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Last night I was pissed when dealing with an onslaught of homegrown fireworks displays that I felt were over the top and too dangerous to be occuring in my neighborhood.  I wrote:

This is what makes law-abiding citizens go to the gun shop, buy a gun and use it.  Michael Douglas in Falling Down seems serenely wise to me at this very moment… I would certainly consider using a weapon to defend my home from an onslaught of explosives and weapons touting assholes.

And then incredibly I turned on the news this morning and this is what I saw on WKYC TV-3:

Three Killed in Fourth of July Shooting in Cleveland

A Cleveland Firefighter is accused in the shooting after a dispute over loud noise.

     

A dispute between neighbors turns deadly in Cleveland.           

Police are investigating a triple homicide on Sky Lane Drive. Officers say two men and a woman were killed and a couple others were injured early Thursday.

A 35-year-old Cleveland Firefighter is under arrest in the murders.

Officers say the shooting may have started as a dispute over fireworks being shot in the neighborhood.

I am so sorry for those who lost their lives last night and the family and friends who are now grieving, but this is the state of affairs in our once proud city.  People feel as if they must take the law into their own hands to defend themselves and their property.  I don’t know if there were other underlying causes - the media reports so far indicate a mixed bag of information ranging from the neighbors had a “history of problems” to “they seemed to be such nice people”.  Whatever the underlying cause - this tragedy falls on the steps of city hall and the Mayor’s office.

Our streets and neighborhoods have become isolated, and the people living here are becoming more and more desperate.  People do not feel safe and sooner or later, they will snap.  Unless the Mayor re-evaluates how he intends to enforce our laws, the situation will continue its downward spiral.