“Every unpunished murder takes away something from the security of every man’s life” – Daniel Webster
The headlines this morning will start to sound like Dublin is in the middle of an American style gang war, but what cannot be denied is that when a 13 year old boy is arrested for the shooting and murder of a 50 year old man; we have a problem.
According to RTE, the man from Shelmalier Road in the East Wall area, ran after a group of teenagers after eggs were thrown at his home. He pursued them onto nearby Bargy Road, but when he turned into a laneway he was shot and died 30 minutes later at the Mater Hospital.
The younger they are, the worse it gets. If we can’t instil a basic level of right and wrong in people, and especially children and teenagers, how can we expect laws to be obeyed?
I know kids can cause mischief and pranks and hey in some ways they are meant to because in various forms we can all cannot say we were innocent. However when guns and murder come into the equation, it should make us sit up and take notice.
Unfortunately I do not think that is the case, glance across the front page on the Evening Herald and you’ll no doubt see a story about a murder or about a “gangster” being made into a celebrity.
While the authorities are constantly chasing those who are responsible for crimes such as these, the media will have something to write about, I will have something to write about here and another mother, father, son or daughter will have lost a loved one.
When does it stop?
Monday, December 8th, 2008 and is filed under Thoughts & Questions, Views on News.
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