cuchulainn
May 3, 2003, 12:15 PM
Typical "22-times more likely" claptrap, blah blah blah
from the Chicago Sun Times
http://www.suntimes.com/output/ontiveros/cst-edt-sue03.html
To solve the problem of violence, we can't be gun-shy
To solve the problem of violence, we can't be gun-shy
May 3, 2003
BY SUE ONTIVEROS SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
It's not even summer. Heck, it's not really even all that warm. Yet once again, we're seeing children in Chicago terribly injured and killed in shootings. Once again, we find ourselves searching for ways to stop the carnage, and the clock is ticking. Soon summer--always the most violent of seasons--will be upon us.
Reasons for the violence have been suggested. Gangs and drugs are a big problem--no doubt about it. Too many people without jobs. Yep.
A lot of suggestions have been made. Send more cops into high-crime areas. Sounds like a plan, although certainly one with political ramifications. Spend more money on pre-school and after-school programs, giving at-risk kids alternatives to gangs. More good ideas. A buy-back program to get weapons off the street. Something else to be investigated carefully.
However, I feel as if we're all walking around the 2-ton elephant in the room: the guns themselves. Without talking about the guns, we're missing a big part of the problem. ''A lot of [the recent violence] has to do with the proliferation and availability of guns,'' said Tom Mannard, executive director of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence.
Actually, we have seen a decrease in gun-related homicides in the last 10 years, according to Mannard. There were 2,000 fewer gun deaths from 1999 to 2000 in this country. However, we're still talking about a shameful number--28,000--of gun-related deaths in the United States.
We've also seen a decrease in the actual number of registered gun owners in that same time period. What we haven't seen is a decrease in the number of guns sold, Mannard said.
''More guns are bought by a smaller group of individuals,'' he said.
And with so many guns still out there, and easily available, it's no wonder we have innocent children being shot while sitting on porches or cleaning their neighborhoods.
It's relatively simple to buy guns, guns and more guns. Mannard told me I'd have no problem getting a license to sell guns. In no time, I could be buying and selling them, and all I'd have to do is keep track of whom I sold them to; that's it. So if one of my buyers decided to sell them on the street to the first person who had a grudge, there would be no real safeguards.
There are some real tough issues we have to grapple with concerning guns if we really want to stop the gun-related deaths and injuries.
Yes, many of the shooters buy their guns illegally, but Mannard, a man with many hard numbers to back up his words, knows that another problem is guns in the home. Too many of the guns people keep for their own security are used to cause the human carnage.
''There is a much greater risk of having a gun in the home than the security it will provide,'' Mannard said. That gun is 22 times more likely to be involved in an accidental shooting than it is to offer personal protection, Mannard said.
''Guns are not an [electronic] security system for your home,'' he said.
If, after knowing the risks involved with gun ownership, parents still want a gun in their home, Mannard said it is imperative for them to keep that gun locked and stored properly. Don't be so naive as to think your kid would never touch that gun.
''There's always a chance your own children will use that gun in a way no parent would ever approve of,'' he said.
Education about the dangers of guns is an important component in this current discussion, Mannard said. For close to 30 years, his group has worked to educate people on gun violence. He wouldn't mind help in that area from others, either. Church leaders could spend some time in the pulpit urging their congregations to get rid of their guns. Educators can keep discussing it in the schools. Law enforcement could make it a part of the way they combat this latest string of shootings.
There's a lot we can say and do about the recent violence. But to not talk about the guns is ignoring a big part of the problem.
Copyright 2003, Digital Chicago Inc.
from the Chicago Sun Times
http://www.suntimes.com/output/ontiveros/cst-edt-sue03.html
To solve the problem of violence, we can't be gun-shy
To solve the problem of violence, we can't be gun-shy
May 3, 2003
BY SUE ONTIVEROS SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
It's not even summer. Heck, it's not really even all that warm. Yet once again, we're seeing children in Chicago terribly injured and killed in shootings. Once again, we find ourselves searching for ways to stop the carnage, and the clock is ticking. Soon summer--always the most violent of seasons--will be upon us.
Reasons for the violence have been suggested. Gangs and drugs are a big problem--no doubt about it. Too many people without jobs. Yep.
A lot of suggestions have been made. Send more cops into high-crime areas. Sounds like a plan, although certainly one with political ramifications. Spend more money on pre-school and after-school programs, giving at-risk kids alternatives to gangs. More good ideas. A buy-back program to get weapons off the street. Something else to be investigated carefully.
However, I feel as if we're all walking around the 2-ton elephant in the room: the guns themselves. Without talking about the guns, we're missing a big part of the problem. ''A lot of [the recent violence] has to do with the proliferation and availability of guns,'' said Tom Mannard, executive director of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence.
Actually, we have seen a decrease in gun-related homicides in the last 10 years, according to Mannard. There were 2,000 fewer gun deaths from 1999 to 2000 in this country. However, we're still talking about a shameful number--28,000--of gun-related deaths in the United States.
We've also seen a decrease in the actual number of registered gun owners in that same time period. What we haven't seen is a decrease in the number of guns sold, Mannard said.
''More guns are bought by a smaller group of individuals,'' he said.
And with so many guns still out there, and easily available, it's no wonder we have innocent children being shot while sitting on porches or cleaning their neighborhoods.
It's relatively simple to buy guns, guns and more guns. Mannard told me I'd have no problem getting a license to sell guns. In no time, I could be buying and selling them, and all I'd have to do is keep track of whom I sold them to; that's it. So if one of my buyers decided to sell them on the street to the first person who had a grudge, there would be no real safeguards.
There are some real tough issues we have to grapple with concerning guns if we really want to stop the gun-related deaths and injuries.
Yes, many of the shooters buy their guns illegally, but Mannard, a man with many hard numbers to back up his words, knows that another problem is guns in the home. Too many of the guns people keep for their own security are used to cause the human carnage.
''There is a much greater risk of having a gun in the home than the security it will provide,'' Mannard said. That gun is 22 times more likely to be involved in an accidental shooting than it is to offer personal protection, Mannard said.
''Guns are not an [electronic] security system for your home,'' he said.
If, after knowing the risks involved with gun ownership, parents still want a gun in their home, Mannard said it is imperative for them to keep that gun locked and stored properly. Don't be so naive as to think your kid would never touch that gun.
''There's always a chance your own children will use that gun in a way no parent would ever approve of,'' he said.
Education about the dangers of guns is an important component in this current discussion, Mannard said. For close to 30 years, his group has worked to educate people on gun violence. He wouldn't mind help in that area from others, either. Church leaders could spend some time in the pulpit urging their congregations to get rid of their guns. Educators can keep discussing it in the schools. Law enforcement could make it a part of the way they combat this latest string of shootings.
There's a lot we can say and do about the recent violence. But to not talk about the guns is ignoring a big part of the problem.
Copyright 2003, Digital Chicago Inc.