Call to Heed ‘Missing Voices’ Deflects from Real Violence Solutions

U.S.A. – -(Ammoland.com)- “Killers’ voices are missing from gun violence conversation,” New Prospect Baptist Church pastor Damon Lynch III asserts in a Tuesday opinion piece for Cincinnati’s The Enquirer. He’s referring to “the recent rash of shootings and murders in the city of Cincinnati over a three-day span, leaving 21 shot and 4 dead.”

As it turns out “Four of the people shot were connected to New Prospect Baptist Church, and two of those four died.” It’s fair to ask “Why?”

If we are to listen to Rev. Lynch, it’s due to a lack of “systemic solutions – housing, employment, and education, none of which have been adequately addressed.” But the fact is, “systemic solutions” already exist, just not the kind of fixes that are very popular to point out in “progressive” circles.

You want housing, you get a job. You want a job, you get an education and you demonstrate the proper demeanor that makes your being around an asset rather than a liability.  You want an education, well, school is “free” for K through 12. To dismiss the entire experience as worthless is an insult to those students from urban environments who discipline themselves to study, and who graduate and go on to productive and successful careers.

True, many public schools have become indoctrination centers infested with leftist administrative and public union incompetents, but the blame for that is on the “progressives.” The charge that it’s because they are given the short end of the stick on money simply does not hold up to a basic examination. Cincinnati public schools come in with a shameful district grade of “D.” By comparison, the school district where I live gets an “A.”  Both receive the same amount of spending per pupil from the state, and while my district spends nominally more, that is dwarfed by the federal funding going into Cincinnati.

Revealingly, per an Education and the Public Interest study:

“Public schools spend, in dollars adjusted for both region and inflation, more than Christian Association Schools (CAS) and Catholic schools … $7,743 for Catholic schools, and approximately $5,727 for CAS. For public schools, the comparable average spending figure was $8,402.”

These aren’t the kids the urban weekend death toll headlines are telling us about.

So much for Rev. Lynch’s first three scapegoats. Where he goes next, though, is a real forehead-slapper.

“When the questions are raised on how we stop the violence, I think there is a voice often missing from the conversation,” he says.  “But the voice never heard is that of the killers.”

“We need psychologists, psychoanalysts, psychotherapists and researchers to go into the prisons and speak to those convicted of taking a life to ascertain the deep hidden ‘why’ of violent crime,” Lynch concludes.

Why? There’s nothing deep about it, and as for being hidden, that’s on those deflecting from the truth for political gain. These moral defects are not whole. Whatever answer they would give would be useless, or worse, an invitation to spread finger-pointing, excuse-making, and blame-apportioning.

That’s reminiscent of nothing so much as some lyrics from West Side Story:

“Hey, I’m depraved on account I’m deprived!”

How about they kill because they are indoctrinated, amoral, entitled, unable to control themselves, and thus unfit to move freely among those who are? How about because remorseless murderers are evil?

You’re not going to get into their skulls and then use that to give therapy to an entire population raised under the very “progressive” policies that have resulted in the nonstop ruthless murders Rev. Lynch laments. The truth about urban violence is it’s not about guns (or the made-up political term “gun violence”), but about the inevitable fruits of “progressive” fraud that keeps charlatans in power through an endless cycle of dependency and manipulation.  Yes, race is a factor—not as a cause of violent crime, but as an indicator of populations most influenced and ultimately victimized by a continuing history of destructive collectivist controls over the economy, over education, and over the lives of those who never escape the trap of a corrupt system.

It’s not a Bill of Rights culture and if that does not change, things will only get worse. Everywhere.

The real voice missing from the conversation Rev. Lynch invites is that of black “conservatives” trying to tell their communities the truth. Instead, they’re thanked for their brave efforts by being put down as race traitors, or as Joe Biden puts it, they “ain’t black.”

Case in point, meet Kim Klacik, running for Maryland District #7’s Congressional seat:

“American people have the right to protect their families against criminals and unwell individuals who may seek to harm them,” Klacik asserts on her campaign website. “Business owners have the right to protect themselves and their establishments. Constitutional Concealed Carry reciprocity is strongly supported. Access to firearms is ‘essential’ in times of crisis.”

How many urban black “leaders” do you think will listen to her voice?

How many do you think would be responsive to the slogan “Blessings of Liberty Matter”?

Also see: “Giffords’ and Democrat Mayors’ Plea to Congress Can Only Make Urban Violence Worse”

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About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.