I am very sorry that I must submit another Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence response to yet another mass shooting, but William Baker, a convicted sex offender and thief, walked into the Navistar plant in Melrose Park, where he had not worked since 1994, and opened fire. He killed four innocent former co-workers, injured four more, and then turned the gun on himself.
The Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence extends our deepest sympathies to the families, friends and co-workers of the victims. This time around, I have to count myself as a member of that group. A member of my husband’s family currently works at the Navistar plant. I had to watch the news for the name of a relative. However horrible the feeling of waiting is for the announcement of victims’ names, I never thought, “If only everyone were armed, this would have never happened.”
The desperation of Mr. Baker was not going to be stopped by an armed guard. He was not going to be stopped by some other randomly armed person. The idea that more guns could have prevented the death of four innocent people and/or the injury to four more is ludicrous.
We as a society need to ask ourselves why there even are guns available to a convicted sex offender, a man who was supposed to go to jail the next day for another crime committed against his employer?
My tenure at the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence has taught me that no matter how much we agree with the National Rifle Association that weapons in the hands of criminals is a recipe for disaster, or that the majority of legal gun-owners are responsible collectors or sportsmen, someone will label us gun grabbers and call for a conceal-carry law. This is where we have to disagree.
