There’s been another horrific mass shooting, this time at Michigan State University in East Lansing.
LIVE UPDATES: Michigan State University shooting: https://t.co/An0SaJLmwS
• At least 3 people are dead and 5 remain in critical condition
• All of the victims were MSU students
• 43-year-old suspect died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound— NBC News (@NBCNews) February 14, 2023
How do senseless mass shootings keep happening? Well, as of yet, we still don’t have a motive for the shooting. Though we do know that suspect Anthony McRae had apparently been in trouble with the law over gun possession before:
He was sentenced to 18 months in state prison in November 2019 after being convicted of possessing a loaded firearm in a vehicle. He was released from supervision in May 2021.
…
Megan and Tyler Bender, who live on the same street as Anthony McRae, said he moved in with his father about a year ago. They said Mike McRae, Anthony’s father, is a scrapper well-known in the neighborhood.
“He’s never done any harm to anyone,” Megan Bender said. “He’s just an old man, minds his business.”
But police had been called to the residence before because of the sound of gunshots, Megan Bender said. Megan Bender said Anthony McRae would fire out of the back door of the home, she believed for target practice.
So McRae was already known to police before he opened fire at MSU. And according to the law, he should not have been in possession of firearms. He got around being legally barred from owning a gun by pleading guilty to a misdemeanor.
The MSU suspect was arrested in 2019 for carrying a concealed pistol without a permit.
He would then plead guilty to a misdemeanor and prosecutors dismissed the initial felony charge that would have made it illegal for him to own a gun.https://t.co/oLgsXURYgG
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 14, 2023
Michigan State Shooter Had Prior Felony Gun Charge Dismissed By Progressive Prosecutor https://t.co/Nzg8tga9DC
— Phineas Fahrquar (@irishspy) February 14, 2023
According to people like Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin, what McRae did is somehow the fault of Second Amendment advocates who belief in lawful gun ownership:
Rep. Slotkin: "You either care about protecting kids, or you don't… Please don’t tell me you care about the safety of children if you are not willing to have a conversation about keeping them safe in a place that should be a sanctuary." pic.twitter.com/132zwpSzf1
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 14, 2023
“If you believe in the right to bear arms, you don’t care about dead children” — “children” probably tests better in anti-gun focus groups than “college students” — is not nearly as compelling an argument as she thinks it is. In fact, as arguments go, it’s actually quite disingenuous and downright disgusting.
Bodies aren’t even cold yet
— Mostly Peaceful Memes (@MostlyPeacefull) February 14, 2023
And Slotkin doesn’t even care. You know why? Because when she says it’s time to “have a conversation” about gun violence, she means that it’s time to have a conversation about why guns are inherently evil. She doesn’t want to have a conversation about Anthony McRae or his motives or the fact that the laws on the books dictated that he should not possess any firearms and yet he was not deterred by the laws.
And McRae clearly was not deterred by the fact that MSU is a gun-free zone.
I thought the university was a gun free zone.
— Biden My Time (@BidenMyTime_) February 14, 2023
Well, Anthony McRae apparently saw that as a green light to open fire on innocent students. And we’re still not sure exactly why he did it. Seems like that would be an important piece of the puzzle, no?
My interest is right now is the motive of the shooter!
— Dina (LetFreedomReign)🦅 (@HeneinDina) February 14, 2023
All that interest in a motive just disappeared. The shooter is now not part of the story. Straight to blaming guns even though the shooting happened in a massive gun-free zone inside a Democrat-led city. https://t.co/0APT3gayID
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) February 14, 2023
Motive no longer matters to people like Elissa Slotkin. All that matters is that she’s been afforded yet another opportunity to grandstand on the bodies of victims.
Editor’s note: This post has been updated to reflect that McCrae had pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and therefore avoided the same restrictions on gun ownership that would have come with a felony.
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