Gang violence in OKC

[Novel idea]

http://newsok.com/article/3183444/1198237621
Bottom story titled "OKLAHOMA CITY"
good thing they caught this SOB, but it goes to show: you have to be on your toes in cities no matter if it's New York, L.A., or even the bible belt.

[Stubob]

I have had some gang problems in Oklahoma and having a Gun is only one part of the solution. Using your head and getting out of the situation without shooting is the goal, but I am glad I had the guns if I could not get out of the bad gang situations.

Thanks for positng!

[Novel idea]

I guess I'll just use this thread for any Oklahoma gang violence.
This was reported December forth.

http://www.ksbitv.com/home/12133931.html
Most gang related news makes me mad, but these guys scare the hell out of me. The Nazis didn't die out in '45. They were on our soil even before WWII started. The scary part is, they're still here.

[Bill of Rights]

You know... Murder is murder. Assault, Battery, Rape- all of these and the less- or non-violent crimes such as Vandalism (or as some places call it, "criminal mischief") are crimes in and of themselves. Why are they somehow worse committed against a Black man by White people, or against a White person by Hispanics, or by any member of one group by members of another? Is a Hispanic man any less dead if he's killed by other Hispanic men than if he's killed by a bunch of Black women? Does a Black woman feel any less defiled and violated if she's raped by a Black man than if she's raped by a White man? Hate crime legislation is simply a way to elevate one group over another in the eyes of the law. If you're going to prosecute a battery of one person (of any group) by a member or members of another, prosecute the battery, not some arbitrarily enforced "hate crime". Hate is a noun or a verb, not an adjective.

All that said, Novel Idea, I agree that the ideas that people like that present are frightening, but only because they feel they can act with impunity. When they realize that there may be very real and very permanent consequences to their actions, the actions usually cease.

I wish that OK state law allowed you to carry.

Blessings,
B

[Novel idea]

I don't. I'm willing to admit that teenagers (myself included) are far more emotional and prone to impulsive action than adults. Despite being well aware of consequences, in the heat of the moment there's often a buck-the-consequences attitude. 21 is young enough.

And in response to your comment on hate crimes, I'm not sure if the law is at fault as much as the prosecution. Let's face it, people are all to often attacked simply because of race or creed, but there are cases in which someone is assaulted by a member of another race for reasons other than skin color, and to portray the defendant as a racist in such cases is wrong.

Anyway, I'm straying from the main point: gangs. For those of you practicing relaxed alertness, you might want to kick it up a notch, not only in the presence of black youths with do-rags, but also white ones with shaven heads and 88 tattoos.

[Bill of Rights]

I think you may have missed my point. <insert wink icon here> I'm not saying I wish OK law allowed all 16 year olds to carry. I'm commenting specifically on the obvious clear-thinking and maturity that you express when posting here. "Teen-syndrome" or not, you strike me as a very clear-headed person who knows that the best way to avoid a fight is to not be there and practices that whenever possible. I know that if there is somewhere in my town I won't go unarmed, I won't go there armed either. At 16, I would not necessarily have realized the wisdom of that, but you seem very far ahead of the curve, and are to be congratulated for it.

Blessings,
B

(and no, I don't promote the idea of one law for one person and another for everyone else. If I had my 'druthers, I'd have the other young people imbued with maturity, rather than make exceptions for one or another. (it doesn't matter, since neither one is going to happen!) but I thought I should edit this in.)

[Novel idea]

As if we needed yet more reason to doubt the ability of the police to protect us.
http://newsok.com/article/3177671/1196941700
"About 6 percent of responding Oklahoma law enforcement agencies have gang units; only 2 percent of rural agencies have them, according to his survey."