Imagine an eight-year-old splashing about in a public park. Maybe you were that child once, or the child is your son or daughter, your grandchild.

Then imagine you are sitting by a bed in a hospital ward where the child you treasure is fighting for life.

That was the scenario being played out this past weekend in Michigan after a gunman opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle on people in Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad Park.

Nine were injured in the shooting, two of them children. The eight-year-old was hit in the head.

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The shooter – we don’t use the word ‘gunman’ for fear it would glamourise him (and yes, shooters are mostly men) – used a 9mm semi-automatic Glock. Another gun was found where he was staying.

The man shot himself dead before the police could get him. Good riddance you might say, but there is a good chance that he was a victim too.

Victim or not, one thing is certain. He should not have been sold a semi-automatic weapon.

The American obsession with owning firearms is, to most of us,........

© The Irish News