The shooting at The Bite of Seattle that left three dead and four people wounded continues to draw concern and outrage, but most of the attention appears to be focused on police communications and political ineptitude.
Mayor Katie Wilson is facing a recall effort because of her still unexplained decision to fire the police chief, while City Council members are demanding an explanation for the failure of police and city officials to inform the public about the nature of the shooting in a timely fashion.
Largely left out of the debate is a much more important issue: youth gun violence.
One accused shooter in the Bite of Seattle incident is a 15-year-old boy. Police suspect that he and others involved in the violence are affiliated with a street gang. There has been some wringing of hands about getting guns off the street, but not enough serious talk about how to get the violence out of the kids who hold the guns.
The number one cause of death for American children is getting shot by a gun. Some children are more at risk than others, though. Black males ages 15 to 24 die from gun homicides 23 times as often as white males of the same age, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Latino boys also get gunned down at a higher rate than white youth.
While mass shooters at schools are most often white kids, most of the gun violence occurs in disadvantaged communities of color. Boys with fewer prospects for a successful life are the most likely to be drawn into gangs and to employ guns as a desperate expression of power.
The energy that went into the Black Lives Matter movement to stop police shootings of African Americans was a worthy effort, but the number of Black people shot by police is a small fraction of the annual average of more than 13,000 gun deaths among Black citizens. Those Black lives matter, too, don’t they?
Yes, it would be wonderful if there were fewer guns on the street, but, in America, where the Second Amendment is a cudgel to beat back any effort to control firearms, we cannot count on gun control to stop the slaughter of our children and anyone who gets in the way of a stray bullet.
What we really need is many fewer young men who think guns are an answer to their miseries. We should get far more serious about eliminating those miseries. As a society and as individuals, we must spend the money and put in the work to lead disaffected young men into socially responsible, successful lives where guns are not wanted or needed.
That is a monumental task, but it is way past time that we got it done.
See more of David Horsey’s cartoons at: st.news/davidhorsey
View other syndicated cartoonists at: st.news/cartoons
Editor’s note: Seattle Times Opinion no longer appends comment threads on David Horsey’s cartoons. Too many comments violated our community policies and reviewing the dozens that were flagged as inappropriate required too much of our limited staff time. You can comment via a Letter to the Editor. Please email us at letters@seattletimes.com and include your full name, address and telephone number for verification only. Letters are limited to 200 words.
