Mass Murder in Baltimore City One Victim At A Time
There have been 13 people found dead in Baltimore City since July 20, 2012, the date a gunman killed 12 people in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater. That is according to the Baltimore Sun data base reports.
I realize that striking down 12 people in one bloody incident is newsworthy and cause for national concern, but what about the slow, steady bleeding of people in our major U. S. cities, including Baltimore? Where is the outrage?
There are several differences between the "Batman" shooting and the murders in Baltimore City.
The first difference is, of course, the alleged gunman in the Colorado shooting shot the place up with legally obtained guns. Most, if not all, of the murders in Baltimore City committed since July 20, were mostly likely done with illegal handguns.
The other major difference is that John Holmes, the man arrested for the Colorado mass-murder, was white, as were most, if not all, of his victims. Most, if not all, of the murder victims in Baltimore City are black, as are most, if not all, of the murderers.
I believe the latter difference is probably why our nation is not so much concerned about the killings in our cities.
It is my opinion that we must strengthen our gun possession laws in this country. That means limits on how many and what types of fire arms Americans can legally purchase.
And we must start prosecuting illegal handgun violations to the fullest extent of the law. We need prosecutors who will charge the criminals with violations of the law and judges who will sentence those convicted without any plea bargains or other deals that may lessen any time in jail.
If we continue down the same path we are on, we will most surely see events like what happened in Colorado from time to time and we will most certainly keep seeing the dead pile up in Baltimore and other cites on a daily basis.
Note: As I type this, seven people have been killed in a Sikh Temple shooting, according to the Oak Creek Patch.
John Dorsey
9:23 am on Monday, August 6, 2012
Where is the outrage? The big difference is that a high percentage of the murders in
Baltimore are perpetrated by people involved in drug traffic and drug wars that defile our city and so Baltimorean's, black and white, rarely mourn their passing. It has much less to do with illegal guns. Murderers do not need guns to kill.
Sean Tully
9:49 pm on Monday, August 6, 2012
John, the fact that it is those involved in the drug trade killing others involved in the drug trade doesn't help with the reality that way too many people are dying and, I would argue, making the middle class fearful of living in the city. And, while murderers do not need guns to kill people, I would argue that if the murders by gun were eliminated, Baltimore City would see a huge reduction in the total number.
Baltimore Matt
9:38 am on Monday, August 6, 2012
I think the problem that we have is not the police, the guns, or the laws (these things are fine), I think the problem we have in Maryland is uneven interpretation and execution of the law. If you commit the same crime in different counties within MD you will receive very different penalties. If you commit a gun crime in Dorchester County, you will be spending more time in prison than if you commit the same crime in Baltimore (this is a fact). In some counties criminals will do more time for a misdemeanor than would a felon in Baltimore. Since judges are only given so many slots in the prisons, many times criminals, even those with a long record, are just put back out in the street, sometimes with suspended sentences or probation even though their crimes were felonies.
Sean Tully
9:47 pm on Monday, August 6, 2012
Matt, that's it. If you are a criminal you would be wise to commit your crimes inside the city line as opposed to crossing the line into Baltimore or AA counties.
MDB
10:43 pm on Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Hmmmmmm......I was born in Baltimore and for now I live in Tampa Florida. A concealed weapon permit is pretty easy to get here......As a result there is a lot less crime because the thugs know there is a much higher risk that they will get shot back at. Tighten up control, all you'll do is reward the people who disreguard the law by making us easier targets.
MarJo
1:47 pm on Friday, August 10, 2012
"Most, if not all, of the murders in Baltimore City committed since July 20, were mostly likely done with illegal handguns." - WTH? You couldn't just call Rod Rosenstein's office and ask the number? You must not have heard, but the Feds and the city are doing exactly this with the Exile program and the Gun Offender registry. Arguably it's working, as the homicide number is way, way down since these programs began.
Jack
9:24 pm on Monday, February 18, 2013
The answer is not gun control. The answer is to STOP the war on drugs. Drugs must be legalized or this bloodshed will continue. But people just won't admit it. The government has way too much stock in drugs being illegal. Prisons for profit, the entire judicial system, police, narc officers, it's too imbedded, too deeply ingrained. But I promise you, if drugs were de-criminalized, legalized and taxed, the murder rate would all but vanish in Baltimore.