Photo: Moment RF
Yesterday police said the victim in the drive by shooting outside of East High was 15-year-old Jose David Lopez, of Des Moines. He was not a student at the school.
And also yesterday, President Joe Biden issued a statement. It started well enough.
"Yesterday afternoon, as the school day was coming to a close, three students were shot in a drive-by shooting outside East High School in Des Moines, Iowa. One young man — just 15 years old — was tragically killed. Jill and I pray for his family and for everyone impacted by yet another senseless act of gun violence." He couldn't resist the politics at the end of that though.
These six teenagers have been charged with first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder in the shooting: Octavio Lopez (17), Nyang Chamdual (14), Manuel Buezo (16), Romero Perdomo (16), Alex Perdomo (15) and 17-year-old Henry Valladares-Amaya.
The President then rightly thanked law enforcement and first responders and followed it with something else we can all agree on I think.
"Enough," he said. "Our young people should be safe in and around school, in their neighborhoods, and in their homes."
But then he once again didn't look at how you break up gangs (we've done it before) or how you enforce laws and get dangerous people off the streets. Nope. He blamed guns and wants more laws.
"Last June, I put forward a comprehensive national strategy to reduce gun violence. In carrying out this strategy, I have taken more executive action to reduce gun violence than any other president in their first year in office — more than a dozen necessary actions, from cracking down on gun trafficking and rogue gun dealers, to promoting safe firearm storage, to reining in the proliferation of hard-to-trace “ghost guns” that can be bought online and made at home. Now, Congress must do its job. As I reiterated in my State of the Union address last week, it is up to Congress to pass proven measures to reduce gun violence —including universal background checks, a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and a repeal of the liability shield protecting gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets. These laws don’t infringe on the Second Amendment, but they will save lives."
So is he right? Will more laws and infringement on ur second amendment rights solve gang violence?