If this was even tangentially related to my post about Flint, I just want to clarify that Flint doesn’t really have a gang problem as in organised gangs. It does have an aimless, violent thug problem, though. Which - at least here - accounts for well over 90 percent of the murders. Some of which are random, or result in babies or very little kids being killed (all detailed in my link to the recent Mlive article.)
Another recent news analysis revealed what most people assumed: the majority of murder victims themselves had criminal records and were immersed in “thug” lifestyle. So, yes, public sympathy in this area doesn’t tend to run high for murder victims since most are assumed to have put themselves in harm’s way by their lifestyle one way or another.
Since I no longer live in the “bad” part of Flint, and said upthread that almost all of my neighbors in my current low-crime not-Flint neighborhood are armed, I want to stress that I am not only fine with this, I am happy. It’s like herd immunity.
I have three dogs - two large, one of those very intimidating, the smaller one very noisy if she hears anything unusual. If I didn’t have dogs I’d take classes and be armed. But the dogs are an excellent deterrent.
I like puppies. Long walks on the beach are right up there with sex in a woodland bower - sounds wonderful in theory, but the reality is filled with mosquitoes and sand in ouchy places.
As I have stated before, I live in a small rural community. Shootings are rare, murders even more so.
It’s a long article, so I will summarize.
There is an old county road that cuts through the victim’s land. Victim believed that since the county had abandoned maintenance on the road several years ago, that the property had reverted back to his family. Shooter said that it was still a public county road and that he could use it.
Both shooter and victim had visited the county commissioners a month earlier at different times asking for the true status of the road. Victim walked in to the commissioners’ office threatening to shoot the shooter. He was calmed down and the commissioners researched the status. The victim’s family had submitted a petition to reclaim the land, but never followed through to complete the process. Legally, the road and land was still county property and shooter was within his rights to access the road.
From what I understand, both shooter and victim had been feuding for quite some time over this. On the day of the murder, the victim called the sheriff’s office stating he had a trespasser. About 15 minutes later, the shooter called the police stating he had shot the victim. Shooter has been charged with 2nd degree murder.
Thugs, gangs, that’s what I meant. There are a group of people who are hell bent on killing each other. It affects the general populace in that they also use those guns to commit robbery and kill innocents in drive-bys. But I think the solution to that problem is largely dependent on improving lives. More employment, better landlords, better schools, etc.
As the Hatfield-McCoy feud proves, such behavior isn’t limited to the cities. There are destitute people everywhere. But I think the thugs are more easily identified and dealt with in smaller, rural communities.
I feel very badly about the decay in the rust belt, especially in Michigan and rural Pennsylvania. Corporate greed and government regulations killed industry in those areas and I don’t know how we get it back. As a person with a very strong interest in automobiles, it breaks my heart to see all these factories torn down. Detroit played a huge role in getting us through World War II and I can’t understand why most of the nation’s manufacturing capacity was allowed to be been outsourced. Not everyone is cut out for, or wants to have a white collar job. We need factories.
I’m amazed this guy took five shots to the face and still managed to get in his car and drive a short distance. Poor lady must of wondered what it would take to stop this guy.
