Anyone is welcome to submit a Guest Blog Entry to torontomike.com. I received the following entry earlier today.
I would like to go one step further with your argument Mike and say that those children swarming teenagers 15 years ago for the doc marten shoes were the prelude to all of this. To take something from someone that does not belong to you and beat them up in the process was just one step ahead of the now easy access to illegal gun weapons. If those teenagers 15 years ago had had the guns that are now readily available I am not so sure that they would not have used them then. The point being that even then there was no respect for individuals. You took what you wanted however you had to. Yes it has escalated simply bc the weapons have now become more readily available. The federal leaders have got to take a stand on this matter. I think this matter more than anything else will be what all adults in Toronto of voting age will be concerned about. I for one will be listening to Paul Martin and Stephen Harper to see where their stand will be on the punishment of these crimes and how to deal with the entry of these illegal weapons. Weapons have been banned for 70 years. How are these teens and young people getting these weapons? How can we stop the entry of these illegal weapons is one of the topics that must be addressed during this month's campaign.
Mary
Guns are smuggled across the border from the United States with a fair bit of ease. Gun control doesn't help because the lawless don't register their weapons. The kids who would roll you for your docs and the kids who fire bullets amidst Boxing Day shoppers are the same in that they all lack self respect. If every kid in the city had self respect, the murder rate would plummet.
As for how we give our children self respect, that's the million dollar question. It doesn't happen over night and it isn't easy. It's also never too late.
