Takin' it to the Streets

“You don't know me but I'm your brother. I was raised here in this living hell. You don't know my kind in your world, fairly soon, the time will tell…” Takin it to the Streets…The Doobie Brothers…Except for abortion and bar closing hours in Georgia, there are few topics that get a crowd revved up like talking about violent crime and the always included subtopic of gun control. It’s impossible to have a conversation about street crime without including the subject of gun control, and equally impossible to discuss gun control without street crime being included. The situation has been exacerbated by states doing away with concealed carry licensing, and basically allowing anyone to pack a gun. Minor incidents of road rage, and disputes over parking spaces, routinely lead to someone pulling out a gun. Pizza delivery kids, neighbors, and some unlucky guy accidently knocking on the wrong door brings a volley of gunfire- the whole country is looking like the goddamn OK Corral. Violence is nothing new, it’s been around since Cain killed Abel with a rock, and people have become inured to it, it’s a daily occurrence. Ask a New Yorker about getting robbed, pushed in front of a subway train, or shot at regularly, they shrug their shoulders and say, “…eh-fuck it… that’s life in the Big Apple…it’s the price you pay for having great restaurants, Broadway shows and pro sports teams…” The immediate response to this carnage from liberals, including Kamala Harris, is to call for aggressive gun control, that’ll solve the whole problem- blame the inanimate object, it’s easier and more politically correct than blaming the human fault. Just outlaw guns, seize them all, and overnight, we’ll have the dawning of the age of Aquarius, peace and understanding will abound. I’m a cynic and I remember what Ernest Hemingway wrote as the closing line in The Sun Also Rises, “…yes, I said, isn’t it pretty to think so...”.  Several large cities, including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles elected ultra progressive mayors, attorney generals and district attorneys, did away with cash bail and created a system of “catch and release” and the result has been chaos. Liberal politicians saw only the massive incarceration of young African American and Latino males. Were these incarceration rates justified? Of course they were. Young African American and Latino males were committing most of the homicides and assaults, and the majority of their victims were African American and Latino. Is there systemic racism at play in society, the police and the courts? Of course there is, systemic racism has been around in every culture since Cain and Abel had that little disagreement. Society has come a long way in understanding race, religion and gender, but it’s an on-going project, and tricky on its best day. Are there issues of wealth, privilege, opportunity, education and street culture that drive a young man to pick up a gun and head out on the street? Of course there are, and some of the best, and most well intentioned, people wrestle with the problem daily, but it’s been tricky and has defied a quick solution. Society is constantly changing, and progress is being made, too slow for some, but progress is being made. One of the problems they face in having a reasonable discussion is there is no discussion, only a heated argument. It’s been further complicated by trying to lump a multi-faceted problem into a single convenient category- guns. Firearms are the most effective means to commit a crime, take a life, or defend yourself, or your family. The gun itself has no conscience, bears no evil, and has no political ideology. It’s simply a tool, a piece of machinery built to do a job. There’s no exact record of the total firearms in private hands, the numbers fluctuate, but everyone seems to agree the number is over 11,000,000 and some estimate it could go as high as 47% of the population. So, from the viewpoint of the Bill of Rights, common sense, and millions of legal gun owners, before you consider restricting, or eliminating, their hobby, outdoor sports, or means of family protection, direct your zeal towards the violent, the mentally unstable, and the twisted personalities who commit the violent acts….