Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Locks are for honest folk
Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Locks are for honest folk: --> COMMUNITY BOARD NEWS N’ VIEWS By Father Richard F. Gorman Chairman Community Board #12 (The Bronx) BRONX, NEW YORK, January 30- Th...
Locks are for honest folk
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COMMUNITY BOARD
NEWS N’ VIEWS
By
Father Richard F. Gorman
Chairman
Community Board #12 (The Bronx)
BRONX, NEW YORK, January 30- The current debate surrounding the issue of gun control legislation is hot and heavy and undoubtedly will continue to be so. This should not surprise any of us. As a matter of fact, such public discussion and airing of every aspect of this issue should be encouraged. Our political leaders and the head honchos of the news media should help to shape an open, honest, non-ideological, non-partisan, and dispassionate examination of what is at stake as, indeed, there are tremendous implications for the safety, the security, and the good order of our society hanging in the balance. Far too often in controversial matters such as gun control, exceedingly more heat as opposed to light is shed. Voices are raised, hypothetically intractable issues demanding solutions are concocted, alleged all-encompassing and comprehensive answers are proposed, and
opponents of one’s positions are demonized either as ill-informed, ignorant, phobic, or a combination of all of the aforesaid. Such shenanigans, regrettably the staples of modern public debate, are unworthy of a great democracy such as ours and of a noble people such as us. Furthermore, while they frequently pay homage to the demands of political correctness, advance the careers of politicians, and feed the ideological campaigns of self-proclaimed public pundits; they lead to deficient, if not altogether failed, remedies to imperative questions. This circumstance, consequently, gives rise to cynicism along with a skeptical disbelief that our political system is incapable of addressing successfully, or even adequately, the needs of its citizenry.
The tendency to rush the enshrining of purported resolutions of public predicaments into law is another feature of the present discourse on civic difficulties. It is highlighted by the cavernous flaw in the recent gun control legislation approved by our New York State Legislature and signed into law by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. According to news reports, the provision of the law limiting the number of bullets that can be placed in a gun clip had the effect of making the service firearm utilized by many of our local Police Officers illegal.
Governor Cuomo’s hurried explanations to the contrary, this development demonstrates that judicial decisions and legislation
hurriedly put into place absent ample scrutiny and across-the board debate leads to bad law, which goes on to contribute to widespread skepticism and criticism relative to the integrity and the competency of our governmental processes. Even though the Governor maintains they are not needed, last reports in the media contend requisite amendments to correct the imperfections of the new Cuomo gun control law are in the works and will be taken up in due course by the State Legislature.
An interesting aside in this regard that has not really come to the
fore is why this flaw in the law was not discovered either by those who drafted it or those who deliberated and voted upon it. With both an Executive Branch and Legislature chock full of lawyers, should not have somebody picked up on this item? On the other hand, perhaps the need of some to be first on line to acquire bragging rights in this matter superseded the observations and/or objections of others.
Devising a legal response to the need to shrink gun violence requires time, full-fledged argument, and forthright candor. After all, and very importantly, this issue touches upon a constitutional right -- viz., the right to bear arms -- enumerated in the Second Amendment contained in the Bill of Rights appended in 1791 to the Constitution of the United States. In 2008 and 2010, the Supreme Court of the United States issued two landmark decisions officially establishing this interpretation. In District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), the Court ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to possess a firearm unconnected to service in a militia and to use that firearm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense in the home, within many longstanding prohibitions and restrictions on firearms possession listed by the Court as being consistent with the Second Amendment. In McDonald v. Chicago, 561 U.S. 3025 (2010), the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment limits state and local governments to the same extent that it limits the Federal Government. Constitutional rights are not to be toyed with or addressed lightly. The misuse and abuse of our constitutional rights does not justify and should not result in the extent of those rights being reduced, their practice restricted, or their existence abolished. The proper and reasonable reaction to self-serving, anti-social, and manipulative utilization of a constitutionally protected right is to encourage and to enhance the respectful and right practice thereof.
Prudence is equally called for in reflection upon the content of any innovative and contemporary laws and regulations. Does the gun control proposal genuinely tackle the issues at stake? Much talk on this subject has been directed as of late to such ideas as banning assault weapons. Such appears to many to be a reasonable and intelligent proposition in light of recent events. However, does it really speak to or address the basic problem? In his latest editorial comment in a local newspaper, New York City Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, while endorsing a ban on assault weapons, hastens to add that the real and overall problem with gun violence is the possession and illegal use of handguns. Any bona fide gun control proposal must include the
possession and the use of handguns -- constitutionally, legally, and safely.
On a final note, I refer to the title of my column this week. The
Irish have a timeworn and time-tested statement that says “LOCKS ARE FOR HONEST FOLK.” In other words, persons who are honest do not take what is theirs, but those who are not do. A lock stops a one who respects the property rights of a neighbor while a thief merely picks the lock. Newly enacted laws and rules will bind those citizens who are law-abiding; criminals will basically ignore them. The genius of an authentic answer to the problem of gun violence must protect the rights and the well being of the righteous and peaceable individual while thwarting the designs of lawbreakers. Ergo, we need to move slowly and cautiously on the topic of gun control and only subsequent to far-reaching and circumspect conversation, something that I shall again take in hand when next meet.
Until next time, that is it for this time!
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Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Maritime Win Streak Comes to an End
Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Maritime Win Streak Comes to an End: --> BRONX, NEW YORK, January 30- The Maritime basketball team lost to conference opponent Farmingdale St., 76-48, Tuesday night at the Ra...
Maritime Win Streak Comes to an End
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BRONX, NEW YORK, January 30- The Maritime basketball team lost to conference opponent Farmingdale St., 76-48, Tuesday night at the Rams’ Nold Hall Gymnasium. The defeat snaps the Privateers’ three-game winning streak and drops their record to 4-12 (3-8 Skyline) on the season, while Farmingdale improves to 14-5 (10-2 Skyline) with the win.
"I felt we played very well in the first half,” commented head coach Jake Scott. “Unfortunately, in the second half, we did not execute as well and played into their game. We'll continue to work and get ready for two more games this week."
Senior Ron Bethea (Harlem, N.Y./Humanities Prep.) notched his third-straight 20-point performance with 20 and a team-high six rebounds. He was the only Privateer to score in double-figures on the night.
Maritime kept the game close midway through the first half, actually holding a 17-16 lead at 10:37. However, a 13-3 run by the Rams gave them a nine-point, 29-20 lead, at 3:04. The Privateer cut the deficit to within four points before the half, going into the locker room trailing 33-29.
Farmingdale State’s lead hit double-digits quickly into the second, as they started the half on a 13-0 run. Maritime struggled to stay with the Rams, as senior AJ Matthews dominated the play all over the court, recording a double-double with a game-high 24 points and 11 rebounds. Senior Ryan Davis and junior Tim Johnson both registered 11 points, apiece, to round out the double-digit scorers.
The Privateers are back in action Thursday night in a very important conference matchup against Sage. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Riesenberg Hall Gymnasium.
Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Search Continues for Gunman in Double Homicide
Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Search Continues for Gunman in Double Homicide: --> (Below) A memorial has been set up for the two victims who were discovered shot to death inside a car on Perry Avenue. (Above) A memor...
Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Search Continues for Gunman in Double Homicide
Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Search Continues for Gunman in Double Homicide: --> (Below) A memorial has been set up for the two victims who were discovered shot to death inside a car on Perry Avenue. (Above) A memor...
Search Continues for Gunman in Double Homicide
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(Below) A memorial has been set up for the two victims who were discovered shot to death inside a car on Perry Avenue. (Above) A memorial photo of Jennifer Rivera.
By David Greene
BRONX, NEW YORK, January 30- Homicide detectives continue their search for the suspect wanted for the latest killing in the relatively quiet and safe neighborhood of Norwood, after two cousins were found shot to death inside an SUV.
Answering a call of a person shot, police were summoned to a private home at 3328 Perry Avenue at 12:15 a.m., on January 16, when the officers discovered a man and woman had both been shot in the head inside a white SUV.
According to police, the male victim was rushed to Jacobi Hospital and the female victim was removed to St. Barnabas Hospital. Both victims were pronounced dead upon their arrival.
Police would later identify the victims as Jason Rivera, 30, of E. 194 Street and his niece Jennifer Rivera, 20, of Boynton Avenue.
None of the residents spoken to reported hearing gunfire, leading to speculation that the victims were killed at another location and dumped of the relatively quiet Perry Avenue.
Police say Jason Rivera served 4-years in prison after he was
convicted of stabbing a man in 2005. One published report stated that investigators were looking at the older Rivera's criminal background as a possible motive for the killings.
One resident of the block stated, "I didn't hear the gunfire... I've
been here 52-years so something like this is not going to shake me."
Several other violent incidents were reported recently within the
confines of the 52nd Precinct, at just after 5 p.m., on January 10,
police were called to 2608 Creston Avenue, where police discovered a male victim who was shot through the front door of a building.
Police were looking for the gunman, described as a male Hispanic teen, between 14 and 15-years old, who fled from E. 193 Street towards E. Kingsbridge Road.
At just before 6 p.m., on January 13, officers from the 52nd Precinct were called to 3051 Valentine Avenue at E. 204 Street, where they discovered a 30-year old male shot to his side and back.
Police in this incident were said to be looking for a male Hispanic who fled in a Range Rover. On January 14, police were called to 3525 Decatur Avenue, where a victim was discovered with a slash wound to the leg. All three victims were expected to survive. No arrests in any of the incidents were reported.
Longtime Norwood resident Sim Binnum believed the solution rests with Commissioner Ray Kelly, stating, "If we had walking patrols like he has in Manhattan, he could end some of this crap right now. If you go to Fordham you'll see walking patrols. But 204th Street is just as much a commercial district as Fordham or Jerome Avenue."
The 52nd Precinct, which covers the Norwood, Bedford Park and Fordham communities reported just six homicides last year, down from a high of 43 in 1993.
Anyone with any information on any violent crime are asked to call the CRIMESTOPPERS Tip Line at 1 (800) 577-TIPS, all calls remain confidential.
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