As Gun-Crime Epidemic Plagues Cities, Legislators Fail To Act
Gun crime is causing a reign of terror in cities across America, but solutions from Congress seem to be ever elusive.
A February, 2008 photo of a New Orleans sidewalk. (Photo/dingler1109 via Flickr)
While Congress refuses to pass gun-control legislation, gun violence in Chicago continues unabated, taking lives in clips of one, two and three at a time.
Gun crime is causing a reign of terror in cities across the United States. This year alone, Chicago’s death toll for gun-related crimes currently stands at 403, with 1,650 shot and wounded. Meanwhile, New Orleans has earned the unenviable title of murder capital. Gun crime is ruining lives and destroying communities, but a solution seems too difficult to legislate.
The problem of gun crime has become too big to ignore. On the Fourth of July weekend, Chicago had a spate of bloody gun battles in which 72 people were shot, 12 of whom were killed, and recently New Orleans is recovering from a seven-day rash of violent crimes that claimed the lives of six, while wounding nine others, including two children.
Experts such as Peter Scharf of Tulane University are especially concerned that children are getting caught up in the violence. Growing evidence indicates children are being wounded and killed not through cross-fire incidents but by perpetrators known by family members.
This summer New Orleans grieved the death of a one-year-old girl who was shot dead in the arms of her babysitter. This sparked a wave of shootings where an 11-year-old girl was killed in a triple shooting that also wounded her cousin of the same age.
In response to this murder spree, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu told the Times-Picayune that “ending murder in the city will not be easy and it won’t happen overnight, and urged more people to get involved to change the culture of violence that robs us of our greatest potential.”
The city’s police superintendent Ronal Serpas said in a statement: “The rash of crimes that have plagued the city over the past couple of weeks represent an unexpected spike. These are not random acts of violence, and it is unfortunate and disturbing that perpetrators are in a state of mind that has no reservation about recklessly opening fire and possibly wounding a child.”
Finding solutions to gun crimes in urban areas has proven elusive. Both Chicago and New Orleans have high unemployment rates.Since the economy crashed in 2008, there has been very little sign of recovery in Englewood, Chicago, where 40.6 percent of its residents live below the poverty line, according to theAmerican Community Survey.
Illinois Rep. Robin Kelly sees a direct link between poverty and gun crime: “When you have the proper data, it helps you with putting together the proper policy recommendation,” Kelly told the local CBS affiliate.
The Democratic congresswoman sees the solution coming with better job opportunities and community involvement.
Kelly admitted that she’s frustrated with Congress’ failure to enact gun control, despite polls showing that most Americans support legislation such as expanded background checks.
Kelly is attempting to revisit gun-control legislation by introducing a bill that would require the surgeon general to make an annual report to Congress on the public health impact of gun violence.
Despite Congress’ lack of agreement on gun-control legislation following the Newtown school shooting, President Obama has made headway in tightening gun laws using executive power.
Between the December 2012 Newtown school-shooting massacre and the Navy Yard killings, Obama proposed 25 separate gun-control initiatives, all of which will elude Congress’ scrutiny, as it will be an executive action that will not require congressional authorization.
Behind closed doors, Obama has also initiated new laws to keep guns away from felons, better coordinate mental-illness screenings, and better prepare local law enforcement and schools to respond to shootings.
But the White House readily admits its actions alone cannot solve the nation’s epidemic of gun violence. Given that expanded-background checks failed, for now, executive orders are Obama’s only option.
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