A recent op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer titled ‘It’s time to treat gun violence like the public health emergency it is‘ sounds predictably tedious — spoiler alert: it is — but it’s not only that. Although you can probably get the gist of the piece’s slant from its title, there’s more here.
The young, aimless men who shoot up our city night after night need to feel the pain of the destruction they leave in their wake.
It wouldn’t stop the ceaseless carnage, but they at least need to see the tears their actions cause.
Here’s the thing about trying to make criminals feel for their victims. As the late Dr. William Aprill frequently reminded us, “They are not like you” when referring to the behavior and actions of violent criminals. They don’t think like we do, they don’t have the same moral code we do, and they don’t suffer remorse like we would.
To them, violence is a way of life whether it’s carried out for profit, as revenge over an imagined slight, or to defend turf or street cred.
The op-ed’s author, Jenice Armstrong, writes about the grief felt by friends and family of those who have been killed in crimes involving firearms. She naturally refers to these crimes as “gun violence” and she means violence committed by people using guns. These are gang- and drug-related shootings she’s describing and she wonders what can be done about it:
I’ve been writing about this issue for years and remain convinced that limiting the number of illegal guns would go a long way. But since that’s not happening any time soon, we need to figure out what can be done in the meantime.
We need the same all-hands-on-deck approach to gun violence that we have given the COVID-19 pandemic.
Armstrong lives in Philadelphia. In September 2020 a resolution was adopted asking the city’s mayor, Jim Kinney, to commit to a plan to deal with gun violence. The resolution itself reads . . .
Calling on Mayor James F. Kenney to declare gun violence a citywide emergency and develop an urgent, unrelenting response to the gun violence epidemic plaguing Black and Brown neighborhoods in Philadelphia, and re-affirming the commitment of the City Council of Philadelphia to continue collaborating with, and supporting the work of, the Mayor, our City agencies, the criminal justice community, and non-governmental partners, to mitigate this deadly epidemic.
Apparently nothing has come of this. Surprised?
There’s no suggestion in Armstrong’s piece of what should be done about “gun violence” in the City of Brotherly Love, whether it’s related to criminals or not. Mentions that “illegal guns” need to be limited shines a light on her level of naivete, though.
Those guns are already illegal. They’re probably stolen and carried without permits by those who can’t legally do so. People who have been prohibited from owning firearms due to past criminal convictions.
There’s no doubt a huge number of “illegal guns” in Philly, a never-ending stream, in fact. Why? Because criminals act criminally. Is there subtext here about imposing more gun control laws, which only affect law-abiding gun owners, in order to try to hinder the actions of the criminals Armstrong wrings her hands over? You decide.
The vast majority of criminals are never going to be made to “feel bad” about their crimes, violent or otherwise. They are not you, Ms. Armstrong. It just doesn’t work that way. Of course, that’s just my opinion. What do you think? Will somehow trying to guilt-trip violent criminals onto the straight and narrow make them feel remorse for what they’ve done and change their ways?
No comment…nothing new here.
How do you make a psychopath or sociopath feel for their victim if they are not ”wired’ for empathy?
Maybe public nude caging, with friends, rivals, and neighbors allowed to stand in the audience and jeer. If gun was discharged, make that stocks, with free garbage distribution to the crowd. If victim was injured or killed, raffle off executioner license, with proceeds used to throw a block party two hours before the big event.
How about enforcing the law? Stop any plea deal where a gun was used in a felony. Make sure the time is doubled and no good time. Get tough when anyone is caught with a stolen or number modified gun.
But that…as they say…would be…RACIST
Bear in mind that the voters of Philadelphia elected a George Soros supported DA. He is Woke! and will NOT enforce the criminal law. That is what the voters voted for; it’s what the voters wanted. The problem will get worse before it gets better.
PA is a Shall-Issue state and the fee is $21/5-years. No test, no qualification. Somewhat harder to get a LTCF in Philadelphia then in the counties, but still feasible.
The solution is in the hands of the People of the City of Brotherly Love. If they wish to pursue a kinder and gentler approach vs tough love, it’s their choice.
The Court system in the US is set up to handle +/- 1% of the cases filed. If trial demands were made, and followed through on that demand with a trial, after several weeks that court room would be backed up for a year or more. Plea bargaining is Gods gift to criminals in the US.
We already know the answer. It isn’t a mystery. We have years of data to use. You’re just spinning your wheels if you don’t address the source of the problem: morality. Children won’t learn that without guidance and a role-model. It’s known as parenting.
The problem is the government has tried to replace the family, and they’re doubling down on stupid. Not only do they not promote the family and moral values, they’re going out of their way to destroy both. Then they have the audacity to tell their victims (the citizens) that if they could just get more funding for more committees and studies and agencies, THEN they could solve the problem. That’s why we need more taxes. Get it?
Instead of taking responsibility for their failures, they fall back on identity politics, racism, etc. That’s nothing but a distraction so they can blame someone else.
No, most violent criminals will not experience any significant level of remorse. Thus, any proposed “solution” to violent crime which hinges on hardened violent criminals feeling empathy for others is doomed to fail before even leaving the starting gate.
As the author stated, violent criminals’ minds are vastly different from good and decent people. Any proposed solutions must address that root problem.
How do make people who have no empathy for others feel remorse over their actions?
The fundamental flaw of Progressives is they BELIEVE if criminals were treated like naughty little children and treated with kindness, they will see the error of their ways. “Spare the rod and spoil the child.” In reality this only works if the child has a conscience and under threat of more severe punishment.
Criminals may not be book smart but they are street smart. They KNOW Progressive’s heads are so full of wool it is child’s play to pull it over their eyes. Progressives don’t even realize they are being played for the fools they are because they are so blinded by ideology.
That explains their treatment of China and Iran.
She needs to read and understand what Jeff Cooper said about this:
“If violent crime is to be curbed, it is only the intended victim who can do it. The felon does not fear the police, and he fears neither judge nor jury. Therefore what he must be taught to fear is his victim.”
The pain you feel is their success. Some criminals believe you deserve it or it simply isn’t their problem.
They are fully aware of the carnage they leave behind when they commit evil deeds, they just don’t care.
…kinda like the politicians that pass gun control.
Posted a comment just fine. I immediately edited it and now it’s awaiting moderation?
All internet comments must now go through Sandy Cortez’s media literacy commission before posting.
Make “em “feel bad”with a brainstem injection…
Perhaps they could create an aversion therapy program where they induce nausea while showing these droogs images of violence. I read a book about the British trying that several decades ago. I think Kubrick made a documentary about it.
Or just horsewhip them. Avoiding physical pain is a strong motivational force.
I don’t remember what Jordan Peterson said in one of his lectures exactly but the idea was there is no so called nihilist in existence that doesn’t believe pain is real. Apply pain and they yell and struggle like the rest of us.
Of course it must be understood by the punished that there is a cause/effect relationship or else it’s torture.
You may not remember Michael P. Fay and that’s for a good reason. He’s living in Cincinnati and hasn’t been in the news since 1993.
A Clockwork Orange, 1971
The fun of Philadelphia is for all the idealistic, motivated people there trying to change a city wracked with drugs and crime, they always put their faith in a set of criminals who do nothing but siphon money off the city. The city leadership are the most brazen set of leeches I’ve ever seen. These people continually put establishment democrats in power and are shocked to see the trend continue. It’d be funny if the politics of Philly didn’t effect everyone else in the damned state.
Well said Scott.
Round up all the bad guys while chanting “shame, shame, everybody knows your name.” All join hands and sing “Kumbaya.” The gang members will all repent their wicked ways and go back to their jobs as rocket surgeons. Then peace will guide the planets and love will steer the stars. EZ PZ.
If you kill someone with a firearm or not and it was not self defense, defense of property or another person, then you should be in jail until the person you killed comes back and pardons you…
as an educated and former practicing psychologist, I would like to underscore a point made in the article.
the majority of people who commit violent acts of this degree (rape, murder) do in fact have physiologic differences in their brain (proven via pet scan research published in more then one medical or psychological journal). many do not experience emotions the same way the rest of us do. in some cases, they exhibit evidence that they do not experience anything that we would commonly refer to as an emotion. that said, the idea to make them feel guilty and that will prevent them from future similar acts is a falicy of logic.
there is a small percentage of people who have committed violent acts like murder who do experience emotions as we would commonly understand them. since they can feel guilt and remorse like an “average” person, I do not believe that there is any act that can be taken to use that as an angle to prevent future acts. since they already do feel guilt and remorse, attempting to make them feel guilt and remorse is… well politely… at best redundant. this minor percentage are already less likely to re-offend due to their negative emotions experienced (and carried with them in perpetuity).
Like others of her ilk, Armstrong wants to fix the problem but refuses to implement policies that will actually work because they would create distress among the people causing the problem. She calls it a public health emergency but won’t handle it like biological epidemics which is to quarantine infected individuals.
It should be titled “Solution to demoCrap Violence.” When your head is filled with nothing but ungodly demoCarp and you have no respect for the rights of others you get like minded morons who take from you or murder you in a manner no different than ordering a burger at mcClowns.
Singling out guns is like singling out blacks when there are more than enough lily white perps with the same mindset. They use anything they can get their hands on and if nothing is available they use hands and feet.
Good news is you have a right to defend yourself. Protecting that right from sheltered blabbermouths fixated on taking guns is just as much a problem. Frankly it is difficult to determine which is more sick…perps or gun control zealots.
Imagine waking up, everyday for some of them, with a burning, intrinsic, ardent desire to take things (like objects or even Rights) AWAY from others. No one makes them carry a piece, it doesn’t affect them. Yet still they persist… They’re dogmatic, and sick in their dogmatism.
“Make Criminals Feel Bad About Shooting People”
There are people who get up everyday with the intention of hurting someone, they don’t care who, or why, all they want to do is hurt someone…
At school they were known as bullies. Political Correctness made sure they could continue their actions without consequences.
Today they are either criminals or managers.
Or politicians.
Yeah, that’ll do it! How pathetic, that’s why capital punishment was enacted. Best deterrent in the world!!😈
You’d think people who endlessly praise “diversity” wouldn’t expect all humans to have the same value system and yet here they insist all humans do. Isn’t it -ist to assume all humans have the same value system?
That would require them to understand their own ideology, but cult members rarely do.
Criminals are like werewolves. They’re cute and cuddly to their family and friends but when they’re on the hunt they turn into the wolf. To them you’re just a rabbit or deer to kill and eat. They feel no remorse. Massad Ayoob said that in his book The Truth About Self-Protection. They don’t think like you and they don’t feel like you feel. The only thing that keeps them at bay is the knowledge that you have the ability to commit violence on them. If you don’t have that ability then you take your chances with them.
If the shooter feels bad, imagine how the victim feels!
GOOD COMMENTS .
WELL I DON’T FEEL SORRY I HAVE A LTC . NOT SORRY I CARRY ALL THE TIME , WHERE PERMITTED .
MAKES ME THINK OF ” BETTER TO HAVE IN NOT NEED , THAT TO NEED AND NOT HAVE .
CRIMINALS ARE SORRY , = SORRY S.O.B. WHEN SHOOT , KNIFE STAB , BEAT MUG ,
SORRY WHEN ONLY GET CAUGHT .
I WILL LITERALLY SEND YOU A NEW PHONE OR A KEYBOARD YOU ANNOYING FUCK. TELL ME WHERE TO SEND IT.
All caps is like shouting
Don’t do it
No one reads a comment in all caps
There’s always the resort to less firearms means less violent crime. How do they arrive at this? For a person who’s just flipped out and decided they’re going to kill someone the absence of a nearby firearm might delay them acting on their impulse but for how long and wouldn’t they just resort to some other means?
And believe me when I say that a knife wielded impulsively with no warning can do as much or more damage as a firearm.
These attitudes need to be fought back against and they must be done on a national basis and not one by one whack a mole style. This needs to be elucidated by someone that can get this message thru the media veil and make it spread.
Yet they cannot wrap their heads around the fact that it’s the attitude and character of the person who commits these crimes that is the under lying cause and not the presence of a firearm.
Once again we find the media is a roadblock to sanity and truth in this country and the world. We need to start there if we can.
Most societies have a place where the criminally violent can feel pain. It’s called prison. Weird how leftists forget that.
Still others cleanse society quickly and thoroughly. And they don’t wait years to do it.
Making a criminal feel bad about their crime is like making a possum feel bad about eating road kill.
Just had a 19 year old die on my operating table the other week from gunshot wounds, his 18 year old friend was found shot to death a block from the hospital. Gang activity. The family was super upset alright. Because they accused hospital staff of rolling their deceased kin because he should have had more money on him…
What do you say to that? I’d love to ask the author. It ain’t just the kids in the streets who have abnormal attitudes.
Tell the family if money was stolen, it would have been ALL of the money.
I’ve heard in forensic circles, the practice of stealing valuables off corpses is known as “ratting”.
Stop babying THE criminals, when a crime is committed full maximum punishment must be enforced and carried out, not a slap on the hand, all rights of freedom revoked, hard labor enforced not a comfortable relaxing place to watch t.v..
Is no one going to state the obvious?
These problems are all in the minority communities in the inner cities.
They’re all due to the culture that is prevalent there.
Call it Ghetto culture, rap culture, thug culture, it is all the same lack of respect for following the rules, “snitches get stitches, bitches and hoes”, glorification of violence and drug use.
Any attempts to stop gang violence in the inner city by restricting the availability of guns in the white suburbs is doomed to failure.
There is a spiritual sickness and that until that is addressed the crime/gang/drug/gun problems of the inner city will not be solved.
Comments are closed.