Multiple Injured After Shooting at South Carolina Mall

[Novara]

Source: Daily Beast

At least 12 people have been injured following a shooting at a South Carolina mall, authorities said Saturday. Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook said three people have been detained in a connection to the non-fatal shooting at a Columbiana Centre Mall in Harbison, South Carolina. Of the 12 people that sustained injuries in the shooting, Holbrook said 10 of them were hit by gunfire and two were injured while exiting the mall. Eight people were taken to a local hospital for treatment and two remain in critical condition. “We don't believe this was random,” the chief said, adding that at least one of the detained individuals opened fire at the mall. “We believe that the individuals that were armed knew each other and there was some type of conflict that occurred that resulted in gunfire.”

Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/multiple-injured-after-shooting-at-south-carolina-columbiana-centre-mall

---

THIS is what happens when everybody thinks they have to carry a gun everywhere.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. It's gang warfare. How do you plan to stop that?

THIS is what happens when everybody thinks they have to carry a gun everywhere.

“We believe that the individuals that were armed knew each other and there was some type of conflict that occurred that resulted in gunfire.”

[Phoenix61]

4. You set the penalty for being caught with an unregistered

firearm so severe it’s just not worth it. You bury a felon caught with one under the jail. Back in the day a DUI was a $50 ticket and people didn’t think twice about playing Beat the Clock at a bar then driving home. Heck, if you got pulled the odds were the cop would drive you home!!! Now it’s $10,000 to keep your license. Most young people who grew up with the new laws just don’t do it. They have DDs, take Uber etc.

[Kaleva]

18. Many mass shootings are done with legal guns.

[oldsoftie]

20. But "mass shootings" are only a tiny % of all shootings. Thankfully.

I doubt this shooting will be with a legally owned gun from the reports. We'll see
But mot gun crimes are with illegally held guns.
Yes, we'd certainly be better off if we had NONE. But there are 300 million & the genie can't be put back in the bottle. So we have to give MASSIVE punishment to those who use them illegally.

[Phoenix61]

22. Massive punishment after the fact isn't working.

During the most recent incident in Panama City Beach police confiscated 75 illegal guns. Seems pretty clear the current penalties are not a deterrent.
UK
Gun homicide rate for England and Wales (2012): 0.7 per 1 million people. Anyone found unlawfully possessing a firearm faces a five-year mandatory minimum prison sentence.

Japan
Gun homicide rate (2012): 0.1 per 1 million people
Jake Adelstein wrote in the Japan Times. "Simply firing a gun carries a penalty of three years to life. And … a yakuza boss may decide a death sentence is more appropriate if his thug miraculously gets released on bail before going to jail [because accomplice laws could get the boss indicted along with his subordinate]." (Yakuza is their version of mafioso)

[oldsoftie]

23. Those countries hardly have any handguns. No comparison.

And we don't have massive penalties in most areas here. And right now we have a bigger problem letting people back out with no bail even when they HAVE been involved with a gun crime.

Regarding the PCB incident, lets follow up and see just what happens to the people who were caught with them. I'll bet you the answer will be "not much". Unless some of the people were already wanted for other crimes. And will we even SEE the results of those arrests?I don't know how to follow up with it & I don't live in that area. But I'd like to see what happens.

[Kaleva]

28. Murder usually carries a stiff sentence

And depending on demographics, the odds of being a victim of a crime committed with a gun can be pretty low. Pretty much zero in my case but high for a poor black person living in an urban area

[hack89]

26. Shooting people has severe penalties

Yet it still happens. They even murder people on occasion. It is almost as if violent criminals don't care about severe penalties.

[Phoenix61]

27. Stiff penalties for having an illegal gun won't stop

violent criminals from having them. It will, however, make it extremely easy to remove them from society for an extended period of time. Other criminals may decide it’s not worth having one at all. They aren’t going to become law abiding citizens but they will be much less lethal.

[hack89]

35. I agree with you. Nt

[rockfordfile]

33. Republicans have made gun problem worst. First don't bring guns into a mall

[Aussie105]

2. Guns are bad.

Seems the message isn't sinking in yet.

[Ziggysmom]

3. More guns and thoughts and prayers....... it never ends.....

[IronLionZion]

5. An armed society is a polite society

South Carolina must be some liberal gun-free zone.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. Here in Philly this past week, ATF cracked a couple gun rings from down there (SC and GA)

They dub it the "Iron Pipeline". Seems this SC mall is not that far from Myrtle Beach, one of the locations that participated in straw purchases that got funneled here.

400 illegal guns in Philly flowed through the ‘Iron Pipeline’

By Peter Crimmins April 11, 2022



ATF officials announced two federal indictments of 14 individuals charged with trafficking about 500 firearms from the Southern states of Georgia and South Carolina to sell in Philadelphia, at a press conference on April 11, 2022. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)

More than 400 illegal guns originally bought in southern states have been tracked to Philadelphia. The office of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms has identified two separate straw purchasing operations in what is called the “Iron Pipeline,” buying guns in bulk and routing them into northern states. Eleven people have been indicted as part of a straw purchasing ring out of Georgia.

“These conspirators purchased nearly 300 firearms from dealers around Atlanta over the course of six months and transported them to Philadelphia for sale on the black market for over $100,000,” said U.S. Attorney Jennifer Williams. A second straw purchasing operation out of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, put over 100 guns into Philadelphia’s illegal market. Three people have been indicted in that ring. Williams described the investigations and indictments while flanked by dozens of the seized weapons, ranging in size from small-caliber pistols and .223 caliber semiautomatic rifles.


ATF press conference on April 11, 2022. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)

Dozens of guns known to have been resold by the two straw purchasing operations are still at large, according to ATF Special Agent Matthew Varisco. ATF investigators noticed some weapons seized from criminals in Philadelphia had been purchased very recently out of state, what Williams called a short “time to crime,” suggesting they were bought with the intent to illegally resell them.

The investigation and indictments across state lines came through the “All Hands on Deck” violent crime prevention program, a coordinated effort of local and federal law enforcement Williams announced last year. Williams said some of the accused gun traffickers are in custody in their home districts of Philadelphia, Myrtle Beach, or Atlanta. Some have been released on bail, and some have yet to be taken into custody.


ATF officials announced two federal indictments of 14 individuals charged with trafficking about 500 firearms from the Southern states of Georgia and South Carolina to sell in Philadelphia, at a press conference on April 11, 2022. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)


(snip)

https://whyy.org/articles/400-illegal-guns-in-philly-flowed-through-the-iron-pipeline/

[robbob]

7. I'm sure the gun manufacturers and their lobbyists in the NRA are just ecstatic

when they hear stories like this. Money money money, got to make the $$$. Illegal pipelines moving guns into tighter regulated states. Guns flowing south of the border to vicious drug cartels. It’s all just gravy to the bottom line. An industry soaked in blood.

[BumRushDaShow]

9. A bunch of weapons that they confiscated with that haul

(including some that I think are even shown in those pics), are ghost guns (assembled from kits).

One would think the big gun manufacturers would be "losing sales" to some guy in a garage with a 3-D printer cranking out parts for kits.

[SCantiGOP]

8. But remember: Guns Don't Kill People,

well, now that I think of it, guns do actually kill people. Kills them very efficiently. In fact, that is what they are designed for.

Never mind.

[Evolve Dammit]

10. We are awash with weapons since O was elected. Hmm. Before that, it seemed pretty consistent with

previous decades of gun ownership. Just observing my region, friends, co-workers, etc. Ammo shortages as a result, the move to AR's and semi-autos, etc. has been the norm. Cuz the Dems are coming to get your guns, Dontcha know. The "jihad". I'm serious.
NRA should be prosecuted for inciting violence as should "people" (and I use the word very loosely) like Nugent, MTG, Drumpf Junior and dozens I have not the desire to remember, including your local gun store owner/operator. This is not a "WELL REGULATED MILITIA" in any sense of the word or what the founders intended.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

12. We have been awash in weapons for decades.

It did not get more so since Obama was elected. The gun humpers use every possible justification to persuade people they need guns, guns, GUNS!

Meanwhile, certain books or teachings are considered so dangerous that young people must not be exposed, even though in the worst possible scenario, they won't die or even be injured from reading them.

[Evolve Dammit]

13. Just pointing out my regional experience. It went up dramatically at that time. Book banning sux.

[Kaleva]

19. I can't find any sources that support your statement.

[Kaleva]

16. The percentage of households in US that own at least one gun has been consistent since 1972

It fluctuates between 37% and 47% hitting the high point in the mid 80's.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/249740/percentage-of-households-in-the-united-states-owning-a-firearm/

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

11. I wonder just how many people wind up injured after

reading some book about gays, or trans people, or . . . .

[J_William_Ryan]

14. There's no political will in Congress

to enact any new firearm regulatory measures.

And if any new regulations were enacted, they’d be struck down by the conservative courts.

[Kaleva]

17. That's because there isn't much demand for gun control from the voters.

While polls may show a majority of Americans support more gun control, the polls don't show how strongly the respondents feel about it and how much effort they are putting into getting elected leaders to pass gun control legislation.

Gun fanatics are single issue voters. Any politician who even hints at supporting more gun control laws loses their vote and these people also donate large sums to organizations such as the NRA. Gun control supporters are not single issue voters and don't send much money to gun control organizations such as the Brady Campaign.

[Novara]

21. i disagree

There are a lot of people heavily invested in making sure gun control issues are consistently discussed and pushed with their elected representatives. The problem is, the entire country has simply thrown up their hands and said "Why bother?" The NRA successfully turned this country against any sensible gun control legislation when not only were there no additional gun controls passed after 20 first graders were mowed down in their school, many gun restrictions were RELAXED. Now the mindset is that everyone knows legislation won't pass so they don't even bring it up anymore. Yes, I blame the NRA.

And yes, gun ownership HAS gone up since the country lost its mind by electing a black president. While the number of gun-owning households has remained steady, the number of guns per household has dramatically increased. It jumped again during the pandemic.

https://www.vox.com/2016/1/21/10801664/obama-gun-sales

snip........

Now a study by Emilio Depetris-Chauvin, an economist at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, Colombia, backs up the Times's report. The study found that Obama's 2008 election had a permanent effect on the number of US guns in circulation. Moreover, the states with the biggest increases in demand for firearms had larger increases in gun-related crimes.

For gun control advocates, the findings pose a troubling dilemma: Efforts to restrict access to guns may actually lead to more guns in circulation — potentially hindering the purpose of such measures.

[Kaleva]

29. According to PEW, about 30% of adults own at least one gun

Of that percentage, about 30% own 5 or more guns.

I'd have to dig to see if that percentage has changed over the years

[niyad]

15. This is the 107th day of this year. There have been 163 mass shootings (four or

more shot or killed, including the shooter). 177 dead. 655 wounded.

Three of those mass shootings occurred in my community. Not the level of Columbine and Aurora, but still. . .


This is the 17th day of this month. In the totals listed above, we have 27 mass shootings, 30 deaths, and 136 wounded. In 17 days.

[ripcord]

24. I'm not sure why we don't crack down on gang activity

But I know making stronger guns laws in pointless because the overwhelming majority are plea bargained down to something not including guns.

[Jilly_in_VA]

25. Don't EVER talk to me

about how terrible Mexico is because of its gang activity etc. We're getting there in a hurry.

[Kaleva]

30. Depends on where you live

[Jilly_in_VA]

31. They're everywhere

and don't think they aren't. Mass shootings are happening in the city where I grew up, which used to average 1-3 murders per year. They're happening where my folks lived before they died, a city that was pretty calm up until fairly recently. And in the city where I lived before I moved up here to northwestern VA. All these cities are completely different and have little in common, even being in different regions of the country.

[Kaleva]

32. They aren't around where I live and the nearest mass shooting was a few hundred miles away.

You are talking just about cities and I don't know what you consider a "city" but the county I live in has a population of a little over 3,000.

[Jilly_in_VA]

34. I don't know where you live (I presume out west)

But maybe they just aren't there yet. Or you don't see them because they're passing through on their way to somewhere else. A lot of this is about drugs and don't think those aren't everywhere or going everywhere.