If police cannot.

It’s spooky that the Independence Day shooter at Highland Park drove all the way up from that north Chicago suburb to Madison WI looking for potential targets. Brings it closer to home.

Our little parade in Orchard Ridge had concluded by that time; in any event, no high vantage points in our low-slung neighborhood. A goofy-looking FXXX-er if ever but in certain precincts in MadTown he would blend right in.

The creeps target places where guns are banned — schools, churches, and theaters — or parades and festivals that can be attacked anonymously from afar, providing a getaway. It does seem police could throw up a drone or two to surveil rooftops. After the Waukesha Christmas parade carnage with car, concrete barriers.

Authorities here in Dane County are offering “active assailant preparedness training.” A quick purview of the lesson plan does not include “shoot back at the bastard” but does say “defend yourself.” With what? We repeat: Permit teachers to volunteer to arm themselves.

God can sort them out

Asked a friend if his church was protected by force of arms; he answered it was whenever he took a pew. The Head Groundskeeper hereabouts signed up for his concealed weapon carry license within days of the state law taking effect in 2011. There are over 450,000 of us now in Wisconsin. When we’re asked are we carrying our standard answer is “You don’t want to find out.” But how many of us are armed at any given time? Guessing a small percentage.

The U.S. Supreme Court told State of New York to quit requiring its citizens to come up with a good excuse before they could protect themselves. Our snarky response: if the state cannot do its job …

Police participate in parades but none shot back at the shooter in Highland Park. For that matter, JFK was surrounded by Secret Service and Dallas police on motorcycles but none of then returned fire to the Texas Book Depository. Bad enough that law enforcement in Uvalde TX waited 70 minutes in the hallway outside the classroom while children bled out. Now we learn that a police officer had a clear shot at the perp before he entered the school but awaited the O.K. from his supervisor before taking the kill shot. Isn’t that how we let Osama bin Laden escape justice all those years after being cornered in Bora Bora?

We ascribe that timidity to the War on Cops. Do you want to be the police officer getting his daily close-up on Court TV because there was the slightest chance you might shoot the wrong guy? (Don’t be Lt. Drebin, who took down the knife-wielding nut in a toga before his sergeant informed him it was Shakespeare in the Park performing Julius Caesar.)

Blaska’s Bottom Line: We remain skeptical of Red Flag laws. Illinois has one and is hostile to gun rights in general and look what happened!

If even one parade-goer had fired back might a life been saved?