What the f*ck is it going to take to end the madness?
 

4-Year-Old Fatally Shot, LAPD Search For Gunman
A manhunt was under way Wednesday for the gunman who shot and killed a 4-year-old boy who was walking with his sister in an Echo Park neighborhood.

Roberto Lopez was shot in the 1200 block of West Court Street near North Boylston Street about 4:25 p.m. Tuesday, the Los Angeles Police Department reported.

"We're throwing everything we have at this investigation," police Assistant Chief Earl Paysinger told the Los Angeles Times.

Deputy Chief Sergio Diaz told The Times that at least one person opened fire on a red car traveling down the street, and one of the shots fatally struck the boy in the chest.

The boy was taken to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, where he later died.

Police used police German shepherds late Tuesday night to search the area, searching for evidence that might lead the shooter.

hmm,

drugs

porous boarder

lack of FATHERS in the home

Teachers who don't give a rats azz

A school system that doesn't work well for everyone

Lack of Faith, not only in GOD but their future.

Missing work ethic

Commercialism

Glorification of the gangster life

Too many rats in the cage

Genetic predisposition (the one that I'll get flamed the hardest on )

And the standard pussification of America - cops can't give hickory shampoos to the people that need it.

a plague that kills off 50% of the worlds population would probably help.

Otherwise, it's just going to continue to get worse.

Have a nice day.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Parenting is a lost art.

what horrible soul is willing to hurt something so beautiful as an innocent child?

no worse crime on this planet in my opinion.

hickory shampoos

When seconds count, just remember the police are only minutes away.

It's just my opinion (and I'll admit that I'm just a cranky old white guy) but I think any person sporting ANY gang tatoo or throwing a gang sign or tagging with a gang symbol or any gang activity or affiliation of any sort should be shot on the spot without hesitation.

My heart goes out to that poor boy and his family. As well as to the hundreds of children killed and maimed in Ghaza.

Relax. This durn furner has learned his lesson and won´t start rambling on about the pros and cons of the second amendment..

There really isn't a lot that separates humans from monkeys - just we have the ability to make more deadly weapons.

The only thing that's going to stop us from killing each other is a new "non-human" threat that we can unify against to fight. For the sake of humanity, bring on the aliens and terminators!

Monkeys don't go around killing other monkeys for no good reason, in that respect monkeys are better than us.

right...we will have world peace if some off the planet aliens invade earth.

and that is it.

What will stop the madness? When it is no longer worth the risk to behave this way. Gang bangers know that the police don't solve a lot of crimes, and when they do, they can often plea-bargain. Besides, consequences are months or years away. Not much of a deterrent for someone who only thinks about ahead to tomorrow at most.

Immediate consequences will lessen these kinds of threats, like a high likelihood of being shot yourself during or in the immediate aftermath of such a crime.

Our criminal justice system can only deter people who have something that it can deprive them of.

Not to hijack, but is that a Bible quote? :D

yes, they do. and so do other animals. a group of crows are referred to as a "murder" of crows.



It's just my opinion (and I'll admit that I'm just a cranky old white guy) but I think any person sporting ANY gang tatoo or throwing a gang sign or tagging with a gang symbol or any gang activity or affiliation of any sort should be shot on the spot without hesitation.

the terms "tagging" and "graffiti" need to be changed to VISUAL TERRORISM !

Not quite correct. In fact Chimpanzees and Dolphins are known to kill for 'sport'.

Do we also include this group?

http://jasonhunt.net/content/photos/AryanNations15.jpg

yup.

If they really want to keep Guantanamo open, why not send the gang bangers there? They're very obviously well organized, well armed, and have a mission contrary to American interests. Seems like a no-brainer.

Better yet, keep the terrorists there, import the gangbangers, and have an "open" population.

I have a feeling we'd be able to solve two problems at once.

I don't tolerate intolerant people:D

You didn't watch "The Planet of Apes" movie.

Another problem is who ultimately gets to decide what a "gang" is? Sure, it's pretty obvious when you have groups of thugs standing around sporting the same bandanas and tats who want to shake down local business owners for "protection money" and/or blow away small children for sport and to prove how "tough" they are, but it's not so cut and dry or easy to define past a point.

I've read some awfully "subversive" stuff here on Pelican - do you really want to give the government the power to label people who visit/post here as part of an online "gang" subject to deportation and being tossed into a prison population with terrorists?

Slippery slope my friend... I normally agree with you, but this one's tricky.

Might be a good idea but I don't want to feed them, thus the idea of shooting them on the spot.

Send them all to GOD and let him sort them out.

I'm probably one of the few here who can say he grew up in Echo Park. I remember walking with my grandmother down to the duck lake to feed the ducks and ride the pedal boats, then a stop by Pioneer Chicken for lunch.

Surely not everyone. Lets just shoot the ones who make murder and mayhem a full time hobby.

What do you honestly expect?

It is safer for a kid to be in a gang than not.

When robots rule the world this will no longer go on.

Is this your opinion or a verified statistic? Would you so kind as to cite your sources on this?
As our system is currently set up you may be correct in respect to an individual walking the streets of the city but society as a whole is not better off or safer with the existence of gangs.

Specifically inner city kids.

Livi, I was wondering about the gun laws in Sweden and the very low instance of shooting deaths. I found this:

To start with, you have to be 18 yrs or older to qualify to own a gun.

Second: You have to have been "clean" for at least 5 years. Even drunk driving can disqualify you. The police can take your firearm license and they will take your gun. No compensation given for the weapons they take.

Third: You have to be a member in a shooting club and follow their rules. That includes taking a gun safety course. That will cost you about 250$. You have to pass the shooting test and the theoretical test. Once you pass, you get a green card. Then you have to have been a member for 6 months and have passed another, more difficult shooting test (called "gold series") in order to be able to buy your first gun.

Fourth, you have to have done 4 competitions in that weapons class to be able to buy the gun.

That doesn't seem too unreasonable.

REgardless of gun laws, I believe it's culture rather than access to guns that is more responsible for shooting deaths. There are certainly accidents with firearms, but the overwhelming number of firearm homicides are due to behavior and culture rather than access to guns and/or lack of gun laws (Example - Washington DC!)

waaaahhh people are killing each other. How is that new?

I've read back in history as far as I can, say about 6000 years and guess what? People were killing each other then too. Nothing has changed. nothing. We (us human types) are violent, murderous animals. we kill. The only thing that can change that would be a whole bunch of nukes or one really, really big asteroid (or 2012 if you ask the tin foil types).

Expecting people to stop being violent and to stop killing each other is about as realistic as expecting people to stop being people.
Some people are more likely to kill than others, but the killing ain't gonna stop as long as we parasitic monsters roam the earth.

The best we can do is to try and make the people who have a stronger tendency to kill stay away. As in close the borders, kick out all the immigrant gang members, and throw the rest in jail.
That aint gonna happen either because it might upset some lefty.

I find it hard to believe, but I don't think its unreasonable either. Makes me sad to say that. But I don't have a lot of faith in the next generation of kids to know right from wrong....:(

What?
These guys can't lawfully own a firearm anyway. So they would drop 10 or 15 rocks worth of money to join a gun club?

Chimps do

This country is so far beyond having an effective gun control program that it's not funny. I'm talking about removing (not just putting it in a prison) the cancer that is feeding off of and killing what little good can be found in this society.

Gun laws
 

My son went to high school during the 70's and at that time many of the students had gun racks in the back of their trucks with one or more guns in them. Not one shooting or the threat of shooting, disagreements would be settled with fists and no lawyers involved. If guns would be outlawed only criminals would have guns.
My one question to all of you in countries where there are "no guns allowed". What are you going to do when the Muslims take over your country and your army and police force can't stop them. This time is coming all you have to do is listen to what they say. I agree there are probably some Muslims that don't go along with this but they are not the ones running the show.

I don't see this as a gun control issue. These guys are professional criminals who will kill to get what they want no matter what weapon they have to use. Take their guns away and they will all be sporting lead pipes and tire irons to get the job done and we will still be targets of their criminal behavior. Forget the gun and focus on the criminal.