Ain’t that America

The Super Bowl and public mass shootings are core American practices of the 21st century that were bound to be joined eventually:

Several people have been shot after gunfire erupted during the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory rally Wednesday, a police spokesman said. “At the conclusion of the rally there were shots fired west of Union Station near the garage and several people were struck,” said Capt. Jake Becchina, a spokesman for the Kansas City Police Department. Officers have detained two armed people for more investigation, Becchina said. “We need people to exit the area as quickly and safely as possible and avoid the parking garage in order to facilitate treatment of shooting victims,” Becchina said.

Kansas City Police Department said on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Shots have been fired around Union Station. Please leave the area.” It was uncertain how many victims were hit by gunfire, but scanner traffic indicated that there might have been as many as 10 people shot.

This week I’ve been teaching Sides, Tausanovitch, and Vavrek’s The Bitter End. One of that many remarkable pieces of data in the book is this one:

Just a few administrations ago, gun control measures up to and including a federal assault weapons ban were overwhelmingly popular measures that could pass Congress with bipartisan majorities. Despite all the talk about originalism, the idea that civilians should have open access to as much military-grade firearms and ammunition as they please is a quite recent American tradition that is a by-product of an incredibly successful propaganda campaign.