By Michael Foster-Sanders/campus editor
In 2015, Dylann Roof walked into a Charleston, South Carolina, church and killed nine members. Gun control wasn’t brought up to help prevent another mass killing in the U.S.
In 2016, Omar Mateen walked into Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and killed 49 people and wounded 58 others. Gun control talks happened immediately.
In 2016, Chicago had 3,550 shooting incidents and 4,331 shooting victims. No one brought up gun control to help curb the city’s gun problem.
This is not to compare tragedies but ask: Does gun violence only matter when it doesn’t affect minorities?
The latest tragedy in America was the Las Vegas shooting that claimed 58 lives with 549 injuries, and the media instantly jumped on gun control. The perpetrator, Steven Paddock, had legally bought those guns and modified them for fully automatic and semi-automatic firing.
It seems like the majority of guns used in shootings in minority neighborhoods are illegal, bought from gun shows in other states and transported to poor and disenfranchised neighborhoods to sell with serial numbers scratched off at usually double the price.
A Washington Post poll in 2014 showed three-fourths of black Americans supported stronger gun control compared to fewer than half of whites. So why aren’t minorities’ voices being heard when it comes to addressing the issue?
It appears gun control is not addressed in minority areas is because of greed and gentrification. In Chicago and other urban communities filled with sub-par education and low economic opportunities, crime is allowed to fester to drive down property value.
And it seems this is to force hardworking citizens who want better safety and opportunities for their families and to move out of the community and sell their homes for pennies on the dollar. In return, real estate companies buy the land cheap, sell high and build living spaces that attract high-income residents that are predominantly not minorities. If you need a local example look at the south side of Fort Worth with the nickname of SoHo.
Nothing is wrong with gun control as long as it sheds light on all issues of gun violence in the U.S.
