[Jeff Higgins]

Pretty tough story to read. Maybe I'm just a bit calloused, but an 11 year old hanging out at that hour of the night with an unrelated 20 year old is already a part of the problem. In a few short years he may even have become the trigger man on some one else.

It's a tough world they have created for themselves. I find it harder and harder to have much sympathy for them. It's their world' thet created it, they can fix it. How bad does it have to get for them before they have had enough? No one will fix their problems for them, especially in the face of the monumental resistance they offer. It has to come from within their own ranks. Until that day arrives, there will continue to be a steady stream of their kids dying for nothing.

So I noticed there was no mention of the kid's father. Maybe just left out of the article, but I doubt it. More likely, he has left himself out of the kid's life. Maybe even adding to the environment in his neighborhood that took his son's life. Almost certainly doing nothing to improve it, anyway. Until men like him start leading their neighborhoods out of the quagmire they have created, it will never improve.

Why do we still sell guns in this country? So good, honest, law abiding citizens can shoot the lawless bastards that would bring this ***** into our neighborhoods. We have managed to keep ours safe, clean, and honest (for the most part, in comparison). It's not a matter of priviledge, money, race, or any of that nonsense. It's attitude. It was what we are willing to view as acceptable behavior in our neighborhoods. It's the men sticking with their families and responsibilities and leading by example. Oh, theirs lead by example as well; it's just that the example is a bit different. And they shoot each other for prestige and profit. We shoot them to defend ourselves when their nonsense spills out of their own little cesspools. That's why we continue to sell guns in this country.