- The Newark Shooting: "Everything is just fine" according to the government

There has been much uproar recently about an execution style shooting which took place in Newark. Three young black college students, all unarmed, were lined up against a schoolyard wall, forced to kneel down, and killed execution style in what appears to be a robbery gone bad. All of the alleged assailants had been charged with crimes in the past, and at least one was an illegal alien with ties to the gang MS-13. It’s also currently alleged that at the time of the shooting, one of them was out on bail awaiting prosecution, after being charged with the unrelated rape of a 5 year old.

In reaction to this tragedy, both Governor Corzine and Mayor Booker, both immediately responded by making it clear that they neither understood the causes of the issue, nor planned to do anything effective about it. Mayor Booker went on record immediately as stating that the immigration status of the alleged murderers was “irrelevant” as far as he was concerned, even though it was clear to everyone that the enforcement of our immigration laws would have prevented this tragedy.

Meanwhile governor Corzine, in a town meeting in South Orange, uttered the factually incorrect statement that “New Jersey has some of the weakest gun laws in the country”, when in fact the exact opposite is true. In fact it’s quite likely that the state’s draconian gun laws probably contributed, albeit indirectly, to the deaths of these three young men. And as a note of support for the accused assailants rather than the victims, he also promised to enact even more laws to guarantee that future victims of all criminals will be just as likely to be as helpless as these were.

Then in a final bit of political bait and switch, Corzine announced that New Jersey had made a ”new” deal with the BATF to use their database for analyzing the source of guns used in crimes, and to begin tracing them all the way back to the law abiding businessmen who originally sold them. But in spite Corzine’s assertions, the very reason the BATF keeps the database in the first place is to allow this kind of search, and it has been available for local police department use since it’s inception. There was nothing at all new here, but I suppose he wanted to sound like he was trying.

There are so many ways in which our government failed in this scenario that it’s difficult to know where to begin to criticize them. Had the immigration laws been enforced at the outset, or had they been enforced when the assailants committed their first set of crimes, three lives would have been saved. And for the national news media, and the national politicians, this story seems to be about our open doors immigration policy, and I suppose that to some extent they’re right.

But to me, just a few miles from Newark, it’s not really about immigration. It’s about how our politicians always seem to force New Jersey’s black community to bear the worst brunt of those politicians’ mistakes. It’s about how time and time again they implement policies, which have negative and sometimes disastrous effects, and without fail the worst of those effects are felt, not by white people from the prosperous suburbs, but by the inner city black community. And this horrific story is no different. Had the state and local government not systematically denied the constitutional rights of the victims of the shooting, then the chances are much higher that three lives would have been saved. Had they not gone to such great lengths to make sure that no black man in New Jersey understands that it is his constitutional right to ensure his personal self-defense, these three young men might have been able to defend themselves.

By implementing draconian gun control laws, the State of New Jersey has assured all future felons of a ready community of potential victims, and for the most part, the faces of those victims will be black. Rich suburbanites can find ways to circumvent New Jersey’s stringent gun control laws, and can therefore find a way to defend themselves. Criminals are aware of this so they leave them alone and stick to those people who they believe are least likely to put up a fight. The rich folks from the suburbs typically have the resources to find one of the increasingly rare shooting ranges, and to get the training necessary in how to use a firearm. But for the inner city black community, all they get is a lecture on anti-gun propaganda, some empty promises, and a politician’s visit to the memorial service for the children they bury.

Widespread gun ownership has long been documented as a deterrent to criminal activity. But in spite of this widely recognized fact, the gun control movement has always been most active in areas with high crime rates. Advocates of the gun control movement argue that the crime is the cause of their efforts, when in fact it’s become increasingly clear that the high crime rate is more likely to be an effect of it. Successful implementation of gun control disarms only the members of a community who are willing to abide by its laws, leaving those who have chosen a life of crime with a substantial advantage in firepower. That criminal element can proceed with confidence knowing that the government has made it very rare that their victims will be able to fight back.

The racist origins of the gun control movement are no secret. The gun control movement has always been only about ensuring that minorities stay unarmed, and although it’s advocates are unlikely to admit it, that continues to be the case. New Jersey’s gun laws are not aimed at disarming rich suburbanites, but young black men. And in the case of this recent shooting, those laws have famously succeeded. None of the victims was armed, and therefore none of them was able to defend themselves.

With regard to this tragedy, all went the way they were supposed to as far as the government was concerned. The construction companies had their cheap illegal labor, the black community was disarmed and had no way to defend themselves, and the rich suburbanites have all been protected. Corzine and Booker still have their campaign funds rolling in, and are still able to get out there and find new ways to but into the lives of law abiding people. As far as the government is concerned, everything is exactly as it should be. But three young people are still dead, and an entire community is being systematically denied their rights.

In the hands of a law-abiding citizen, a firearm is a force used for ensuring order, protecting the innocent and promoting justice. It makes the criminal’s job a much more dangerous one, and forces him to choose a different, less dangerous line of work. It’s my belief that we need to do all we can to try to arm every law-abiding man and woman in the city of Newark, regardless of their race. We should do all we can to ensure that they can find a way to legally purchase a firearm, and that they get the training necessary to be able to use it safely for their own defense. The law abiding black community of Newark has always known that it can’t rely on the police to protect them. And I think it’s time we do what we can to help them protect themselves.