Gun Violence Ranges From Comic to Tragic

Shooting in The Netherlands

Two people were injured over the weekend when a gun accidentally discharged at a gun show in Evansville, Indiana. Gee, we didn't see that one coming.

We learned about this story, and other gun-related mayhem, at a new blog called mikeb302000. The blog plans to cover the wide array of insanity that ensues when we fail to control guns--and the individuals who possess them.

It was a busy weekend for gun violence, "highlighted" by a shooting that left five dead and 17 wounded at a shopping mall in The Netherlands. A Reuters story on the Netherlands rampage included a passage that should be sobering to all Americans:

A gunman's deadly rampage through a shopping mall was met on Sunday with disbelief by residents of a quiet Dutch town who once thought such carnage couldn't happen in their country.

Dressed in camouflage trousers and a bomber jacket, Tristan van der Vlis opened fire in a parking lot on Saturday and walked calmly into Ridderhof mall, where he killed five people, most of them elderly. He wounded 17 others, one of whom died later.

The 24-year-old gun club member then shot and killed himself.

"This is something you usually see in America, not in the Netherlands," said local resident Martin van der Ploeg as he fixed his motorbike near the mall in Alphen aan den Rijn, 46 km (29 miles) south of Amsterdam

Thankfully, there was more comedy than carnage at the Indiana gun show:

Police say a man who'd been drinking accidentally fired his .45 caliber handgun at a gun and knife show inside the Evansville National Guard Armory, slightly injuring a 72-year-old man and 16-year-old boy.

It happened Saturday at the Tri-State Gun and Knife Show.

The Evansville Courier and Press says 30-year-old Joshua Wilkinson of Boonville is charged with criminal recklessness.

Police say he removed a round from the gun and applied a flex tie before entering. Show organizer Tom Allman says despite a sign banning loaded weapons, Wilkinson cut off the band and inserted a clip.

Police say Wilkinson had a 0.05 percent blood alcohol level. Indiana sets the level for drunkenness at 0.08 percent.

Looks like the Mike B blog won't be running out of material soon. For April 11, 2011, his blog had five posts about gun-related violence around the globe. It's hard to keep up with it all. Here is a video about the accidental shooting in Evansville, Indiana: