Newsroom blinders

The Chicago Tribune writes about spree killers in the aftermath a recent events in Illinois.

Because spree killers move so fast, police are reduced to combating them with public warnings about where they may be headed next.
...
Killing sprees, though, are all but impossible to curtail. Each of us has to make do with the slim hope that we'll never again hear of this pathology that, within the past few days, terrified so many Midwestern communities.

It's true that the police can do nothing to to prevent a killing spree and that they are hard-pressed to stop the killer in the first few days of the spree. OTOH, the public does have alternatives beyond cowering in fear. They could, uh, maybe, arm themselves.

The murders in Illinois is a case in point. Several of the victims were chosen at random and all were bludgeoned. I don't think it is outrageous to suggest that a handgun might have prevented one or more of the murders.

Not a critical point, but it is not accurate to say that Bonnie and Clyde were stopped by "Louisiana law officers." Four of the six posse members were from Texas including two Texas rangers.