Trolley Square Shooting

Monday night in Salt Lake City, at a particularly favorite shopping spot of mine, a young man walked in and shot with a shot gun five other people. It was horrifying and it was scary and it was sad. I have been thinking about this for a few days now and a number of things have come up as interesting points to think about as a result.

1. The xenophobia of Utahns, all of whom were quick to point out that the shooter was a refugee from Bosnia, and thus not from here. Not from here.
2. The badness of local media coverage. The broadcast media chose to tell their own story or to interview the same person in three different stories that were supposedly from three different perspectives. The newspaper media chose to run on the front page above the fold a picture of a dead body.
3. The ridiculousness of gun rights conversation. Here in Utah, home of the easiest way to get a gun quickly legislation, the first response to this young man shooting people was not "how'd he get the gun?", it was "if all those people in that mall had a concealed weapon, then they would have been safe." I am someone who is somewhat supportive of gun rights, I think that many people are safe hunters and I think the last thing you want in a society is for the government to be the only one with weapons, but I am also someone who is somewhat supportive of gun control. Seems to me you ought not to be able to get your hands on a shot gun. And - do they seriously think it would be a better idea for a 16 year old girl to be packing at the mall? So she shoots back, then someone thinks she's the shooter, so they shoot her with their concealed weapon, and so on and so on.
4. The bravery of bureaucrats who often get no credit. The hero of the day was an Ogden off duty police officer, yes that's right, from my home town where our mayor would like police officers to have to slam dunk a basketball in order to get their pay. He heard the initial gun shots, looked over the ledge, drew attention to himself so the shooter, instead of killing other people started shooting at him. He is a hero. He is a bureaucrat. He is underpaid: the police officers in Utah can't afford to live in the cities they protect. He should be rewarded for his bravery.

I am sad for these families who have lost their loved ones. I am sad for this young man who somehow got to the place where he felt no other option than to kill people at a mall. I am proud of a police officer who went above and beyond and then said it was just his duty.