Shooting at Eastern Market tailgate party raises question: When is enough enough?

That's not surprising. And hardly shocking. And even though news of a double gun murder at a football fan club made national headlines on Sunday night, that reaction was purely knee-jerk: a kick to the leg after a blow to the knee with a rubber mallet.

That's what we do, right?

Spread the word, shrug your shoulders, and maybe say a few prayers, because we decided long ago that this was acceptable.

What other conclusion is there?

Sunday's brawl that turned into a shootout is now just a speck of dust, a soon-to-be-forgotten entry in the bloody, never-ending catalog of gun violence. Of course, a gun was drawn at a party after a football game. It was only a matter of time.

Just last week, a teenager is said to have shot two classmates and two teachers at a high school in the US state of Georgia.

Over the weekend, a man suspected by federal authorities of being a potential assassin camped outside a golf course with a rifle, presumably planning to shoot former President Donald Trump; the gunman was arrested before firing his rifle.

This happened just two months after another potential assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, did shoot at Trump. Eight of them, one of which grazed the ear of the Republican presidential candidate. Will the shooter who was hanging out outside Trump's golf club in Florida soon disappear from the news?

Yes, there will be, just as there will be news about the school shooting last week, and news about what happened in Shed 6 in Eastern Market, and news about almost every other school shooting, mass shooting, high school shooting, club shooting, church shooting, mall shooting, grocery store shooting, campus shooting.

Thoughts. Prayers. Reminiscing.

And on we go.

Except for the families of those shot, maimed and killed. Except for the immediate communities where the shooters unleash their demons and force random, innocent citizens to take cover or barricade their doors, as the students at Michigan State University did last year.

The families of the students killed that night in East Lansing still live with that horror, and always will. The same is true for the families of the two pushy people gunned down under blue skies on Sunday afternoon, just blocks from the only place where we can all still gather and share our throaty, jubilant humanity: Ford Field.

Sports may bring us together, and no team in these parts does that better than the Lions. But why should gathering for a football game and a little cookout protect us from guns when no other public place in American life does, as we learn almost every day?

The man who allegedly pulled the trigger at Eastern Market made the most American of decisions on Sunday, a decision dozens of Americans make every day: He got in a car and took a gun with him. Hell, the culture almost encouraged it.

That's the law anyway — according to the Lansing State Journal, there are about 800,000 concealed carry permits in Michigan. Most of us just have to pay the state $100, take a few safety courses, get fingerprinted, and we're good to go.

Why did the shooter need a gun to possibly drink a few beers, eat a sausage and cheer on the Lions?

He didn't do it.

But he thought he did, and that's the problem. Worse still, we're making it easy for him. And we shouldn't.

As Detroit Police Chief James White said Sunday afternoon:

“Driving, drinking and guns. They don’t mix.”

I would like to ask: What exactly Do mix with weapons?

Hunting? Sure. At home, assuming the guns are locked and safely stowed? Of course. But a tailgate? A sidewalk? A park? Our cars? Unless we're absolutely on our way to a shooting range or hunting or driving home from a gun store?

Absolutely not.

We're all human, and for many of us, the rush of adrenaline and frustration – and, let's face it, alcohol – are too much of a temptation when a gun is on a belt, in a shoulder bag, or in the back of a pair of shorts.

Guns are everywhere. More than one per American. And while most gun owners follow the rules, too many don't. And besides: the rules. They need to be changed.

Maybe the suspected shooter would have taken his gun to the tailgate even if it had been illegal for him to do so. But maybe he wouldn't have done it. And isn't it worth a try at some point?

Because as much as Detroit's police chief wishes we could return to the days of simple disagreements or even brawls – “If you're going to fight, fight. Live to fight another day,” he said – the proliferation of guns and the blessings the state gives us for spreading them throughout society will save us from those days.

The police chief also said:

“We take them to every small conflict… everyone has to have a weapon, it makes them feel strong.”

There are obviously many other factors related to gun violence. And they are complicated.

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell carefully avoided the filth of our gun-obsessed culture Monday afternoon—I don't blame him—when he noted something that might help curb these constant tragedies.

“Let's take care of each other as best we can,” he said Monday afternoon when asked about the Eastern Market shooting.

Yes, let's do that. We support each other. Like his Lions do, and like we often do when we cheer on this team together, high-fiving and hugging each other as strangers.

Do you remember the feeling last January? Shoulder to shoulder in the pubs and smiling? Crying? Laughing?

Sure, you do. Because it's still in us and always will be. And while vibrations can't solve the nearly insoluble problem of gun violence, without the right vibrations there is no solution.

Campbell is right. Let's look out for each other. If we don't, the flood of headlines will continue to pour in and continue to crumble into dust, newsworthy for a minute, remarkable for a second.

Shooting at Eastern Market tailgate party raises question: When is enough enough?

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