The shooting of seven people at a Fourth of July parade in Chicago was arguably the cruellest irony on Independence day. Irregularities, if not the spread of criminality, abound in the United States of America. The assassin from Illinois was ordered held in jail without bond, and more and more questions are being raised as to why he was allowed to buy guns despite alarming police encounters. The suspect, 21-year-old Robert E. Crimo, was accused of climbing onto a rooftop and using a highpowered rifle to spray dozens of bullets on the parade route in Highland Park, a Chicago suburb. There is an astonishing discrepancy in the police version. Crimo is said to have legally bought the gun after the authorities had received two “troubling reports” about him. To quote instances, in April 2019, someone called the police to say that he had attempted suicide.

A few months later, the police seized several knives from him after a relative reported that Crimo planned to “kill everybody”. Months after these incidents, Crimo’s father sponsored his son’s application for a state permit that is required to own guns. The fact that Crimo was then approved for a permit and that he soon bought several weapons, including at least two rifles, have raised questions relating to the application and potency of the firearm laws in Illinois. The recent course of events have made a travesty of the gun law that was signed recently by President Biden. The gun laws of Illinois are among the strictest, but as it turned out the welter of legislations did not stop Crimo from legally arming himself and indulging in the horrendous mayhem on Independence day.

According to prosecutors, Crimo purchased the Smith & Wesson semi-automatic rifle that was used in the attack in 2020, the year after the seizure of the knife. Appearing by video in a Lake County courtroom on Wednesday, Crimo told the judge that he did not have a lawyer. A public defender said that he did not have money to post for bail, but provided little other data about his client. Crimo, according to a prosecutor, used a fire escape to climb onto a roof top in the city’s downtown. He opened fire, emptying a 30- round magazine, then another, and then inserted yet another ~ a third magazine. Police have seized 83 bullet casings. Crimo then left the roof and fled through an alley. Along the way, he dropped the gun, which federal officials soon traced to him. The tragedy on July 4 reaffirms that the national celebration of independence is scarcely a deterrent to the the American habit of shooting people at will. The assassin has made a mockery of a joyous occasion, while the National Rifle Association laughs its way to the bank.