Like a shot in the dark

Don’s Guns in Indianapolis, in operation for the last 40 years, has always been infamous for its outrageous advertisements.

In the ads, Don Davis, the store’s owner, flips through his various selection of weaponry faster than a coked-up auctioneer, always signing off with his signature phrase, “I don’t want to make any money. I just love to sell guns.”

The reality of Don’s Guns, however, is not so bizarrely entertaining.

Tucked into a strip mall of a poor but growing neighborhood in the northwest corner of Indianapolis, the store seems pretty unassuming.

It shares a parking lot with a shopping mall and a community center and is neighbor to various chain restaurants and locally run businesses and ethnic eateries.

It was quite surprising, then, that recently a man renting a gun opened fire on one of the clerks, who retaliated by shooting and killing him.

The now-deceased inciter of the confrontation was a 26-year-old with no previous noteworthy criminal record.

Where did things go wrong? Was it just a freak occurrence with no possible prevention, or is there more to glean from this incident?

When asked if this shooting would mean any change in operation, Davis responded, “We don’t strip and search everyone that comes in. We’ve been doing this for 40 years. If you put a hole on me, I’ll put a hole on you.”

In bringing the loaded gun into the showroom, however, the assailant was technically breaking protocol.

It seems that could have been easily prevented with a little stricter decorum.
Was this the result of a poorly run business or something more?

Don’s does not, after all, have the best reputation among gun sellers. Following an FBI investigation, it was revealed Don’s Guns is third among the top five dealers selling guns to criminals in the nation.

As of 2010, the store’s gun sales had been linked to roughly 1,900 crimes.

Don argues, however, that he can’t be responsible for what people do with the guns he sells.

Sure, someone like Don can’t really be considered responsible for what someone else does with a gun he sold, but when you’re selling an average of 150 guns a day, who could?

It seems it would be impossible to control the violence and crime in a community that is producing weaponry at such an exorbitant rate.

In the wake of several public shootings, it seems tighter gun control is becoming a necessity in this country, even on the most basic, local levels.

In this case, one inexplicable assault could have been prevented, and one clerk could have been spared from near-fatal injury.

Who knows how many lives could be saved?