That's kind of silly as it relates to the violence Chicago is currently
facing. Go back 30 years, and the hopeless, impoverished parts of Chicago were pretty much what they are today. And the number of residents applying to UVa - probably pretty much then what it is now. In fact I bet gang participation was pretty similar. But fist and even knife fights from back then have morphed far too much into gun fights now.
Hard to say whether the number of violent incidents were any greater 20 or 30 years ago than they are now. Chicago has long been plagued by these typical inner city problems. But the damage today seems to be far exceeding the damage then. Incidents of bystanders being shot seems to be far greater now than then. Not just in Chicago, but Chicago seems to have become the symbol.
And that is directly related to increased use of guns. We have this crazy romance with guns in this country. I think that if we loved our guns a little less, maybe some of the innocent victims today would only instead be witnesses to fist or even knife fights, and maybe some of the gunshot wounds of today would be black eyes or bloody noses instead.
I don't know what the answer is, because our culture so elevates guns that I am skeptical of the impact of more stringent laws. That wouldn't change the romance. I'd love to see our cultural love of guns reduced a bit.
|
(
In response to this post by PalmyraHoo)
Posted: 09/07/2016 at 1:17PM