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As regular readers of this blog know, Chicago has the highest toll of gun violence in the nation. Which is why a billboard there equating an AR-15 with baseball and apple pie strikes many as tone-deaf.

Slide Fire, which markets gun components, has placed an ad on the I-55 Stevenson Expressway in which a baseball glove, an apple pie, the State of Liberty, the American flag and a Christian Ichthys appear next to an assault rifle with the words “Pure American.” The company’s gun stocks enable users to modify semi-automatic rifles for “bump fire,” a tweak that uses a gun’s recoil action to fire multiple shots faster, effectively turning it into a fully automatic assault weapon.

“It sprays like a fire hose,” the company’s sales and marketing manager Brandon Renner told CNN in 2013.

Gun control advocates are offended by the notion that assault rifles are as American as apple pie. “I just think it’s inappropriate to advertise something like that,” said Annette Nance-Holt, who lost her 16-year-old son to gun violence in 2007. “If you just want to advertise a gun, advertise a gun, but don’t” encourage teenagers and children to equate guns with American values, she said.

Responding to the controversy, the Chicago police department said, “military-style weapons belong on the battlefield and not on the street.” Though machine guns are illegal in the U.S., the A.T.F. has ruled that such modified products are legal because the weapons are technically semiautomatic. A similar billboard was just erected in Harrisburg, Pa.

In other news, there has been an average of one school shooting every other school day so far this year. Here is today’s report.

—Jennifer Mascia

A 4-year-old girl was shot during a home invasion robbery in the west Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Tex., Thursday afternoon. The victim was asleep when the break-in occurred. “He took only $30,” the victim’s mother, Amber Brightman, said. “You could have ended a 4-year-old’s life for $30.” Police are looking for the suspects.

—MyFoxDFW

Catherine Willet, 79, was found shot in the head and killed on the bedroom floor of her home in the Bloomfield area of Pittsburgh, Pa., Thursday night, and her husband is in custody. Police said Phillip Willet, 79, who was diagnosed with cancer two days ago, tried to commit suicide but his gun malfunctioned. The victim’s sisters were home at the time, and after the couple argued, one of them heard Catherine Willet say, “Why are you doing this? I love you. Please Phil, I love you.”

—CBS Pittsburgh

Donald Johnson, 61, was shot in the head and killed by his wife, who then took her own life, in the parking garage at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, Thursday afternoon. Police said Terry Johnson, 58, walked into the hospital, where she was an outpatient, and shot herself in the head. MetroHealth Medical Center released a statement that read, “As the Level 1 Trauma Center, we treat the victims of gun violence every day. And each and every time, we are saddened by the plight of the victims, and the families and communities who care for them. This is a community health issue, and one that concerns us all.”

—The Plain Dealer

Justice Tolliver, 17, was shot to death in her family’s apartment in the Chinatown neighborhood of Oakland, Calif., Thursday afternoon. Investigators suspect her 13-year-old brother, with whom the victim was feuding because she accidentally bleached his clothes. Tolliver leaves behind a 3-year-old son.

—SF Gate

A teenage boy shot multiple times in the Hanover/Academy section of Trenton, N.J., Wednesday night is in critical condition. Police did not release a motive. Earlier that day, a 48-year-old man was shot in the leg and stomach during a dispute with a man inside his home.

—NJ.com

An 18-year-old man was grazed in the chest and arm in a shooting outside a community center in the south Beacon Hill area of Seattle, Wash., Wednesday evening. The victim is refusing to cooperate with investigators.

—Seattle PI

A teenager was shot during argument between two men in a Memphis, Tenn., convenience store Thursday afternoon. The victim had gone into the store to get change for his mother. No suspects are in custody.

—WMCTV.com

A man in his 30s or 40s was shot and killed on a Light Rail train in Sacramento, Calif., Thursday night. The victim was arguing with a woman before she shot him. She is in custody.

—News 10

Monnie Joseph Brabham IV, 32, was shot and killed at a gas station in Warner Robins, Ga., Thursday evening. Authorities are looking for two suspects. No word on a motive.

—The Telegraph

A 26-year-old man was shot in the leg in Gardiner, Me., early Thursday. The suspect, Paul Coyne, 32, a convicted felon, has seven active warrants for his arrest. Police do not believe the shooting was random. Coyne is believed to be on the run with his girlfriend.

—Bangor Daily News

Isaac Thomas was shot and killed in a home in Zanesville, Ohio, Wednesday night. A neighbor spotted him running out of the house, bent over and holding his stomach. He made it roughly 60 feet down the road before collapsing in front of a parked car. Neighbors believe the house has been host to drug activity.

—Zanesville Times Recorder

Oliver Crews, 24, and Joshua Fruitree, 25, were shot and wounded in Miami Gardens, Fla., Wednesday afternoon. Crews is in critical condition. Terrance Green, 22, was arrested and charged with two counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. No word on a motive.

—Miami Herald

A man was shot in the stomach during a home invasion robbery in Anaheim, Calif., Wednesday night. The suspects, Andrew Salehi, 25, and Tonal Vantour, 38, hopped in a taxi, which officers stopped. Investigators believe the victim knew one of the men.

—Orange County Register

A volunteer firefighter driving to work found a man shot to death in the road in Stanislaus County, Calif., Thursday morning. Anyone with information is urged to call police.

—Fox 40

Carl Holmes, 25, was shot in the stomach and seriously wounded in a courtyard between apartment buildings on the southeast side of San Antonio, Tex., Wednesday night. A man accused the victim of stealing property from him, sparking a fight. The suspect fled and is at large.

—MySA

Two men, one shot in the chest and one in the mouth, were brought to a Canton, Ohio, hospital by a passerby Thursday night. Detectives were not able to interview the victims because of their condition.

—CantonRep.com

Jessie Liley, 50, was shot and killed after a domestic dispute in Marble Hill, Mont., Thursday morning. Police arrested his brother, Lonnie Liley, 42, at the scene.

—Southeast Missourian

Marcus J. Francis, 31, was wounded when someone shot into his car in Fayette County, Ohio, Wednesday evening. The driver of the vehicle drove the victim to the hospital. Cary L. Howland, 31, who is on probation, is considered a person of interest.

—ChillicotheGazette.com

A 26-year-old man was shot in the chest in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans, La., Thursday night. An 18-year-old man was wounded in a separate shooting around the same time.

—Nola.com

A 27-year-old man showed up at an Erie, Pa., hospital with several gunshot wounds to his legs and groin Thursday night. No word on suspects or a motive.

—GoErie.com

A woman was found shot to death in an apartment in Everett, Wash., Thursday afternoon. Responding officers also found a man who had been stabbed, along with two children who were unharmed. It is unclear what sparked the violence or who is responsible.

—KomoNews.com

A man showed up at police precinct with multiple gunshot wounds in Cincinnati, Ohio, Thursday evening. He had been shot in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood. Officers have a description of the suspect’s car.

—Cincinnati.com

A 28-year-old man was shot while driving in the Portola District of San Francisco, Calif., Wednesday night. He is not cooperating with investigators.

—KTVU.com

Richard Kosterlizky, 30, was shot to death in Muskogee, Okla., early Wednesday. An 18-year-old man has been arrested. Police say the victim and the suspect had an ongoing dispute, and that the victim’s girlfriend was the mother of the suspect’s girlfriend.

—Newson6.com

Kenneth Brock, 68, was found shot and wounded in a home in Starr, S.C., Thursday morning, less than two hours after his son-in-law was shot near the same home. Police believe Brock shot Clyde Furman Tippins, Jr., during a family dispute. S.W.A.T. team members were able to remove Brock from the home without incident.

—IndependentMail.com

A 40-year-old man walked up to a house in Savannah, Ga., Thursday evening and told the person at the door he had been shot. Detectives are investigating.

—Savannah Morning News

A man was shot and wounded in the Fordham area of Bronx, N.Y., Wednesday afternoon. Anyone with information is asked to contact police.

—News 12

Edward Hernandez, 49, was shot in the stomach and killed on the west side of Albuquerque, N.M., Wednesday night. The crime scene is in a remote area, and police are looking for witnesses.

—KOB 4

Ignatius Jerome Lott, 43, was shot and killed in West Palm Beach, Fla., Wednesday night. He is the seventh homicide victim in Palm Beach County so far this year and the fourth in West Palm Beach. Police have not arrested the suspected shooter.

—The Palm Beach Post

Russell Elbert Rowe, 24, was shot multiple times and critically wounded in Laurel, Md., Thursday night. Police believe Rowe may have been confronted by the suspect while he was sitting in his truck. Police are soliciting tips.

—Fox 45