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The Register-Mail, Galesburg, Ill., Tom Loewy column

The Register-Mail - 6/29/2018

June 29--Anger, confusion, scapegoating and finger-pointing has descended upon Galesburg along with the heat and humidity.

From the moment last Saturday night shots rang out at the Railroad Days carnival, we've been told it's the fault of gangs, thugs, parents, weak kids unwilling to knuckle up, inattentive police, the presence of Hill Correctional Facility, and the age-old scapegoat "people from Chicago."

While the community struggles playing responsibility roulette, Facebook and other social media feedback commenters rushed to remind us guns are just tools. Like hammers. Or cars. Or baseball bats.

One commenter noted we could even kill someone with a toaster. Presumably he suggested one person could bash another with a toaster, not actually toast the victim to death.

With our toasters safely secured in our homes we can all rest easy knowing guns have nothing to do with guns being fired at a carnival, or a woman gunned down in a parking lot, or guns stolen from a local gun dealer or private gun owners.

Speaking ill of guns is verboten.

I got that v-word from an old euro-trash horror film. Imagine "Speaking ill of guns is verboten" spat out by actor Klaus Kinski dressed in full Nazi regalia. That's what I hear every time someone tells us gun violence has nothing to do with guns.

If we speak ill of guns we might as well ban toasters and bats and cars and hammers.

Bizarre? Certainly. But to suggest gun violence has nothing to do with guns is about as ridiculous as Nazis, that v-word, and the notion of "thugs" carrying concealed toasters to carnivals.

Look, let's be honest. The existence of guns is not the sole cause of incidents like the one folks experienced last Saturday. It's not the sole cause of the killing of a teenager in rural Galva or the killing of a woman Easter morning.

There were other factors. And as this community gathers -- like it will at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Public Square for the We Are Galesburg rally -- we should talk about responsibility and accountability.

But guns shouldn't be off the table. Whether you consider a gun a deadly weapon or some kind of "tool," the day and age of guns being off-limits should end now.

This is where our local law enforcement agencies and the office of the Knox County State's Attorney have to be involved.

What can the Galesburg Police Department tell us about gun offenders? Do we know how and where the guns used in these crimes were acquired? When guns are stolen from private citizens are those citizens held accountable for how the guns were stored? Is it fair to apply accountability laws to those who have unsecured guns stolen?

Can local gun dealers present alternative ways of safely storing gun collections? Can those same dealers play a role in helping law enforcement trace stolen guns?

Why are plea deals offered in crimes that include the possession of guns? Does this community want a greater emphasis placed on the prosecution of crimes like the one committed last Saturday night?

We can move beyond guns. Are we equipped to offer early interventions? Can we take our local mentoring programs to events like Railroad Days? What would that effort look like?

Can we interview the youth involved in these crimes? Can we reach out and try to understand the logic behind carrying a gun to a carnival or fighting in the streets?

We have more people in prisons per capita than any other nation in the world. Still we don't feel safe when our kids are in schools, churches, movie theaters and carnivals.

Putting criminals in prison is necessary, but obviously it isn't preventing more violence.

As a community we can point fingers. We can scapegoat. We can settle on thugs, or people from Chicago, or the prison, or law enforcement, or a culture that sees guns as the answer to all our fears and anxieties. We can even place all the guilt on guns.

Or we can ask questions.

Honestly, I don't know the answers. But that's the point of asking questions, right?

To throw up our hands and claim Galesburg "has gone downhill" is just as short-sighted as claiming guns have nothing to do with gun violence. To abandon our local festivals and annual celebrations because of a threat of violence is to let the violent win.

In the end, we won't find all the answers. But maybe we can open dialogues, think of new avenues of interaction and broader protections.

We can keep working or we can give up. The answer to that choice should be obvious.

___

(c)2018 The Register-Mail, Galesburg, Ill

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