A Senate hearing on youth violence reflected a disconnect when it comes to keeping children safe.
The question should not be whether reasonable restrictions on the sale of handguns would help make Philadelphia
streets safer. As one part of an aggressive and comprehensive antiviolence strategy, they surely would.
The question is why Pennsylvania's two Republican senators, Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum, who were in
Philadelphia on Monday for a U.S. Senate hearing on youth violence, are so comfortable siding with criminals rather than with
the children killed and maimed in gun violence in this city and across the country.
They may say they are simply siding with law-abiding gun owners, but it's not so.
Those good people would not be harmed by restrictions that would hamper the freewheeling black market in
guns that fuels lethal violence in this city.
From the beginning of the year until May 31, there were 63 homicides of young people in Philadelphia ages
24 and under, according to Philadelphia police statistics. During this same time period in 2004, the death toll was 41. From
the beginning of the year until June 7, 340 young people 24 and under were shot.
Specter and Santorum barely talked about the easy availability of guns during Monday's Senate Judiciary
Committee field hearing in Philadelphia on youth violence. The opinions they did express about the firearms that litter urban
streets were as dismissive as an afternoon school bell.
The question is why they and other elected officials in Washington and Harrisburg aren't angry enough and
mournful enough over these slayings of the young to try all the pieces of a possible solution.
The hearing did some good in letting senators know about the intertwined problems that fuel violence against
the young, and hear about some effective anti-violence programs that deserve more support from government.
Gangs and drugs are deadly growth industries. Domestic violence victimizes children directly when the batterer
aims his weapon at youngsters in the house, and indirectly when those children are eyewitnesses to the assault of a loved
one.
The senators were mostly willing to listen to stories about programs such as Peace Builders, a program that's
shown results in Arizona schools.
But the hearing reflected a lethal disconnect when it comes to the war against children in neighborhoods
around this region and throughout the country.
Disconnect No. 1: Specter and Santorum flicking away suggestions of stricter gun-control
laws as a useless endeavor. The black market in guns is fueled by the practice of "straw" buyers being used to obtain guns
by people whose criminal records block them from buying directly, and by illegal gun dealers who take the many guns bought
by "straw" buyers and re-sell them on the street.
A one-gun-a-month rule, which Philadelphia officials have wanted for years, would cool off this black market.
Specter said it's impossible "to take guns off the streets of American cities." Of course, it's impossible
to choke off illegal gun sales totally. But why not use laws well-targeted to making those illegal sales harder?
Santorum points to "poverty... lack of fathers in the home" as holding a connection to violence. Yes, yes,
yes, poverty and AWOL fathers do make children more vulnerable. But those two factors don't negate the bloody reality that
easy access to guns in Philadelphia keeps funeral homes busy - and Santorum knows that.
Disconnect No. 2: Keeping children from being victims of violence requires an honest assessment
of all the factors and a long-term, sufficient response to them.
Money won't end deadly shootings and other forms of violence. But it can pay for programs that help families
and children in trouble. Specter asked witnesses who represented the Centers for Disease Control and the Justice Department
to report on successful anti-violence programs. That's a good and necessary exercise that should have been undertaken long
ago. Once that report is made, let's hope Washington will put money in the federal budget for them. Let's hope, too, that
those efforts are based on the most current, ground-level understanding of neighborhoods' individual circumstances. That leads
to...
Disconnect No. 3: How current, complete and accurate a view did Judiciary Committee members
get Monday considering the witness list did not include members of citizen groups who daily live with the effects of violence
in their backyards?
For example, parents obviously bear great responsibility for their children's well-being. But senators could
have learned valuable information by asking parents of children who have been involved in violence to describe their circumstances
and challenges.
Only fools and dreamers expect that violence can be totally subdued or that one magic remedy will keep children
safe. That's why everyone who has a role to play needs to be involved in this cause. That's why the willingness to confront
the most politically tricky issues must trump powerful political lobbies whose main interest is not children.
