project as part of their Advanced Thinking in Homeland Security program. They found the need for accurate, detailed information on this subject was paramount to campus safety.The database documents every instance a gun is brandished, fired, or a bullet hits school property for any reason, regardless of the number of victims, time, day of the week, or reason. You can find the entire database here but we will highlight some of the important findings...

Friday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” network contributor Claire McCaskill suggested putting up photographs of mass shooting victims on public display to prevent future shootings. McCaskill, formerly a senator for Missouri, noted the act of putting up pictures of victims on public display was “horrific” but said it would help connect “the facts with the reality of the violence that happened.”

What do people who don’t believe in evil do? They blame inanimate objects. Guns. 19 years ago, a middle-aged unemployed taxi driver carrying two milk cartons full of gasoline walked onto a South Korean subway and started a fire that killed 192 people. That was not a milk carton problem. Nor was it a gasoline problem. 6 years ago, a Muslim terrorist drove a truck into a Bastille Day event in Nice, France killing 86 and wounding over 400 other people. Body parts were being pried out of his wheel wells. That was not a truck problem. Across the long...

Ten of those 52 people who were shot died, authorities said. More than a quarter were wounded in a single police district on the West Side. Memorial Day weekend in Chicago has again lived up to its violent expectations. By Tuesday morning, 52 people had been shot in the city over the holiday weekend, as the Chicago Police Department canceled officers’ days off in anticipation of the historically violent unofficial start of summer. About half of the shooting victims were wounded on the West Side, while the South Side saw about 14 victims. The downtown area, which has seen several...

Should teenagers be forced to go to high school? Here’s President Obama from the State of the Union speech on Tuesday: [Obama]: "We also know that when students aren’t allowed to walk away from their education, more of them walk the stage to get their diploma. So tonight, I call on every State to require that all students stay in high school until they graduate or turn eighteen." Another idea that sounds good as a bullet point in a speech, but not so much in reality.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson imposed a two-night curfew for individuals under the age of 21 within the city's entertainment district on Saturday. The curfew is from 11 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Police will be enforcing the curfew and individuals found in violation will be arrested and fined $691, according to police.

Democratic lawmakers on Saturday responded to shootings in Buffalo, N.Y., and Milwaukee, Wis., that together left more than 10 dead and dozens injured, decrying the violent attacks and issuing calls to action. In Buffalo on Saturday, a gunman walked into a Tops Friendly Market wearing body armor, pulled out a rifle and opened fire, The Associated Press reported. Authorities said the shooter livestreamed the attack. The suspect killed at least 10 people before he was taken into custody by the authorities. Authorities said they are investigating the incident as a hate crime.

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Police are investigating after a would-be robber was shot and killed Wednesday in North Philadelphia. Officials say a male suspect pulled a gun and tried to rob the store on the 1400 block of Master Street around 12:30 p.m. That's when a customer, who has a license to carry, reportedly shot the suspect twice in the abdomen. The suspect died from his injuries at the hospital. A second armed suspect managed to escape during this incident. This is not the first defensive shooting this year that has resulted in the death or injury of an armed suspect....

If ever there were a face of innocence to haunt us as a victim of unthinkably cruel violence, it would be the beautiful and sweet visage of Melissa Ortega.According to a GoFundMe page, Melissa and her mother — both from Mexico — arrived in Chicago in August. In Wednesday's statement, her mother said that the family had been "filled with dreams" about their move to the United States."We imagined a better life here. We came in search of the American Dream we so famously hear of but instead I get to live a nightmare for the rest of my life,"...

Our latest update from the world of detachment from reality showed up in Washington state this week, where legislators are now considering legislation that would reduce the criminal penalties for drive-by shootings. We could sit here all day and scratch our heads over how anyone could believe that we’re being “too harsh” on people who gun down pedestrians from the windows of their vehicles, but that would skip over the rationale being offered. Democratic Representatives in the state legislature said that the sentencing guidelines need to be loosened in the interest of promoting “racial equity.” You really can’t make this...

At 5 p.m. in Denver, the suspect shot two women and injured a man. He then shot and killed a man nearby. Pazen said that the suspect then fired shots at a third location but no one was injured. Officers identified a car associated with the suspect and exchanged gunfire at a fourth location when he disabled the police vehicle and fled to Lakewood, Pazen said. The suspect shot at the Lakewood police, ditched his car and escaped on foot. He entered a Hyatt Hotel and shot at a clerk, who was taken to a hospital. After he left the...

The first shooting began just after 5 p.m., when three people were shot, leaving two adult women dead and one adult male injured... One adult male was killed at a second location, and at a third location, a gun was fired, but no injuries were reported. Denver Police officers identified a vehicle associated with the incident and a pursuit ensued. There was an exchange of gunfire between the suspect and officers... Police in Lakewood received a call of shots fired at a business just before 6 p.m....One person was pronounced dead at the scene... Police were able to get a...

Approximately 2,200 people have been shot during 2021 in Mayor Jim Kenney’s (D) troubled Philadelphia. 6 ABC reports “nearly 1,800” people had been shot and wounded and another 473 had been shot and killed as of December 22, 2021. Overall, Philadelphia witnessed 547 homicides by December 22 as well.

Houston police on Sunday said a suspect has been arrested in connection with the October 16 shooting that killed a deputy and wounded two others. HPD officers and Fort Bend County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a male suspect believed to be the shooter in the murder of Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Deputy Kareem Atkins, 30, and the attempted murders of Deputies Juqaim Barthen, 26, and Darrell Garrett, 28....

BEVERLY HILLS (CBSLA) — Jacqueline Avant, the wife of music executive Clarence Avant, was shot to death Wednesday in an apparent home invasion in Beverly Hills... ...Avant was the wife of 90-year-old music executive Clarence Avant and mother-in-law of Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos. Clarence Avant, who was not injured in the shooting, is known as the “Godfather of Black Music” ....

The Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) is investigating a Friday incident in which a police officer shot a suspect after the suspect attempted to flee authorities. Officers were responding to reports of an armed male suspect, Natango Robinson, chasing another male just before 5 p.m. Friday. When officers arrived and located Robinson, 35, a "struggle ensued and the suspect was able to flee from the officers" and get into his vehicle, the D.C. police department said in a press release. While officers entered Robinson's vehicle in an attempt to get him out, the suspect started driving with one officer...