Editors note 7/14/22

In the wake of the Highland Park mass shooting, Illinois, with a reputation for having tough gun laws, has joined the rest of the nation in looking for answers. Darren Bailey, Republican candidate for governor, quickly called a press conference to say Illinois already has a red flag law, but in the case of the shooter Robert Crimo, it hadn't been enforced. Reporters were quick to criticize Bailey, who didn't have all his facts right, and he was dismissed as just another Republican trying to avoid tougher gun laws. Now, closer examination of Crimo's prior run-ins with police shows that time after time law enforcement gave this troubled youth the benefit of the doubt, to let him keep his access to guns (see story on page 6). If Bailey and other pols focus on smarter law enforcement that shifts the benefit of the doubt from iffy individuals to the rest of us, that will be progress in this important debate. –Fletcher Farrar