Rampant Kansas City Gunfire Renders Westport Remnant Of Past?!?

This Memorial Day weekend brings forth the unofficial start of Summer and yet another mass shooting to Kansas City.

Despite hope that "focused deterrence" championed by police and politicos will help reduce the record-breaking homicide count . . . We notice this year's deadly violence slowly catching up to last year's pace.

And the latest tragic local shooting brings us to a critical question to start the day . . . 

IN AN ERA WHEN MASS SHOOTINGS AT LOCAL GATHERINGS SEEM UNAVOIDABLE: HAS WESTPORT AND THE IDEA OF "ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICTS" BECOME UNSUSTAINABLE?!?

Consider . . . 

- Blame guns or culture . . . The reality is that late night drinking and virtually any trendy local gathering leads to gunfire. 

- No amount of security can stop every instance of shooting and amid the somewhat recent American proliferation of guns and more easily accessible and relatively low-cost advanced weapons (i.e. Semi-Automatic Handguns vs. Saturday Night Specials) -- Like it or not, so many mass shootings indicate that risks have increased. Clarification: TKC isn't advocating any gun control crackdown, but there is no denying the correlation betwixt the rise in American gun ownership with upticks in deadly gun violence -- Again the solution IS NOT to take guns away from law abiding owners.

- Why should taxpayers and so many public resources help sustain booze fests that invariably turn bad?!?

Accordingly . . .

MAYBE IT'S TIME FOR KANSAS CITY TO RETHINK THE "ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT" AND REALIZE THAT THIS IDEA NO LONGER MAKES SENSE GIVEN THE RECENT INCLINATION FOR LOCALS TO OPEN FIRE ON ONE ANOTHER?!?

Rather than repeating one tragedy after another along with unproductive blame games . . . Both policymakers and private biz might better spend their time constructing a new idea of how we use public spaces and if we should spend so much time & effort trying to sustain the legacy of open air late night boozing.

In the meantime, here's the latest report from our cowtown's most recent tragedy . . .

According to Kansas City Police the gunfire started around 1:20 am Sunday morning, east of the Westport and Broadway intersection, after a disturbance in a large crowd led to gun shots.

The shots left 6 injured including one young man who died from his injuries. Police identified him as Jahquan Robinson whose 24th birthday would have been Sunday . . . Kansas City Police say if you saw or heard anything you are asked to call 816-474-TIPS which is anonymous for up to a $25 thousand dollar reward.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .

Witnesses recall screams, sounds of gunshots during deadly Sunday morning shooting in Westport

Ellie Preston, Mathias Miller and other friends were out enjoying a Saturday night in Wesport when the sounds of gun shots had them running for their lives. They recall hearing the deadly sounds

'It's scary, it's definitely scary': Westport locals react to deadly shooting over the weekend

Westport residents were still shaken up Monday, after a mass shooting took place too close to home, for some. Gunshots flew through the front windows of two businesses on East Broadway.

Developing . . .