While I was away at PorcFest, a mass shooting took place at a teen party (I think one news account specifically described it as a birthday party) at my American Legion post.
The basic outline seems to be that there was a party at the post, and a group showed up and shot up the affair, wounding five, then fled (and were caught and arrested).
Now one of the five has died, and that victim's family is "pursuing legal action."
Says the attorney involved: "You know, the venue has got a duty to provide reasonable protection against any known dangers and whenever you’re going to have a large party, a lot of people there, there’s the risk of having bad things happen and that’s why there’s know[n] security risks and known security needs."
I disagree, for several reasons.
One is that the only "duty" the venue has is to provide whatever it has agreed to provide.
Another is that "known security risks and known security needs" are contextual. A teen birthday party is not the kind of event that one reasonably expects an armed gang to show up at with murderous intent, unless the teen's father is Tony Soprano or something like that.
A third is that this is a pretty small post building, with a bar. Florida law prohibits concealed carry in such places except by employees.
I doubt that the venue agreed to hire an armed security force for a teen party when the arrangements to host that party wer made. And anyone who was not an employee was legally forbidden to possess the means to defend themselves, let alone the party's attendees.
The only people responsible for the shooting were the shooters.
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