In the last two days there were two stories about innocent people being shot at somebody’s front door. For no reason at all.

The first story was about a 16 year old black kid named Ralph Yarl, a high school junior, who was shot last week when he accidentally went to the wrong house while trying to pick up his two younger siblings from a friend’s house. He was shot by white 84 year old home-owner Andrew Lester who never asked Yarl what he wanted, gave him a chance to turn around, or, by all appearances, had any interaction with him whatsoever.

Other than shooting him.

Yarl survived the shooting, even though he was shot in both the head and the arm — I guess shooting the kid once wasn’t enough for this old cocksucker — but was very seriously injured. There may be permanent damages.

Then, only a few days later, in upstate New York, a 20-year-old woman was shot and killed by a homeowner after the car she was in accidentally went to the wrong address. Kaylin Gillis and three of her friends were trying to find another friend’s house in Hebron, New York, when they mistakenly pulled up to the wrong house. They quickly realized their mistake and were turning the car around when the home-owner stepped onto his porch and fired two shots, one of which struck Gillis.

The group did not even get out of the car.

Because they had no cell phone coverage where they were, the group had to drive five miles to the nearest town to call 911. Emergency responders tried to perform CPR on Gillis, but she was already dead by that time. 

What the fuck is wrong with America?

Some people have argued that the prevalence of “stand your ground” laws has made the situation worse, as it has encouraged people to adopt a “shoot first” attitude.

Maybe.

I don’t know.

But there is something seriously wrong with this country — and I realize I’m not really breaking new ground here — and our complete and unholy obsession with guns.