Another Gun-free Zone catastrophe

19-year-old Robert Hawkins of Bellevue opened fire with a rifle at the Westroads Mall in Omaha today. Nine people are dead and several others injured. Hawkins then turned the gun on himself.

Westroads Mall has signs posted banning customers from carrying weapons on the premises. Last week, a grenade had been found at the mall.

Hawkins allegedly left behind a suicide note, claiming he wanted to “go out in style.” Before some local says, “well, nobody saw it coming,” consider this:

KETV said Hawkins had been arrested in the past month on minor charges, including having an open container of alcohol and delinquency. It said he was from Bellevue, Nebraska, but was living in Quail Creek, near Omaha.

One man who described himself as a friend of Hawkins told KETV he had moved from one low-wage job to another and was taking prescription medication for depression, as well as “doing other stuff he shouldn’t have been doing.”

Hawkins had been in trouble at school and with the law, and recently lost a job at a McDonald’s fast-food restaurant, KETV reported.

“He wanted to go out like a star,” said Andrew Bigler, who described himself as a friend of Hawkins. “He had a rough life. He was a good guy. I loved him.”

Just as with Columbine and Virginia Tech, “the system” had plenty of warnings. Hawkins had dealings with the local penal system as well.

Nebraska didn’t recognize the right to carry guns until 2006, when after seven tries, a concealed-carry law gained enough votes to override the governor’s veto. Still, the law is full of holes.

Though a Nebraska license is valid statewide, individual municipalities can choose not to honor it. Unlike Georgia, private businesses can post “no guns” signs, which carry the weight of law. The management of the Westroads Mall chose to post such signs.

As such, law-abiding patrons of the mall were disarmed, a situation which guaranteed Hawkins a target-rich environment with little chance of resistance. Bear in mind that every single mass shooting in the last 20 years has been in a “gun free zone.”

The whole idea of gun free zones is a political cop-out and a craven attempt to dodge some imagined potential liability. Sure, posting such a sign makes customers feel safer. After all, nobody carries guns there, do they?

Well, criminals don’t obey laws. That’s what makes them criminals. If they’re going to break laws against illegal firearms possession and murder, what makes you think they’re going to be deterred by a sign?

The other argument comes from liability. The Brady Campaign did a big push with employers in the 1990s, when concealed carry legislature started taking root in several states. They convinced business owners that, should there be a shooting on their premises, the ownership could be held liable.

That isn’t the case, though I’d like to see the owners of Westroads Mall held accountable for rendering their patrons defenseless. In legal terms, the proprietor can only be held responsible if they provided either motive or means. Otherwise, the person pulling the trigger bears sole responsibility.

No, these signs are at best a touch of feel-good liberalism, and at worst, an announcement that the premises are a disarmed victim zone, ripe for pillage and violence.

An easier and safer choice would be a sign stating something like this:

The Management of the SuperMegaGlobalConglamerate Shopping Complex and its parent company Cyberdine Defense Dynamics request that all weapons remain holstered and in a safe state. In addition, SuperMegaGlobalConglamerate Shopping Complex and its parent company Cyberdine Defense Dynamics shall not be held responsible for any damages arising from misuse of a firearm or other weapon on the premises.

Simple enough? How about this: