The Pandemic of Gun Violence

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by Dwayne T. Ervin

With the high rate of ChicagoPublic School children killedthis school year, Father Pfleger,Pastor of St. Sabina Church,has put the American Flagupside down on a pole outsideof St. Sabina Church andSchool on 7801 S. Throop tobring national attention to over35 children killed by gun violence.

According to a letter fromFather Pfleger, emergency stepswere taken around the countryto respond to the swine flu, butWhy cant we have the samekind of national consciousnessabout gun violence Pflegerasked? In the last couple ofweeks, we saw this nationalconsciousness and directionabout the swine flu. Everyschool was given informationand what to talk about. Everycity and state was being educatedabout it

The issue of violence is acomplex issue. We have got tobe as aggressive about this [gunviolence issue] as we are aboutthe swine flu, he said.

There is a lot of finger pointingwhere people are blamingthe parents, police, and thegovernment, he mentioned.Banning assault weapons andteaching conflict resolution ona regular basis offer some solutions,he added. We need tolook at the positive alternativesfor young people, he said.

Pfleger, who received mixedreviews about the upside downflag, with some calling himunpatriotic and with others supportinghim, said hes urgingeveryone in the community tohang the American Flag upsidedown in protest against gunviolence.

We have to know where ourchildren are and who they arewith. People need to checktheir homes and make sure noone is hiding a gun in it.Communities need to send amessage. If you shoot and kill,you are an enemy to this community.We will turn you in tolaw enforcement. There has tobe a standard so that peopleunderstand.

We have to be as aggressiveabout this as we are about theflu, he said. There is anaggressive approach aboutswine flu, but we are laid backabout children dying.

Responding to the growingconcern over gun violence andchildren dying, St. SabinaSchool has begun holdingschool year round which helpskeep students involved in positiveactivities.

Pfleger suggests gun ownershipshould be treated like carsthat are tracked right from themanufacturer. Cars are trackedfrom person-to-person. Whycant we do that with guns? Wecan control who gets guns, butwe choose not to, he said.

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