Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
The Israeli Walla! website: We are running out of stockpiles, our forces are exhausted, and the lives of the captives are in danger. It is time for a ceasefire deal in Gaza.
Several wounded in an Israeli bombardment of a tent in al-Mawasi, south of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli media: Three wounded, three killed in an ongoing operation in the Gaza Strip.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in southern Lebanon: Israeli artillery shelling targets the outskirts of the town of Shebaa
Al-Qassam Brigades: The targeting took place at the intersection of 'Street 5' with the western line north of Khan Younis
Al-Qassam Brigades: A NIMR armored personnel carrier carrying an Israeli soldier was targeted with an Al-Yassin missile north of Khan Younis
Israeli media: At least two soldiers killed by anti-tank missile fired at Israeli army forces in the Gaza Strip
Local Syrian sources: Mortar shells fell on more than nine villages in the Sweida countryside
Local Syrian sources: Dozens of dead and wounded have arrived at Sweida hospitals as a result of ongoing clashes at several locations in the western Sweida countryside
Local sources: Civilians, including children and women, were injured in the al-Maqous neighborhood of Sweida, in Syria, as a result of ongoing clashes

US gun lobby ironically hails man who shot dead Indiana mall shooter

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 19 Jul 2022 08:51
6 Min Read

The gun lobby in the United States is hailing the armed bystander who shot and killed the Indiana mall shooter after he killed three people and injured two others.

  • x
  • Protestors yell at a man leaving the NRA convention in Houston, Texas, on May 27, 2022 (Los Angeles Times)
    Protestors yell at a man leaving the NRA convention in Houston, Texas, on May 27, 2022 (Los Angeles Times)

The gun lobby in the United States praised the "heroic" acts of the civilian that shot dead the Indiana mall shooter who killed three people and injured two others in the latest mass shooting in the country, trying to further pedal its pro-gun agenda amid a deep divide on the issue.

Jonathan Spariman, 20, opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle in a mall in Greenwood, Indiana, killing a 30-year-old man and a couple and injuring two more, including a 12-year-old girl. The shooting spree came to an end when 22-year-old Elisjsha Dicken, a customer carrying an unlicensed pistol, shot the assailant.

Greenwood Park Mall's parent company, Simon Property Group, just like many others like it, stipulates in its code of conduct that no weapons are allowed in its shopping centers, noting that exemptions to their code of conduct "will be determined by local center management."

Indiana has restrictions on who can possess a handgun, with it being illegal for people who have committed felonies and those under the age of 18 to own or carry one.

Dicken's handgun was unlicensed, but Indiana's new handgun law, which took effect July 1, lifted the permit requirement to carry, conceal, or transport a handgun in the state.

"Many more people would have died last night if not for a responsible, armed citizen that took action very quickly within the first two minutes of the shooting," Greenwood police chief James Ison told a press briefing.

The police found that the shooter had a second assault rifle, a pistol, and large amounts of ammunition, meaning the attack was premeditated. No motive has been concluded thus far.

The US gun lobby found solace in the tragedy that saw several people losing their lives, with the National Rifle Association (NRA), one of the most powerful gun advocacy groups in the United States, taking to Twitter to seize the opportunity to push forward its agenda that an armed public is good for public security.

"We will say it again: The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," the NRA said on Twitter.

We will say it again: The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.
➡️ https://t.co/grNyMOJU0g pic.twitter.com/MlwOwsbSdH

— NRA (@NRA) July 18, 2022

The NRA might not have realized that its advocacy of guns is what got the "bad guy with a gun" the gun he used to kill innocent civilians before requiring the "good guy with a gun" to take someone's life and then praising him for it.

Another group pushing against any restrictions on firearms ownership, the CCRKBA, followed suit.

"We carry guns to defend ourselves and others from criminals and crazy people in sudden emergencies," CCRKBA chief Alan Gottlieb said in a statement.

Related News

Trump to make historic second UK State visit at King's invitation

EU rallies allies as Trump tariff threats push trade tensions higher

"Let me be clear: If more guns made us safer, America would be the safest country in the WORLD," Brady Campaign chief Kris Brown responded to the gun advocacy groups on Twitter. The Brady Campaign is a group calling for stricter gun-control laws.

Here's what we're not going to do: continue to uplift the NRA myth of a "good guy with a gun."

Let me be clear: If more guns made us safer, America would be the safest country in the WORLD.

We need sensible gun laws, not vigilante safety nets. #GreenwoodMall #GunReformNow

— Kris Brown | President, bradyunited.org (@KrisB_Brown) July 18, 2022

Moms Demand Action leader Shannon Watts shared a graph showing how the United States was the country with the most guns per capita but also the country with the most gun-related deaths per capita.

It’s the guns. pic.twitter.com/uvc4Mkr2as

— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) July 18, 2022

2017 data shows that the United States had nearly 400 million guns in circulation when the country's population stood at 325 million. This made for more than 120 guns for every 100 people, the Small Arms Survey project said.

Gun violence claims the most lives in the United States, with more than 24,000 people shot dead since the start of the year, including 13,000 by suicide, the Gun Violence Archives site showed.

The recent spike in tragic shootings has pushed guns to the forefront of a national debate as US leaders grapple with how to reduce the alarming rate of violence.

Two shootings in May that left 21 people dead, mostly young children, at an elementary school in Texas and 10 Black grocery patrons dead in upstate New York revived the US' bitter debate over gun regulation.

US President Joe Biden called on members of Congress to pass tougher laws just a day after a mass shooting in Tulsa, Oklahoma, over a week after a school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, and almost three weeks after a mass shooting in Buffalo, New York City.

The Democrat leader called on lawmakers to raise - at a minimum - the age at which assault weapons can be purchased from 18 to 21. He highlighted the "unconscionable" fact that the majority of Senate Republicans do not want any of these proposals to be debated or come up for a vote.

Other measures include bolstered background checks, a ban on high-capacity magazines, maintaining safe storage of firearms, and allowing for the liability of gun manufacturers for crimes committed using their products.

The US Senate recently passed a bill aimed at curbing the gun violence ravaging the United States, which has been particularly rampant over the past couple of months.

Other measures Biden is demanding include bolstered background checks, a ban on high-capacity magazines, maintaining safe storage of firearms, and allowing for the liability of gun manufacturers for crimes committed using their products.

However, despite the alarming rate of gun violence, the US supreme court ruled in late June that American citizens have the fundamental right to carry arms in public.

The ruling constituted a victory for the National Rifle Association (NRA), and it is the first by the Supreme Court in a major Second Amendment case in a decade.

  • United States
  • Gun Violence
  • Congress
  • The US Supreme Court
  • NRA
  • Gun laws
  • Indiana
  • Joe Biden

Most Read

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Major ambush in Gaza kills 6 Israeli troops, injures dozens

Major ambush in Gaza kills 5 Israeli troops, injures 14

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Israeli soldiers are seen in Beit Hanoun ahead of an operation by the al-Qassam Brigades, undated (Al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)

'Israel' on blast as media exposes report discrepancies in Gaza ambush

  • Palestine
  • 8 Jul 2025
Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

  • Politics
  • 9 Jul 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
The Freedom Flotilla ship Handala as it departs for Gaza, where it aims to break the maritime blockade at a port in Syracuse, Sicily in southern Italy on July 13, 2025. (AFP)
Palestine

Freedom Flotilla's Handala departs Sicily in bid to break Gaza siege

The container ship CMA CGM Laperouse, left, docks at the Georgia Ports Authority's Port of Savannah, Sept. 29, 2021, in Savannah, Ga (AP)
Politics

US shipbuilding woes deepen as tariffs, outdated policies backfire

Gaza war raises ethical questions for ex-Obama, Biden officials
Politics

Mercenary firm tied to Gaza war crimes hires Obama-Biden PR operatives

'Israel' targets children in Gaza collecting water
Palestine

'Israel' strikes Gaza kids fetching water, blames it on 'malfunction'

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS