To Stop Gun Violence, Go to the Source

[Romulus]

from WashPost.com columnist Jabari Asim:

In between going to work and teaching my sons to duck and cover, I never paused to think about gun-control ordinances, and I doubt the predators who tormented our block did either. It was hard to get worked up about such laws, which clearly had little relevance where we lived. In one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in one of the nation's most dangerous cities, it was easier to buy a pistol than to purchase fresh produce.

I recall those days whenever lawyers and lobbyists get together to flap their gums about guns, which has happened fairly often of late."

*snip*

"All this debate tends to overshadow a distressing fact: it is not firearms that disproportionately harm black people; black people disproportionately harm black people. I can't help concluding that folks who really care about the health of besieged communities should concentrate on the shooters instead of the guns."

*snip*

(Quoting William Oliver, an associate professor of criminal justice at Indiana University and author of "The Violent Social World of Black Men."): "How will you deal with the anger that many young black men manifest, which transcends the availability or lack of availability of weapons? Any type of public policy based on guns will not substantially mitigate the fear, anger and hopelessness among African-American males."

That, more than profiteering gun makers, seems worth getting worked up about.

*end*

Maybe someone will "get it" before July 2004 if we hope to win the White House. The fact that the WashPost let this get published shows that there is still hope that someone in the Democratic Party will actualy address the American violence problem instead of posturing at photo-ops.