“Guns are for cowards,” St. Louis, Missouri Ward 22 Alderman Jeffrey Boyd tells the camera in a statement filmed shortly after his nephew was gunned down. “That is not how we handle our differences. We can do better than this, St. Louis. There is no glory, there is no honor in killing somebody. And, sooner or later, you will be caught.” . . .
While the antis are sure to seize on the statement to bolster their anti-ballistic bile, we may be nearing the point where communities plagued by firearms-related crime, injury and death understand that it’s the mindset of the people pulling the trigger that matters more than their “easy access to guns.” A mindset sustained by simple human greed and the distinct lack of a moral foundation.
We shall see. Many more will die in the meantime.
Maybe he’s just talking about criminals and illegal guns, right?
right?
There’s probably more grandmas packing heat than gangbangers, but Grandmas who pack heat are cowards too. Right? Right?
The way this story was posted is a bit offensive. A dirty trick, if you will. Read the quotes, without a break.
What I see is that he is saying the using a gun to settle differences is cowardly. Conversation without resorting to violence is what humans do – initiating violence as a solution is dishonorable.
There is no attack, in the quotes, on gun possession, carrying, use, or ownership. To be honest, this is the kind of message we should rally around. I don’t carry to resolve disputes, I carry to protect myself from those who would harm me. Don’t we all?
Watch the video and pay attention to the Alderman’s whole message, and you will see Katy is right. He’s decrying the senseless violence within the Black Community and saying those who use violence involving firearms to settle their supposed differences and disputes are acting cowardly, not directly making a reference to Gun Owners in general. This is the kind of message from a Black Politician to his Black Community we should be applauding. Good job of discerning the real Truth, Katy!!
Thanks, Katy.
I posted the above because I sensed that the media, predictably, wasn’t reporting the spirit of what the guy was saying and was instead pushing their usual agenda.
OK, fine. The thrust of his message is positive. But what does he expect to get out of it?
Is he speaking to teens and twenty-somethings who have already embraced the gang life? Those who are dealing drugs and protecting their stashes? Does he really expect these people to listen to HIM? A Black politician? The guy who sends his police force to arrest them?
Isn’t this empty rhetoric? Something that his audience of Black voters wants to hear. Yes, there he is; our BLACK mayor, saying things we like to hear. I’ll vote for him again next election.
Is this mayor saying anything to his law-abiding audience? Such as, don’t have out-of-wedlock children. Raise your children to be law-abiding. If you see a criminal committing a crime call the police. Defend yourself and defend your community.
Sorry, I don’t hear a message here that is seeking a real solution.
Replay the tape and address it to ISIS or the Iranians running their nuclear program. What’s your reaction? What can we expect to be the reaction of this message addressed to the violent criminals in his community?
There is an organization in Boston called “Operation LIPSTICK” http://www.operationlipstick.org/operation-lipstick/. They seem to have a message that is rational and addressed to an audience that is apt to respond positively. I don’t find comparable substance in this politician’s message.
“It’s time for young people to put down their guns and stop killing each other” – yep, sounds like he’s talking about street thugs, not us.
He also talks about accountability and not claiming you have a right to live a life of crime because you think society was mean to you. He also talks about getting a job.
I really don’t find much to bitch about in his speech. You want to see something bitch-worthy, watch a video of our president talking about Trayvon, or worse yet, do a youtube search for Michael Brown’s Stepfather.
I dunno, there are a lot more guns in most Texas towns than in Chicago, yet there are more shootings in Chicago. I’m guessing it’s not the guns to blame, but the people holding them.
Maybe people should stop blaming externalities for their own problems, and set aside some serious time for introspection – personal, cultural, or whatever.
The type of person who kills others has zero chance of being persuaded to respond to diplomatic reasoning. Rather tan waste time speaking to the bad-guys, try making suggestions to lawful people to improve their chances for survival.
Yeah I hear this all the time in Chiraq…nothing to see here-move along…
I wonder if he thinks the blacks in the south protecting their families from the Klan with firearms were cowards.
That was a rhetorical question but WE all know the answer. No they were not cowards because it was black on white crime. They would be considered black social justice warriors who picked up guns to ward off the white devils.
Protecting yourself from the Klan and arming for self-defense is not a crime. The Deacons for Defense and Justice were not criminals.
Thank you for saying that.
Alderman,
While I cannot convey the sorrow I want to for your loss in person, do not lump me in with criminals.
I am not a coward. The men I have served with in the military can attest to that; they themselves are the bravest men I will ever know.
I am not a coward. I am a young man with the joints and bones of an old man from nearly a decade of service. I cannot fight hand to hand like the days of yore anymore.
I am not a coward. If someone intends to do me harm, I will fight with whatever I have at my disposal to keep my family safe.
I am not a coward. It is cowardly men who seek to take what is not theirs that force the hand of normal people to commit violence so they may know peace.
Cowards rob with guns and knives and fist; brave men avoid them at all costs, but are not hesitant to defend their lives and their loved ones.
I am not a coward. Don’t ever forget that.
I hope that you know justice soon, and the perpetrator never sees the light a free man sees ever again. But do not lump me in with that filth.
Bravo Salty!
Well said.
Good comments in context.
“we may be nearing the point where communities plagued by firearms-related crime, injury and death understand that it’s the mindset of the people pulling the trigger that matters more than their “easy access to guns.”
WE decent Americans already know and understand the mindset in those specific communities, hence the largest surge in arms sales. It doesn’t help for inclusion that certain communities desire for change is optimized through the scorched earth method and state sanctioned thievery. That is why there was, is, and always will be a rapid flight away from those communities inhabitants.
“A mindset sustained by simple human greed and the distinct lack of a moral foundation.”
That mindset applies to more folks than just the ghetto culture, which is why the nation is going morally bankrupt before financially.
Sorry Alderman Boyd, but exercising my right to bear arms does not make me a coward. It makes me an citizen of the United States of America, if you wish to go on the war path against criminals who are committing further illegal activity by possessing a weapon that they probably are not legally entitled to possess to commit a crime that is fine. Do not however lump the tens of millions who are legally exercising their right with those same criminals because it is insulting. This serves as another example of an individual who would rather use emotion than common sense to further their agenda.
Idk if a lot of these commenters even watched the video. But I don’t see a problem with what he said at all. The “guns are for cowards” was taken out of context. He was talking about dumb kids quickly pulling the trigger over something menial. He Wasn’t talking about protecting yourself/family. He even went against the liberal argument how it’s “not their fault, they don’t have jobs/resources.” Even managed to stick up for cops as well. Poor example of “journalism.”
This man has the right of it! The use of arms to exert undue influence over another is an act of cowardice, nothing more nothing less.
“The use of arms to exert undue influence over another is an act of cowardice, nothing more nothing less.”
Police are cowards, then.
Got it.
Might want to look up the definition of ‘undue’, Geoff.
This guy clearly isn’t talking about ‘putting your guns down’ when it comes to reasonable cases of self defense. He’s talking about guns in the context of using them as problem solvers for personal differences, which is likely the majority of the gun uses he’s encountered.
It’s absolute hypocrisy on our part to accuse anti-gunners of politicizing tragedies to further their own agenda, and then turn right around and take a grieving uncle’s call for an end to violence and twist his words into something vaguely anti-gun-rights and blast him for it.
He said ‘guns are for cowards’ in the context of using guns to solve personal matters. And that is absolutely true.
@ Geoff PR
Well done, your ability to abjectly miss the point and alter the mean of plain english is superb! In response to your ever so enlightened statement; Undue Influence involves one person taking advantage of a position of power over another person. This inequity in power between the parties can vitiate one party’s consent as they are unable to freely exercise their independent will. So no I did not state “Police are cowards”. In the future, unless you improve upon the silence keep your reductio ad absurdum to yourself.
So, would it be unfair to ask what the nephew was up to at the time when he got shot?
Found the answer. Sounds like a drive-by so it’s hard to tell who was the target and why.
St. Louis Ward 22 Alderman Jeffrey Boyd was on scene as police conducted their investigation, and said the person who died was his nephew, 23-year-old Rashad Farmer.
Farmer was standing near a vehicle talking to an acquaintance when he was struck. The second victim was standing in front of a residence when he heard shots before being struck.
“To keep and bear arms.” I find nothing shameful with presuming Christian caucasian rights and morals with that statement. Not some kind of half-baked savage subculture. No frequency or degree of weasel words will change my point of view.
Pretty sure this dickbag just called all military and law enforcement cowards..
“Mother’s talk to your sons”, he says. The great white father Uncle Sam and his welfare check have replaced the black father. That is why the killing continues because no father is in the home to provide an example or if necessary kick a boys butt to keep him in line.
I wonder if this alderman has a gun just like the black woman politician protesting at Ferguson. I don’t recall her name but she has a gun and voted for gun control. She was arrested and not procecuted for illegal carrying her gun.
I’m having a hard time figuring out how a person who would fight back against a criminal to save himself, or his kids, is a coward, but someone who would stand idly by doing nothing and telling the media how terrible it was, that guy is not a coward…
I don’t understand why people think guns are for cowards. When you get in gun fights, you risk death or serious injury or serious jail time. Cowards wouldn’t risk that. These people may be morally deficient, but they are anything but cowards.
I live in the StL metro area. Sorry to chime in late here, but looking at some of the comments here I don’t think people are getting the context here. He’s talking about black-on-black crime, drive-by’s and gang bangers. He is not referring to any of us law-abiding gun owners, police or military. In fact, he defends the police later in his commentary.
As RF notes, Boyd is all about the hearts and minds of the people.
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