Greensboro City Council member Zack Matheny brought downtown property and business owners, city staff and media together this morning at Melvin Municipal to enunciate the city's reaction to downtown shooting that happened last week.I agree with Brian's take, although I think he overlooks the slippery slope and eventual repugnant end of suggesting we cover "as much territory" as possible with surveillance cameras. Still, he ultimately comes to the proper conclusion that these onerous proposals dance around the real issue.
As I predicted, the overreaction was swift and comprehensive. -- Yes! Weekly editor Brian Clarey
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Anything but guns
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I'm not a fan of intrusive cameras all over my world, but I am beginning to think that they are going to happen. That's depressing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting, Sue and Beau. Beau, "Anything but guns," is a riff on what I took away from Brian's post, that the proposed new ordinances, while onerous, dance around--do not address-the real problem. They nibble around the edges instead of doing anything that might actually tackle gun violence head on.
ReplyDelete"...my point would be any one convicted of a crime who had a gun would automaticlly receive a 25 year sentence, no parole."
ReplyDeleteMost people convicted of killing someone serve a whole lot less time than that. A guy I knew in high school was convicted of murder and served seven years. He was convicted of possession of a firearm by a felon and sentenced to four years. He would have served less than half that, but he was sentenced concurrently with other crimes, so he did a little more time. His case seems to be fairly typical, from what I've seen and heard. I think that the general public has no clue how quickly criminals -- including violent criminals -- are back on the street after being convicted of crimes. And those on parole and probation are not always followed very closely.
Re: Downtown. Guns and drugs are common. I agree with Zack about tightening up on club owners. But the other things -- curfews, cameras, etc. -- seem pointless. Put more police officers on the street.
"Put more police officers on the street."
ReplyDelete--But that would require the government to spend more money. NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!(jk)
Roch, we've discussed guns before. I'm not one of those "guns don't kill people..." guys but I feel like the problem goes past guns.
The problem is with people's attitudes, bad split-second decisions and a lack of respect for each other which I do believe is amplified by alcohol. I'm not sure this can be remedied with stiff prison sentences or tougher gun laws.
The best way to defend against this problem is proactive security and police work: Clubs that enforce dress codes (prohibiting gang attire), metal detectors and on-foot police seem like the best defense against this.
The cameras? Seems like these aren't going to deter much but they do help catch criminals after the fact, which is also important.
I think the curfew is a dumb idea whose enforcement is going to take up valuable resources. Plus, if there were more all-ages friendly venues downtown that didn't serve alcohol, maybe there would be less potential for violence.
Just think, the officer that took down the shooter COULD have been up the street calling a kid's parents to come pick them up because they were out past curfew. And the shooter might still be on the loose since no images of him were captured on camera.
--Brandon Burgess
I also think that holding club owners responsible for what goes on in their clubs is important.
ReplyDeleteThe owner of the N-Club has manned up and not shied away from the attention this incident brought to his club.
Something happened, he is doing something about it and he is pushing for the community to work together to address the problem. How cool is that?
How often have we heard of violence getting to the point that the police are recommending the clubs get shut down? How many other club owners are willing to hold a press conference?
--Brandon Burgess
"...if there were more all-ages friendly venues downtown that didn't serve alcohol, maybe there would be less potential for violence."
ReplyDeleteThat's a really good idea. Around different holidays, there are some events that bring families downtown, but I agree that having all-ages venues downtown could be a good thing.
"The owner of the N-Club has manned up and not shied away from the attention this incident brought to his club."
Part 1 of your statement happened because of part 2 of your statement. It's about time. There's a lot of history there. One example.
Thanks for the comments, folks.
ReplyDeleteIt's true: A big part of the problem is dumbassery. And it's hard to fight stupid.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna do some writing about this today.