Grisly scene in midtown Manhattan

(Photo by Sam Gewitz for The New York Times)

Pardon the bloody photo, but I suppose if the Gray Lady considers it fit to publish, this is the new mainstream and we'd better get used to it. I was having my morning coffee at a cafe in Dupont Circle when the news hit everyone's Twitter feed about the latest mass shooting, this one on 33rd between Fifth and Sixth Avenues near the Empire State Building in NYC. It was quickly announced that this was not a terrorist incident, but was a fired employee getting revenge on his former boss. (The statement that it was not terrorist-related prompted jaded comments that the shooter must be white.) Some of the victims may have been caught in the crossfire between suspect Jeffrey Johnson (who is now dead) and police. NYT reports here. Gawker reports here.

Meanwhile, 19 people were shot in overnight shootings in Chicago. As New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg pointed out, there are a lot of guns out there. I wonder how much more of this would have to happen before right-wingers would admit that the proliferation of guns does not make us safer. Nah, they'd probably deny the problem no matter what.