SOME POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS TO GUN CRIME

(Aside from futile attempts to ban all guns)

A column last week on political responses to gun violence, such as task forces, hearings and laws that make no real sense (cover for politicians, not solutions), brought tons of reaction, some worth sharing.

"I've been in law enforcement 14 years," writes James F., "and one-gun-a-month won't work... [and] if it is passed and it fails miserably, what is the backup plan? Stats on sales seem to bear James out. Three times more guns are sold in the 'burbs than in the city. And too many of our "leaders" don't seem to have a backup plan.

David T. says to do what New York did: Put up a map, put pins in high-crime areas, add resources to those areas, and if the crime rate doesn't drop, "Sack the police commander and bring in someone new who can get the job done." I'm pretty sure Philly's done the first. Maybe it's time to try the second.

Several folks suggest I tell "the truth" about killings in the city, more than 200 this year, headed toward breaking last year's 380, the highest number in eight years. I'm told that "the truth" is that the gun crisis is blacks shooting blacks, and that until or unless it spreads to the suburbs or whiter neighborhoods there'll be no real solutions. Well, this newspaper never hides details of crimes. And I don't think it's a secret that problems disproportionate in the black community get less than full attention from mainstream society.

This gets me to Linda W., who says the broader society should make sacrifices so that tax money can be better targeted to create more jobs, better education, investment in "direction, a map, if you will, out of poverty." Where are the leaders to offer such a map? Too busy running for re-election.

Some readers offer simpler solutions. "How about legalizing drugs?" asks Sam F., who says he worked 15 years on the streets of North Philly. "There goes 80 to 90 percent of your crime, and especially murders." Or, says another reader, "Public executions are the answer. Hang them in the City Hall courtyard and that will stop a lot of the killings."

Other suggestions include nabbing illegal guns with traffic stops and check points, rousts on street corners and in suspected houses. Got a gun? Go to jail. "Word will get out damn fast that there better not be a gun in the car, in the house, in your pocket," writes Jim J. He also suggests using the $5 million in state funds just approved for a new gun task force to build a "gun jail."

Leo suggests offering cash for tips leading to the successful prosecution of illegal gun bearers or sellers. He says rival gang members will dime each other out for money. John O. favors a guns grand jury. Bring in every juvenile arrested on a gun-related offense and offer immunity in exchange for naming the source of the gun. If the juvenile doesn't cooperate, he/she gets two years in a Western Pennsylvania state facility (John suggests giant tents in the Appalachian Mountains) in a pink uniform with nothing but two bologna-and-cheese sandwiches a day "until memory improves."

Others see no way out. A message from C. Smith notes, "There is no legislation, no task force capable of eliminating this problem... the issue is profoundly fundamental, one that starts in the home." Its cause includes generational cycles of low self-esteem, lack of resources and opportunities, limited ambition and just growing up in the "dull, depressing landscape of black urban poverty." The only answer, says C., is to change the way people live and the way they raise and influence their children. Can that be done? Not without new priorities. Not without long-term commitments. And not without political leadership offering more than task forces, hearings and quick-fix answers to get from one election to the next.

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