Let's Talk about Solutions

What's a mayor to do when there are 28 shootings in his city over the Memorial Day weekend and the national media picks up on it?

He goes to the local media to get the word out that it's not his fault.

Mayor Tom Barrett was interviewed live by Mike Gousha on TMJ4's 10 p.m. newscast to talk solutions. Actually, it was more about political damage control.

The mayor's comments were light on solutions and heavy on excuses.

His message: "I need help from the community."

In other words, Barrett won't let the buck stop with him.

It goes without saying that stopping violence requires the cooperation of the community. Of course, Barrett can't single-handedly solve the city's problems.

All citizens need to take responsibility for their actions, but Barrett's plea for help seems more like the cry of a drowning man than the rallying cry of a leader.


He definitely went on defense, defending his record, claiming to have worked to curb gun violence and crime prior to the deadly weekend.

Barrett said he would be putting more into overtime for officers on Friday and Saturday nights, and he called for more sheriff patrols in the parks particularly on holiday weekends.

He cited the heat as a factor in the city's problems. (I guess there's reason to thank God that summer in Wisconsin is as short as it is.)

Barrett noted how much he has been doing to keep violence under control in the city.

For example, there's his meeting tomorrow on the Safe Summer Initiative, an effort directed at kids.

He also said, "I've contacted ministers prior to this incident this weekend to get them involved.

"Today I had a conversation with a local gun dealer to see what he can do to be helpful to make sure that these guns don't end up in the hands of criminals.

It's not just one single thing that we're going to do, but we're going to fight it on every single front because, quite honestly, I'm outraged."

Quite honestly, I think this is just the same old, same old.

The plan is to do more of the same. Of course, "the same" isn't working.

What good will having a conversation with a local gun dealer accomplish?

When asked about Milwaukee's image, Barrett insisted, "The vast majority of neighborhoods in the city of Milwaukee are safe. They are very safe neighborhoods. Our homicide rate is actually lower than last year. We are five below where we were last year."

Barrett failed to mention the decrease is probably due to the fact that last year's homicide rate was way up.

He said, "We have to get through to people that you don't solve problems with guns."

And how is that going to happen? Wishful thinking?

Barrett concluded, "There are too many guns, in particular illegal guns, on the street. I need every person in this community to help me on this. This is not something the mayor can do alone, the media can do alone. We need a commitment from this community. ...I need this community to come together on this issue."

That's incredibly vague.

What does he expect "every person" to do?

How, specifically, is "every person" supposed to help him?

Who knows?

Barrett was smart to address the issue quickly, but he had little of substance to offer.

Empty rhetoric is not a solution.

Like Barrett, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial board also addressed the violent weekend, with similar shallowness.

In "Heading off a bad summer," the board shifted blame for the violence from the perpetrators to the "powerful gun lobby."

The board prefers to demonize law-abiding gun owners rather than confront the difficult truth that people want to kill each other and that they succeed in doing so. The board's mindset enables responsibility for gun violence to be transferred from the criminal to an inanimate object.

The board acknowledges that "the community must address the issue of males in their teens and 20s, when they are most likely to be crime-prone or crime's victims."

The board doesn't say how to address this issue, just that it needs to be addressed.

Then comes the usual response from the Left whenever gun violence becomes an issue.

But the shootings also demonstrate a well-known truth with which this community has yet to adequately grapple - the proliferation of guns. Yes, it can more forcefully hold accountable - in court - those who use guns, but government can also do more to keep guns out of the wrong hands.

One way to keep idle young hands away from guns and out of mischief is to keep them busy with work. Unfortunately, jobs are in short supply, so businesses must search their souls and their budgets to find a way to hire young people, particularly from the inner city. (Suburban young people, typically with more connections than their inner city peers, have an easier time finding jobs as a rule.)

To avoid a violent summer, community leaders - ministers, block leaders, agency heads - must redouble their efforts to engage young people in worthwhile activities, such as sports, clubs and community service. And parents must guide their children onto the right path.

That's it! The lack of worthwhile activities for young people leads to violence.

What a load!

Millions of dollars have been spent on programs and facilities, yet the violence doesn't ebb.

The board's call for parents to "guide their children onto the right path" is crazy.

It's so simple. Parents should take care of their children. The problem with that obvious strategy is that they don't. THEY AREN'T THERE.

It's a mistake for the board to excuse the violent behavior of inner city youth because they have less connections than their suburban counterparts.

Well-connected or not, being unemployed doesn't cause one to shoot others.

...Police must also strictly enforce gun laws, jailing people who illegally possess firearms.

Unfortunately, the powerful gun lobby ties the hands of cops by blocking laws to keep guns away from outlaws. Among these are measures to limit bulk purchases of guns and to impose background checks on every gun purchase. Foes of gun violence in Milwaukee must push such measures.

An individual who is so morally bankrupt that he or she intentionally shoots another human being is not going to be stopped by laws.

Short of a complete ban on all firearms in the U.S., people who want to kill will manage to get their hands on a gun.

Remember, these are murderers. They don't respect life. Why would they respect the law?

To believe otherwise is incredibly naïve.