Shelter in Place

April 19, 2013, was one of the oddest days ever.

It started with a robocall from the police. The town of Belmont -- and surrounding communities Watertown, Cambridge and eventually every other one -- were advised to "Shelter in Place." I don't think I'd ever heard the term before.

The manhunt for the Tsarnaev brothers was in full swing. A metro area of 4.5 million basically shut down.

The military presence on the streets of Watertown -- about 120 yards down the street -- looked like an occupation.

A florist caught terrorist Dylann Roof.

***

The chase for Bowlcut Boy (no more references to this murderer's actual name) began about 25 hours ago, after this redneck calmly mowed down nine worshipers at a historic black church in Charleston, S.C.

There was no shutdown of Charleston. No heavy-handed show of force. And when he was taken, his body wasn't riddled with bullets in a "shoot-first, ask-questions-later" cowboy up.

Curiously, few in the media are calling this guy a terrorist. But he is. To be called a terrorist or a thug, you pretty much have to be Muslim or black or worse, both.

Yet there are plenty of white terrorists, especially in this town. 

So the usual SOS went around today. We don't really even flinch any more when this happens. We've got a serious gun problem in this country -- it's too easy to get them, and the firepower is designed to mass murder. Hunters don't use automatic weapons.

Well, maybe shitty hunters do.

NB: It doesn't appear the shooter had an automatic. Nevertheless, mass shootings are way too common.

Along the Pike near Fenway is an electronic counter that tallies the American shooting deaths since Newtown on Dec. 14, 2012. A day or two ago it was already well past 78,000. After Charleston, 80,000 is coming up fast with a bullet.
The NRA terrorists have won. Nothing will change after this.

***

Off the top of my head, here is a list of places that are not safe:

A grade school. Or a high school. Or a college or a university. Or an Amish school. Or a university.
A church. Pick a religion.
A religious compound.
Private property.
A restaurant. Or a McDonald's. 
A movie theater.
A political function.
An Army base.
A Navy base.
A post office.
A community center.
A street.
A business.
A police HQ. Way to go, Dallas!

Even a police HQ can get shot up. Think about that a second.

Want more gun violence? Clicky.

Of course, other places have proven to be unsafe, like:

An airplane.
An office tower.
A federal building.

A marathon.

***

Shelter in Place. Is even that safe any more?