NRA missing the boat

[Brutus]

I have submitted this to several Chicago land newspapers with no response, surprise, surprise. So this morning I submitted it to the NRA.
Interested in the thoughts of you folks.



Recent events in Chicago, the shooting of 13 people in a park by gang bangers. Has provided the gun control advocates with more fuel for the fire. In the mean time no one has proposed the real depth of the matter, the four hoodlums now in custody are nothing more than terrorists. We fight the war on terror against insurgents in foreign lands but do nothing about the ones in our own country. Our home grown terrorists are worse than the ones we fight in the middle east. The Taliban and al-qaeda fight for their religious beliefs . Our terrorists fight for the right to have a monopoly on the illegal drug trade. Not only do they murder innocent people who live in their community, they also peddle their wares and infect members the community. All this only benefits the drug cartels located in foreign countries. The government needs to reassess who America's enemies really are. We need to treat gangbangers the same way we treat terrorist insurgents in Afghanistan, with no mercy. I for one wouldn't mind my tax dollars being spent utilizing drones against drug cartels. To have the NRA promote this ideology would serve no purpose because the media and liberal public already see the organization as evil, but I urge you to reach out for support from conservative politicians who may have a better chance of presenting this view to the public. I may also add that since I live in the Chicago land area, I can see the drool forming on the mouths of local politicians as they plan to reap the rewards of a long drawn out court battle over the fate of the four apprehended. All on the tax payer's dime.

 

[iraiam]

I'm not sure i agree that they are missing the boat, there have been other cities plagued by such violence, and the NRA was a big supporter of Project Exile there, which resulted in hundreds of multi-year prison sentences over felony gun crimes in the first year and a sizable reduction in the number of such violent crimes. Chicago is notably missing from the list of aggressive gun crime prosecutions, in fact Chicago has one of the lowest rates for such prosecutions in the country.

We'll have to see what the facts about the case are, but I have questions.

1)What is the criminal history of these suspects?
2)If a conviction history is present what was the punishment and what was served?
3)Why does Chicago have one of the lowest rates of gun crime prosecutions and the highest instances of such crimes?

I suspect that the answers to these questions will lead us in the general direction of the root causes.

 

[Armed_Chicagoan]

I agree we need to crack down harder on the gangbangers, especially when they engage in gun crimes, but if we start labeling every criminal a terrorist then the word loses all meaning. Terrorism is defined by the motive, not the act. And the gangbangers certainly don't have any of the requisite political motives in their violence, they're fighting over drug territory and avenging earlier attacks and such.

 

[Brutus]

but if we start labeling every criminal a terrorist then the word loses all meaning

I agree hole heartedly but what is transpiring in Chicago is not a criminal act, it is all out war with no concern over collateral loss of life.
I believe there is a difference between a criminal act and an act of terrorism.
The point I'm trying to convey is that politicians and the media don't want to fess up to what is truly occurring and the police are powerless to intervene because the very laws that keep us free also protect these gangbangers.
And that makes it a matter for the military especially given the international aspects of the drug cartels.
From a historical perspective I'm comparing what was done to John Brown and his insurrectionists just prior to the civil war when the federal government disbanded that group.

 

[Mike38]

I for one wouldn't mind my tax dollars being spent utilizing drones against drug cartels.

Some (most ?) of the drug cartels have firm footing on US soil. With that in mind….

Are you also willing to allow drone attacks against drug cartels if the cartel members were standing on US soil? How about if the cartel member was a US citizen standing on US soil? What’s going to happen when an innocent US citizen gets blown to bits on US soil from an errant drone missile? I’m not so sure the country will look kindly to something like that. I for one wouldn’t.

 

[Brutus]

Sorry Mike38 I should have been more specific. What I envisioned was drone attacks on the cocaine and heroin fields in their country of origin.
Now that I think of it a drone is a bad idea. Send in Seal team 6, they may come back with enough drug money to pay off the national debt and fund all those benefits the politicians keep giving themselves.

 

[Tom Servo]

I for one wouldn't mind my tax dollars being spent utilizing drones against drug cartels.

I fail to see how drone strikes would be part of the NRA's mission.

Furthermore, we're all dismayed by the violence wrought by drugs and those who deal in them, but suggesting drone strikes on American citizens without due process is beyond the pale.