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Gun control or thug control?

Texan

Well-known member
No sympathy for thug culture
Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Regina Brett
Plain Dealer Columnist


There's a sheet of tributes taped to a red brick wall.

There's a utility pole covered in glittery balloons.

There's a pile of teddy bears resting not far from where 15-year-old Arthur Buford died on the sidewalk.

But there's no debate over concealed-carry laws.

A debate would be as unnecessary as the tributes posted to honor a teen who went looking for trouble and found it.

Damon Wells, 25, was sitting on his own porch Saturday night. It's a long, narrow gray porch with a wicker chair at the end. The house sits near Kinsman Road and East 134th Street in Cleveland.

He was minding his own when two teens tried to rob him. The plan backfired. When Wells saw one kid pull a gun, he drew his own Smith & Wesson and blasted away.

It's sad that a delinquent died on the sidewalk.

It would have been sadder if a law-abiding homeowner had died on his porch.

Wells had no criminal record.

Buford, a freshman at John F. Kennedy High School, was still on probation. Last year he committed an aggravated robbery.

Three years ago, Ohio made it legal to carry a concealed weapon. Wells had a permit to carry the gun. Back when Second Amendment advocates argued for that right, they warned people: Don't carry a gun unless you plan to use it if your life is threatened.

The Smith & Wesson could be credited for saving Wells' life, but it didn't protect his home.

After the shooting, someone smashed in his front windows. The house looks deserted now, with sheets of plywood nailed over the windows and front door.

Ever since the shooting, people have stopped at the nearby memorial to scrawl messages honoring Buford.

"God gave me a new angel man . . . Why Da Good Die Young . . . I'll see you in eternity . . . You are with the Lord and we happy for that."

One woman walked by with her toddler. She set a teddy bear in the pile of stuffed animals and scrawled a message on the sign. Her little boy pointed and squealed at the balloons dancing in the wind until she pulled him away.

Others drove by and stopped to tie more heart-shaped balloons to the pole.

Buford's cousin had grumbled to one reporter about the shooter being allowed to run free.

Wells killed the teen Saturday. City prosecutors cleared Wells on Monday, calling the shooting justified. Which leads me to wonder: Why does it take so long to clear police officers when they fire in self-defense?

At least no one can cry race this time. Both the shooter and dead teen are black.

I can't bring myself to call Buford the victim of a shooting. He was the instigator of one.

His family should be ashamed of his actions and apologize to the man he tried to rob.

Two weeks ago, a report came out that examined Cleveland's 389 homicides from 1998 to 2002. The conclusion?

"Homicides in Cleveland are overwhelmingly intra-racial in nature, with black offenders killing black victims."

The majority of victims were black males; the majority of killers were black males.

If there is any debate here, it shouldn't be about gun control.

It should be about thug control.



To reach Regina Brett:
[email protected], 216-999-6328

Previous columns online:
cleveland.com/columns
 

aplusmnt

Well-known member
Texan said:
Ever since the shooting, people have stopped at the nearby memorial to scrawl messages honoring Buford.

"God gave me a new angel man . . . Why Da Good Die Young . . . I'll see you in eternity . . . You are with the Lord and we happy for that."

One woman walked by with her toddler. She set a teddy bear in the pile of stuffed animals and scrawled a message on the sign.

Some people just do not get it! :roll:
 

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