Prayers Unanswered by New Gun Law

[Vinnie From Indy]

On a sunny spring afternoon, next to an alley on West Washington Street, a half-dozen people gather around a portable wooden monument with dozens of names written on it. Cars slowly drive by as the people anoint the ground with oil and recite the 23rd Psalm.

This is the site of a recent murder—a young man gunned down by a shooter who wounded several others--and thus the site of the latest prayer vigil held by the Church Federation of Greater Indianapolis. The vigil concludes with coordinator Joe Zelenka leading a unison reading from the fifth chapter of Matthew—“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you . . . “

There has been a lot of such praying this year. As of early this month, there had been 47 homicides in Indianapolis since January 1st, far ahead of last year’s pace, with 85% of the killings committed with firearms.

One would think this kind of carnage occurring in the state’s capitol would cause our General Assembly and Governor to take steps to stop the violence.

But the gun shows at the Indiana State Fairgrounds continue with the Governor’s approval, gun traffickers remain able to make bulk purchases legally in Indiana, and the General Assembly decided this year to hear a “bring a gun to work” bill, designed to block employers from adopting any policy which prohibits employees from having firearms in their locked vehicles parked on company property.

The Chamber of Commerce actively opposed the bill, and a few legislators were not swayed by the lobbying of the powerful National Rifle Association. “I think once and for all we need to tell the NRA, 'Hell, no, you don't have a stranglehold on this chamber,'" Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, told the Gary Post-Tribune.

Yet the bill passed by large majorities in both the Indiana House and Senate.

The very next day, as if to provide prophetic warning to Governor Daniels as he considered whether to sign the bill, a state employee in Portage reacted to a poor work review by going to the parking lot, pulling a shotgun out of his car, and firing at his co-workers.

Surely this frightening object lesson would cause the Governor to see that this law is the equivalent of walking across a busy railroad trestle at random times each day—you may be safe for awhile, but soon enough, disaster will occur.

At least that was vigil coordinator Joe Zelenka’s thinking when he penned a letter to the Governor begging him to consider the effects of the proposed law.

“You have the power to act on behalf of justice and reverse this bill as well as close the Gun and Knife Shows at the State Fairgrounds,” Zelenka wrote. “I will pray that you have the courage to be a peacemaker.”

But Daniels signed the bill into law, and Zelenka’s prayers were not answered.

Which means he will inevitably be offering up more of them, likely outside a workplace near you.

This column is online at http://www.indystar.com/article/20100517/OPINION12/5170303/1002/OPINION/Guns-working-overtime



Fran Quigley
Visiting Professor of Law
Indiana University School of Law--Indianapolis

(reprinted w/author's permission)

[Demeter]

1. Nevertheless, We Must Try

persistence is the key to success, plus good marketing of inconvenient truths.

[Recursion]

2. Only if we like losing

Which of those laws mentioned do you really want to fight for or against, and how would they decrease the murder rate?

[friendly_iconoclast]

3. And by all means avoid awkward questions like:

If restrictive gun laws really cut crime, why haven't they done so in Chicago and other cities in Illinois?

Does Indy have higher or lower murder and violent crime rates than Chicago does?

[proteus_lives]

4. Shh! That a logical question! They hate those.

You're not going to get an answer.

[Demeter]

6. Because a seive doesn't hold water unless you plug up the holes

Do you have any concept how dicey it was for our Founding Fathers to do what they did?

Is this nation so degenerate that something relatively SIMPLE is simply beyond Couch Potato Nation?

There is a point at which a person must rise up and declare him or herself on one side of an issue or another, or have no respect or esteem, self or public.

It is a very hard, painful expensive thing. It is the opposite of "going along to get along" it is the soul of Partisanship, of NOT compromising. I am doing it, right now. And it's not the first time, either. But it is the only way I can look in the mirror. It is the only way to get justice--for myself and my children and my neighbors and my nation.

Patriotism is a very humble, menial thing. Like housework, except you can't hire anybody to do it.

[friendly_iconoclast]

7. A fine speech- which really doesn't answer the questions asked.

The truth is, restricting non-criminal gun owners in the vain attempt to control the criminal misuse of guns hasn't
worked, and the recent rise in gun ownership nationwide coincides (though I do not claim causality) with a decline in the rates of murder and other violent crimes.

What exactly are you proposing?

[shadowrider]

8. Is this nation so degenerate that something relatively SIMPLE

Ok, what's the simple solution?

[rrneck]

9. No fair asking for actual solutions. That would be too much like right. nt

[shadowrider]

10. They haven't answered either

[DonP]

12. "... a person must rise up ..." They have and gun control lost and will continue to lose

After the so called AWB people did rise up and protest. The result was the elections in 1994 and a lot of subsequent laws being passed that allow the law abiding concealed carry in all but 2 states. The fight for more gun control is all but over for anyone paying attention and the gun control side lost.

The NRA had 72,000 people at their annual meeting last week. The Brady Gun Control group has no membership. There are thousands of pro gun and shooting sports boards on the web and not a single gun control web site with any readership I've been able to find.

Instead I suggest you advise the mourners to address the social and economic problems that create a climate of violence.

Choosing to battle the constitutionally protected tools that are used by some animals to kill young people is not going to fly anymore. If you want to "Compromise" or "Meet in the middle", all we want to know is what laws are you willing to give up, out of the 22,000 already on the books, to start discussing compromise?

The guns mentioned in the article were very likely not bought at the local gun shows (I think it's something like 1.7% of all crime guns come from gun shows).

They sure as hell didn't come from Illinois either.

[jazzhound]

16. On patriotism

Patriotism is a very humble, menial thing. Like housework, except you can't hire anybody to do it.

I can go along with this. One of my definitions of patriotism involves expending the effort to research a social problem one claims to be passionate about. In conversation after conversation involving gun crime/violence the pro-"control" folks on this board demonstrate that they couldn't care less about aquiring the most basic knowledge on this subject. Ask most of them to describe the difference between a fully automatic rifle and a semi-auto and you'll get a "deer in the headlights" response. Same with the most basic questions involving firearms puchases, or the evolution of gun "control". Why is that? These faux-progressives who claim to love science ----- as long as the scientific findings conform to their uneducated biases. Faux-progressives who rail against those who practice racial, gender and sexual preference bigotry and then display precisely the same heinous behaviour they call others out for. (reducing all gun owners to Neanderthals) Patriots? Hardly.

Is this nation so degenerate that something relatively SIMPLE is simply beyond Couch Potato Nation?

Out of curiosity, what do you see as the root cause(s) of violence in the United States? Do you really see the solution of violent crime in the U.S. as "a simple fix"?! Repeating the query of a fellow member, what exactly is your "simple fix"?

[virginia mountainman]

15. Yep it is..

persistence is the key to success, plus good marketing of inconvenient truths.

This is why the Pro Civil rights side is winning...I myself, has "persisted" for almost 20 years on this subject. Even during the grim early 1990's...Now, I am enjoying the success of our hard work.

[spin]

5. The murder rate in Indianapolis isn't caused by honest citizens ...

Prosecutor: Gang Members Consider Indy 'Little L.A.'
Brizzi Warns Gang Problem Growing In Central Indiana
January 19, 2006

INDIANAPOLIS -- Gang activity is increasing in Indianapolis as West Coast gang members come to see the city as an appealing place to operate, Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said Thursday.

Brizzi said that conclusion -- part of which he reached during a recent trip to Los Angeles to speak with authorities there about gang activity -- should prompt the state Legislature to fight back by passing tougher laws.

"What they are saying in Los Angeles is they're calling Indianapolis 'Little L.A.,' " Brizzi said. "Literally, gang members are coming over from the West Coast, dealing in methamphetamine, dealing in different kinds of drugs, and making Indianapolis their home because it's still virgin territory. It's still open."

Indianapolis police Officer Carlos Trincado concurs that gang activity in Indianapolis is becoming more frequent and more violent.
http://www.theindychannel.com/news/6255691/detail.html

Since the above article is dated 2006, gangs are not a brand new problem. What is currently happening to control gangs?

IMPD steps up patrols in face of rising homicide rates
Updated: May 13, 2010 2:20 PM EDT

Indianapolis - The new chief of IMPD is putting more officers on the streets to combat a rising homicide rate. Nearly twice as many homicides have been committed this year, compared to the same time a year ago.

Police are stepping up in areas like drugs, gangs and illegal weapons, but say none of it will be effective without help from people in the neighborhoods.

Tuesday afternoon, three young men stood over the grave of a friend that was shot and killed in January.

"If you ask me, you ain't going to stop it," said one friend.

Juwann Robinson was the eighth person murdered in Indianapolis this year. According to police, he was the victim of a gang dispute. Police call January one of the worst in the city's history, with 12 people killed.

***snip***

Clay was the 30th person killed in 2010. Metro police are well aware of the numbers - 27 murders at this time last year and 45 so far in 2010. Of those 45 murders, almost half have happened behind closed doors.

"You are going to see more activity as far as combating narcotics, guns and gangs and you are going to see an increase on that," said Lt. Duhamell.
http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=12387188

The problem in Indianapolis is not work place shootings but largely gangs fighting over turf. The solution is not as simple as more gun control but instead involves criminal gangs and the fear of the neighborhoods they operate in. Better policing will help as will strict enforcement of existing law, but still when the people in a neighborhood refuse to cooperate with the police the task of curtailing crime is extremely difficult.

Allowing citizens to carry firearms in their cars to and from work, enables them to have a method of protection available in case of a violent attack on their journey.

[X_Digger]

11. Prayers unanswered by winning the lottery..

Prayers unanswered by having hot woman laugh in my face..

Each of these is just as likely.

[shadowrider]

14. A hot woman laughed in my face once, but it was after I asked her out..:(

[virginia mountainman]

13. You can pray in one hand...and crap in the other...

Lets see which gets filled first...