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Content from our friends over at Dallas Progress

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Oak Cliff shootings a sign that things need to change

by Michael Davis of Dallas Progress

OAK CLIFF — This past weekend three DFW teenagers lost their lives to gun violence. In the two cases in Dallas, two teenagers were killed by AK-47s in Oak Cliff. Both were innocent bystanders.

On Friday afternoon, C'Andrea Donnelle was killed after a moron shot up a house with the aforementioned assault rifle after an argument at a Highland Hills apartment complex. C'Andrea was 17 years old and a few weeks away from going to college. The shooting was a result of an ongoing argument between the murderer and C'Andrea's stepfather. Thankfully, the idiot was arrested.

On Saturday night, Juanita Payne was gunned down as she tried to get away from thugs that crashed a teen party in the 1100 Block of East Red Bird Lane. Juanita was 15-year old honor student at South Oak Cliff High School.

On Friday night, after watching some July 4th fireworks, on our way home my wife and I were in the middle of a running gun battle where two cars of people were chasing each other on a side street. Fortunately I was able to get the car into the driveway and we weren't hit.

I also saw a police report in which someone was injured by a falling bullet over the weekend.

DPD can't do it all while we sit in the house; we have to take action against these people that are destroying our community.

Where do we begin? Is it by dealing with the apartment owners that refuse to hire security so that ongoing problems, as was reported in C'Andrea's case, don't fester? Is it by trying to get rid of the gun shows that allow easy access for criminals to acquire assault rifles that only have one purpose?

It's clear that something must be done.

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Verified User
Anonymous

I believe that it is kind of late to do anything to prevent it. All there is to do now is to protect yourself from it. The action should have been taken when most of the perpetrators where small children and still had a chance to be guided in the right direction.

12ozfred Anonymous

1 year, 4 months ago
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Ouch, Fred, kind of defeatist attitude there, don't you think? What about the children of today? Can't we start teaching them so as to prevent them from making the mistakes that others are making now?

Alex Bentley Staff

1 year, 4 months ago
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Of course we can start (or should we be?) teaching them so as to prevent them from making similar mistakes.

I guess it is just how the story turns all heads to DPD for help. It seems like we forget that these perpetrators have parents and family, who have way more influence on them than the DPD, to set them straight.

12ozfred Anonymous

1 year, 4 months ago
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Can't wait for the family of the mentioned "moron" to complain about how it's so unfair to label them so, they're good kids, got caught up with the wrong crowd, etc., etc.

And Fred, uh, the story actually specifically said that Oak Cliff residents can't just sit by and rely on DPD.

Pavel Lishin Verified

1 year, 4 months ago
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Parenting is #1 on preventing gangs and guns. But good parenting is even futile, living in a country that gives it citizens nothing to hope and everything to fear. I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often. Put down the guns, pick up a passport, get a work visa, this nation has abandonned all who make less than a mill a year.

snoryder8019 Anonymous

1 year, 4 months ago
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'Where do we begin? Is it by dealing with the apartment owners that refuse to hire security so that ongoing problems, as was reported in C'Andrea's case, don't fester? Is it by trying to get rid of the gun shows that allow easy access for criminals to acquire assault rifles that only have one purpose?

It's clear that something must be done.'

These just seem like more excuses to blame someone else.

Security guards? Why is it a landlord's responsibility to police his tenants? Of course, any landlord that actually evicts scum tenants has to contend with being called a racist, and sued.

And lets not forget that if those apartment complexes raised the rent and cleaned up-- the host of 'activists' that would be protesting the gentrification and displaced poor people.

Getting rid of gun shows? Do you really think these thugs went to a gun show and bought these guns?

And we've all seen how well gun bans worked in Washington DC, right?

Clay213 Anonymous

1 year, 4 months ago
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Since I have no jokes and no answers, this will probably be seen as a useless post.

I can't think of anything more disturbing than these stories of young people being killed by other young people.

Yes, I agree that some of the answer has to do with parenting, but society as a whole is guilty of telling these kids that violence is the cool way to go. At times it seems that no matter what parents do, they can't compete with the violent lessons being learned while the kids are at school.

I know I sound like my dad, and it's been said before, but today's music, videos, video games, movies, and even sports events and players seem to exude violence- something that is picked up differently by kids than it is by us adults.
We seem to expect young folks to understand that the violence they see everyday is not the norm, not acceptable, and definitely not cool. They're just kids!

The Second Amendment (something I think is still valid) was written in a time of revolution- a time of independence and freedom from oppression. However, when it was written, American teenage citizens were not shooting each other over petty differences like they are today.

As if we haven't got enough to worry about from foreign threats, we have an epidemic of stupidity to deal with here at home.

Just like we have all let ourselves be held hostage by the oil that we foolishly can now only get from violent foreign countries, we have also let our violent society teach our children to be thugs who care more about the cool shoes on their feet, the drugs they do, and the guns they have than the education they're not obtaining and the futures they could have had.

I don't think there is one answer which is a drag because America isn't very good at multi-tasking. There are many things that we have to change if we want to change the way things are now.

I must admit- I myself have talked on this site about violent actions (if you shoot a gun-wielding intruder outside your home- drag him inside.)
This was meant for only adults to read. I can only imagine what a young person might have taken from it.

If we are to change things in America, we may need to start with ourselves.

Rick Yost Verified

1 year, 4 months ago
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I just rode my bike to Oak Cliff

And there was a large sack of trash sitting in the middle of Zang Blvd.

It was still there when I rode back an hour later.

None of the people in pickup trucks thought to grab it? A safe and clean neighborhood starts with it's residents. Not with banning gun shows or security guards.

Clay213 Anonymous

1 year, 4 months ago
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Clay- You've just described a good example of a disconnected society.

I have personally stopped in the middle of the street to pull aside dead animals or tree limbs, etc. The others drivers look at you like you're a fool, or are irritated that you are holding up traffic.
To most folks it's just not their job- they pay taxes to have someone do such things.

It seems the more connected we are technologically, the less connected we are as a people.
I think it is a symptom of an every-man-for-himself mentality. Grab as much of everything as you can for yourself, and dump on the other guy. That's America!

Rick Yost Verified

1 year, 4 months ago
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I don't even want to tell the story of the night I found a dying cat on main st and what happened.

Clay213 Anonymous

1 year, 4 months ago
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Let me guess... you took out your gun and put it out of its misery?

Liles Anonymous

1 year, 4 months ago
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Clay- Okay, so now I'm curious. Did fluffy live, or did you plug it like Liles suggested?

Rick Yost Verified

1 year, 4 months ago
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More importantly, did you leave it on Yale near Matilda/Greenville? Pretty sure me and my friends stepped on it last night if so (that, or a hobo was sneaky enough to hide something decaying in my friend's car).

Scott Doyle Verified

1 year, 4 months ago
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What do gun shows have to do with it? Ever been to one? Ever try to buy a gun there?

fratermus Anonymous

1 year, 4 months ago
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"I know I sound like my dad, and it's been said before, but today's music, videos, video games, movies, and even sports events and players seem to exude violence- something that is picked up differently by kids than it is by us adults."

Rick - I would not have expected this from you at all. Yes, you do sound like your dad...And probably his father before him…and his before…and so on... The "good ole days" don't really exist. Violence is nothing new. Children are either born with empathy or not. Empathy is either fostered or it is not. No artist in the world could make a good person do what these worthless scumbags are doing.

jtmbls Anonymous

1 year, 4 months ago
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So how do we get Yost on the ballot?

Jason Rice Verified

1 year, 4 months ago
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Could always coerce him into running by paying hobos to stand outside his bar.

I'm sure they'd do it for some rice or something.

Scott Doyle Verified

1 year, 4 months ago
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Well, although it's usually reserved for our patrons, we do have free popcorn.

jtmbls- Hi. I don't know your age, but if you go back far enough you'll find an era when not everybody had a gun. Yes, criminals and bad folk have always had guns. But you need only ask someone my age or older what it was like when they grew up, and they'll no doubt tell you that they rarely worried about being shot.

I grew up in the 60s and 70s in Dallas.
At one point as a teenager I attended Alex W. Spence where (and this is no exaggeration) there was a black on white mob fight in the halls nearly once a week. I'm talking about fifty to sixty kids in one hallway. I was involved in dozens of fights with all colors of kids (mostly due to me being in the wrong place at the wrong time).
I've had the crap beaten out of me more times than I'd care to remember- some I don't remember probably due to head injuries.
There were clubs, chains, brass knuckles, numb chucks, and a lot of knives. But someone pulling out a gun was a very rare and fight-stopping event.

So, forgive me if I disagree with you. I DID live in a time when there weren't so many guns in the teenage population.
Of course, individual results may vary.

Rick Yost Verified

1 year, 4 months ago
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P.S. Yes, of course violence has always been a part of society, but the use of guns to settle arguments between teenagers seems to be more common-place than ever.

No, I'm not a gun control advocate- I'm a common-sense advocate.

Rick Yost Verified

1 year, 4 months ago
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I'm not as old as you ;-) and I wasn't questioning the truth of your perception, I just don’t know if I am willing to believe that we have deteriorated instead of progressed as a society. Particularly due en mass to music/film/literature - now add video games. I tend to believe that these things have always happened, we just didn’t know about it over a 50 mile radius and two or three whole days.

Correct me if I am wrong but in the early 60s, guns were readily available to the public? Gun control came into play sometime after JFK was assassinated?

jtmbls Anonymous

1 year, 4 months ago
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jtmbls- No worries. I hope you're right.

I think what you and I are discussing is a dichotomy of sorts.
On the one hand there are some wonderful things happening in todays society. There are some really great things being done by some very good people all across America.
And at the same time it seems to me that there has been a serious degradation of communication, co-operation, civility, tolerance, honesty, understanding and many other traits of society that make up America.
Nothing would make me happier than to be proven wrong.

And I think you're right about the gun control time frame.

Rick Yost Verified

1 year, 4 months ago
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Ok, Doyle, back to Yost's campaign planning...

So are you thinking Left-Wing Hoboes or Right-Wingers. He's got a distinctive "Nostalgic Laissez-Faire Liberal Pragmatist" trademark that should sweep the swing vote, but motivating him could be hard. I'm seeing sort of a Bob Newhart / Charlton Heston blend.

Jason Rice Verified

1 year, 4 months ago
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I would love for you to be wrong too - Just this once! Although, the similarities to ancient Rome are a little spooky.

Not sure where I was going with the gun control thing other than it is interesting, if your theory is correct, the impact (or lack of impact) regulation has had on the situation.