Anti-gun Flash Mob Leaves its Mark on Newark Park

NJ.com

The Art=Ammo flash mob laid down its anti-gun message this afternoon at a Newark park, where more than a dozen volunteers sprawled on the ground as others traced their outlines in chalk, leaving behind a macabre crime-scene collage meant to call attention to gun violence. 

"We think it's really important that people be able to visualize the effects of gun violence," said Nikio Bocour, a project coordinator for Ceasefire New Jersey, who helped organize the event in conjunction with Manhattan-based Art=Ammo.

2 More Dead in Newark

nj.com reports on the latest killings in Newark. I guess someone forgot to tell Newark that in spite of all the gun sales last year, shootings are supposed to be down.

The shootings come after the bloodiest summer in Newark since 1990, with 35 people killed between June 1 and Aug. 31.

The pro-gun voices cannot restrain themselves whenever the incident takes place in NJ or CA or NY. They love to point out that the gun control laws are not working. Well, of course they're not working since other states just a few hours away have lax gun laws and all the availability you can shake a stick at.

What's your opinion? Is the problem in Newark the fact that gun control laws don't work? Or is the problem that gun availability is extremely high all over?

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Mayor Booker's 3-Year Public Safety Report

The Daily Newarker posted the Public Safety Report issued by Newark Mayor Cory A. Booker and Police Director Garry F. McCarthy.

Newark officials attribute 21 percent reduction to overall crime rate

to modern technology, alliances, community engagement and anti-gun strategies;

Newark the second city in the country to Los Angeles in reducing gun violence;

Mayor highlights Newark’s prisoner reentry programs

for dropping participants’ one-year recidivism rate to 10 percent

I haven't been to Newark in years, except for driving in and out of the airport. But even that, combined with what I read on the internet, makes me a bit suspicious of any report describing it as "improved."

At the press conference, the Mayor and Police Director McCarthy displayed crime statistics for the past three years, all of which showed a steady decrease in violence crime, despite an increase in murders in 2009, which saw 77 killings, 10 more than 2008’s total of 67. A list of Police Department highlights for the past three years is attached.

“We must remember that this uptick is still lower than the 2007 figure of 99 killings in Newark, and 107 in 2006,” Director McCarthy said. “We finished 2009 with 30 fewer homicides than in 2006. So while we take pride in these figures and how they validate our efforts, they also remind us that we still have more work to do.”

What's your opinion? Is Newark a good example of the multiple factors which are involved in crime, gun availability being just one? What could be the explanation for the strongly fluctuating murder statistics?

Please leave a comment.

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.

Newark - Another Fatal Shooting

CNN reports on the latest fatal shooting which happened in Newark NJ. 15-year-old Bukhari Washington was shot through the head while sleeping when his downstairs neighbor accidentally fired the semiautomatic rifle he'd bought for protection.

It is a discouraging turn of events for Mayor Cory A. Booker, who has staked his administration on reducing violent crime and creating programs to help at-risk youth.

"Obviously it is frustrating when guns injure or kill people, but when a young person is hurt, it is a deeper blow," Booker said this week. "We are making strides, but at times your success is punctuated by incidents like this that show how much more work there is to be done."

Our friend and frequent commenter Weer'd Beard, who has a wonderful blog by the way, has objected several times to this kind of talk, an idea with which I completely agree. Guns only injure or kill people when one of the people pulls the TRIGGER. I believe this point has been made to me in an attempt to ensure that I don't demonize the guns as evil objects, responsible for the violence. Other commenters, namely Nomen Nescio and Bob S., have made the same point. I get it, truly.

The mayor's point, though, is very clear. They're striving to bring down the criminal activity in Newark, with some good results and this case marks a tragic setback. There have been others.

Washington's death called to mind the slaying earlier in the summer of 18-year-old Sujeiti Ocasio, who was fatally shot hours after graduating from high school, allegedly by another teenage girl with whom she'd had a dispute.

And this one.

The city's most notorious slayings happened a year ago. Assailants shot three college-bound students execution-style behind a deserted middle school after an attempted robbery. A fourth person was also shot in the head but survived.

In Newark it's the proverbial two steps forward and one step back.

Still, the proliferation of illegal guns often seems insurmountable. Last Friday, police raided a public housing complex and seized a small cache of weapons from an abandoned apartment.

The haul included two semiautomatic assault rifles of the type allegedly used by Perry, plus dozens of rounds of ammunition, a 12-gauge shotgun, a .357-caliber revolver and a 9mm handgun, along with a bulletproof vest.

In recent discussions, here and here, we've mainly talked about legal guns. One concern of mine is that some of them end up in the hands of criminals, reducing the overall numbers might help that. I haven't made much headway with my eloquent and convincing commenters. Not yet, anyway.

Here, on the other hand, we're talking about illegal guns. The accidental perpetrator of this crime, although he had no prior convictions, was illegally in possession of the weapon. I believe all the other references to gun ownership in this story are of the criminal variety.

What's to be done? Lock up those bums; throw away the key? I don't think that's working very well in Texas. And not only in Texas where it's not working. When it comes to inner city black or Hispanic offenders, that's throw-away-the-key mentality prevails in many places. It's not working.

I'm not proposing answers. I'm leaving the question out there: what's to be done?