Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Trouble in Newark - Mayor Booker Speaks Out

NJ.com reports the latest spate of shootings in the frequently beleaguered Newark.


But on Monday, a spasm of violence jolted the city in daylight shootings that took the lives of three people, including a mother of two described by authorities as an innocent bystander. Seven other people were injured in the three episodes of gunfire.

One of two men killed Monday was awaiting trial in a slaying last year but had been freed when his bail was lowered because of a "witness issue," according to Paul Loriquet, a spokesman for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.

Yesterday, Mayor Cory Booker said there is no indication any of Monday's three shootings are related.

Police director Garry McCarthy said there was no evidence of gang involvement, which is interesting. I thought any inner-city shootings were considered gang related.



"There appears to be no common thread except for the proliferation of firearms," he said.

Mayor Booker decried the number of firearms coming through the city and said the flow is driving the violence. He cited one of Monday's shootings in which two brothers fired upon each other.


"It's a great example. They were illegal guns. They didn't buy them in a store. Too many people here have access to too many guns," said the mayor, who called for tougher enforcement of gun laws.

Why do the pro-gun guys disparage the opinion of mayors of large cities who make these claims? Wouldn't these men have a lifetime of experience in dealing with municipal problems? Wouldn't their opinion be a valuable one?

Why do the pro-gun guys disparage the opinion of police chiefs and directors of large cities who make these claims? Aren't these generally men who have come up through the ranks, men with a lifetime of experience in dealing with municipal problems? Wouldn't their opinion be a valuable one?

Do you think the fact that there is gun violence in a state like NJ which has strict gun laws proves those laws do not work? Or do you think the never-ending violence in places like NJ proves there is gun trafficking from out of state?

Please leave a comment.

13 comments:

  1. NJ has some of the most stringent gun laws in the country. There are states with less stringent laws, more guns, and less crime than NJ.

    At what point does the NJ leadership realize that they don't have a gun problem, but a people problem?

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  2. AztecRed, I think the NJ leadership realizes they have a people problem. What I'm wondering is when will the pro-gun crowd realize a "people problem" is worsened with easy gun availability?

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  3. I've wasted about 30 minutes of my life reading posts and comments on this blog. I have noticed that MikeB is the only anti-liberty commenter. It seems that 100% of the people who visit this blog are pro-gun and pro-liberty. I typically agree that no lie should be left unchallenged, but in this case I think it would be best if all the pro-gun people quit visiting this blog. MikeB's hits would drop to 0 and this blog would disappear. That would also allow us to spend our time productively fighting for personal freedom in other venues.

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  4. Thanks for the Laughs, Mike!
    http://weerdbeard.livejournal.com/528705.html

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  5. J- ah, yes, that anti-liberty crowd! Maybe mike is even anti-American? Commie? Perhaps he 'ought to live over there if he doesn't like America!'

    it is always a hoot reading the 'comments' of the fringe.

    Mike- surely you are aware of a bill in Congress that would allow the states-rights [where have we heard that before??] of one state to apply in another state?

    A gun owner in Vermont could carry his weapon onto the streets of New York City because Vermont allows it.

    The weird world of the wacky right-wing!

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  6. So if it is the easy access to guns that is the problem rather than the degenerates that live in these large population cesspools with the strict gun control, shouldn't the murder and gun crime rate be skyrocketing in the states with less stringent gun control.

    I mean if it is the availability of guns that causes the problems, why would the cities with the most gun control ever have a higher crime rate than the states that do not?

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  7. shouldn't the murder and gun crime rate be skyrocketing in the states with less stringent gun control.

    Ah, the question Mike and his anti-freedom crowd cannot and will not answer. Why are states that are awash in guns & gun owners not some of the most violent in the country? Why has the loosening of CCW laws not lead to an increased violent crime rate and "blood in the streets."

    It's almost as if all of the anti-gunners fearmongering, lies, and hysterics conflict with reality! Imagine that!

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  8. Notice what his opinion actually _was_: "tougher enforcement of gun laws."

    This does not mean "more gun laws," it means "apply the ones we already have."
    If half the money wasted on both sides of the gun issue was invested in enforcing existing laws we'd see a _real_ drop in violence. Laws on the books do nothing without institutional enforcement.

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  9. You guys bring up some good points, except for j, of course.

    The idea that I probably have not made clear enough is that gun availability is not the only factor. As FWM points out, these cities are "cesspools." But my point is, when you've got a "cesspool," with all its social problems and you make guns available, you've got worse problems than you would otherwise have.

    Anonymous is absolutely right about our needing to enforce the laws we do have, but I think we also need to get the States on the same page as far as those laws go, whether that's by federal law or not.

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  10. "but I think we also need to get the States on the same page as far as those laws go, whether that's by federal law or not."

    What a bloody hypocrite you are mike. When the CCW bill failed you were all about "States rights" and letting the states decide what gun control they want.

    You and your ilk are nothing more than hypocritical, authoritarian thugs.

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  11. The used to be a sign in Trenton that said, Trenton makes and the world takes. I am not sure if that sign is still there, but the lack of good paying factory jobs in the northeast and all across America is a leading source of the gun violence. There are the other factors such as the drug trade, but my point is if Trenton was making things again, say like trams and railway cars, than there would be more economic opportunity and wealth in Trenton. As a former decorated combat sailor for the now decommissioned U.S.S. Trenton (L.P.D. 14), I understand the correlation between the lack of jobs and the increase in gun violence. Until America gets it head out of its ass and realizes that it needs to be a producing nation of products besides speculative finance products, than the violence and economic demise of America will continue unabated.

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  12. il principe, You're a barrel of laughs. I hope you're only partly right: "then the violence and economic demise of America will continue unabated."

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  13. America is in decline. No doubt about it. I strongly suggest you read Kevin Phillips book Bad Money. You will see the 2010s is going to be an interesting decade. Lock and load baby!!

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