Nova Scotia, CAN — Police in Nova Scotia, Canada, say that they believe they have located all of the crime scenes from a 12-hour-long massacre over the weekend. The madman killed 19 people, including one female police officer, before he was stopped by police on Sunday night. They have not confirmed that he was shot to death, but that is being assumed at this point.
From all accounts, the rampage was the work of a madman. He dressed up as a police officer, and even disguised his own car to look like a police car. The level of detail and time that this took shows a level of forethought that indicates the shooter was extremely mentally unwell.
“We’re relatively confident we’ve identified all the crime scenes,” Nova Scotia RCMP Chief Superintendent Chris Leather told reporters on Monday. The man lit fire to several residences in his spree, and as those fires are still being investigated, the death toll might go up.
“We believe there may be victims still within the remains of those homes which burnt to the ground,” Leather said.
Police haven’t named a motive behind 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman’s violent attacks.
Gun Control Failed Again
Before the anti-gun crowd has a chance to scream about gun control, they should do a little fact checking. Nova Scotia has what GunPolicy.org categorizes as “restricive” gun laws.
People have to have a license to even own a gun. In order to buy one, there is an extensive background check. Canada’s background check goes beyond criminal and even includes mental health factors. Gun owners must have third party references and their spouses are interviewed before the license is granted.
As for gun stores, they are required to be licensed. They also must keep a record of every sale or transfer–not only of guns but even of ammo! They are also required to follow certain ‘safe storage’ rules even when the store is closed.
What else could they possibly have done to make it more difficult for this bad guy to do what he did? They could start by erasing those restrictive laws that didn’t do a darn thing. Instead, they could allow the citizenry to arm themselves.
This lunatic knew that his odds of being the only armed person were staggeringly high. And sadly, he went unchallenged until police were able to piece together enough information to stop him once and for all.
This massacre was entirely preventable. What a tragic waste of lives.