Gun violence is on the rise in Shanghai in spite of China’s total ban on guns. James T. Areddy blogs for the Wall Street Journal in China Journal:
At midday Friday in Shanghai, a quarrel among five youths sitting at an outdoor café turned rough, according to local reports. Shots rang out and two people were left wounded, one of them falling in a pool of blood and the other clutching his neck as he fled in a getaway car with out-of-town plates.
[…The] shooting was also a loud reminder for many in this giant city that suggests guns are increasingly prevalent in China’s fast-changing society. It’s not a trend as obvious as the rise of other cultural changes, like coffee-sipping in French cafés such as the one where the crime occurred. While guns don’t circulate in China anywhere near as much as in places like the U.S. and Mexico, there are holes in the government’s blanket ban. (See a story on the subject here.)
In the official version, by Xinhua News Agency, one man had a handgun and fired twice after an argument. But a local media report, complete with photos of a bloodstained sidewalk in front of the Lohas Cafe, quoted a witness who suggested an actual gunfight took place, with more of the five men firing shots. (in Chinese here).
The crime scene in front of the outdoor cafe where the shooting occurred. (Photo from xinmin.cn)
