After Parade Shooting, 2 Jarring Comparisons

Monday's mass shooting at a parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park has led to some disturbing comparisons:

• Like war: "Those are wartime injuries," Dr. David Baum, who treated victims after the shooting, tells CNN. "Those are what are seen in victims of war, not victims at a parade." He adds: "Having been a physician, I've seen things in ERs, you know, you do see lots of blood. But the bodies were literally—some of the bodies—it was an evisceration injury from the power of this gun and the bullets. There was another person who had an unspeakable head injury. Unspeakable."

• Like war, II: Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth said she hadn't heard gunfire like that since serving in the Iraq war, per CNN, whose link has video of the chaos as the Highland Park gunfire rings out. Duckworth lost both her legs as an Army helicopter pilot in Iraq.
• A push: Duckworth also said the shooting should lead to more gun-safety laws. "Last month, Congress proved that bipartisan compromises on gun safety are possible," she said, referring to the measure signed into law by President Biden, per Politico. "Today proved that we can't stop there." Specifically, Duckworth wants to outlaw assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
• Pushing back: Conservative Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is making the case on Twitter that the problem isn't guns. "Is this going to be another story where some crazy manifesto will be found?" Greene wrote, per Newsweek. "Are we going to be told every 'weapon of war' and amount of ammo he bought yet the public won't be told his prescription drug history or recreational drug history."
• City has a ban: The Daily Beast notes that Highland Park actually has had an assault-weapons ban on the books for about a decade—a ban the Supreme Court let stand back in 2015. The ban offered "little protection," however, given the ease with which people can obtain such weapons elsewhere, per the DB. Of note: Clarence Thomas wrote a strong dissent in that 2015 case, suggesting the matter might be decided differently under the new court.

(More Highland Park mass shooting stories.)