Stick to dog stories Gus.........Crime ain't your bag.

There was a time when my favorite columnist at the KC star was C.W. Gusewelle. He would write these heartfelt sentimental pieces about his dogs. I'm a sucker for a good dog story, and Gus was the go to guy for dog stories, he slung em like a street corner crack dealer, a seemingly unending supply of aging bird dogs and long contemplative walks in autumn woods. Now he seems to be headed in a different direction, his latest opus, crime and guns. He should stick to dogs. Not for nothin, but you can't write about crime, toss out a few stats, and leave out the more important ones, and still come away with any credibility.

Gusewelle wrote a Sunday column about registering guns, inner city crime, and prayer vigils. It was probably the worst piece of writing on those subjects I've ever read. The title of the story,

Register guns to take aim at urban crisis.

He starts out with population statistics of big cities, New York and L.A., comparing their per capita homicide rates to Kansas City. He surmises we are a more deadly city. Then he throws out the statistic about handguns being responsible for 90 percent of the murders in KC. Which came as a total surprise to me, I always thought most killings were carried out with potato guns or sling shots. Then he throws out the age group most likely to be killed, 16 to 34. He avoids mentioning race, he goes out of his way to never write one single word that mentions race. He also never bothers to explain how registering legal guns, which are by and large already registered, will reduce the murder rate in the urban core. Normally this would be the point where I ridicule and mock Gusewell, but I'm still in my transitional period, so I'm going to help him out.

I won't bother digging around the FBI crime stats, I don't need to. What Gus didn't mention in his half ass attempt at crime writing, those 16 to 34 year old murder victims are almost exclusively black. Rule number one, if you are going to write about crime, you can't pick and choose which stats to toss in, and which one to leave out. Young black men are overwhelmingly the victims and the perpetrators, of the majority of killings in this city, hell in any city, except maybe Ogden Utah or Marlow Oklahoma. I'm not sure if Gus was trying to avoid offending the African American community, or didn't want to scare his mostly white, mostly aged readers. The latter group by the way is more likely to be killed by someone who is also white.
Gusewell isn't alone when it comes to fear of offending. Just watch the local news, they will run a story about a robbery or killing, maybe a rape. They will rattle off the guys height, weight, what he was wearing, what he drove away in, but they will avoid mentioning what color his skin is. They are afraid of offending, but the description is kind of pointless if you don't know the perps skin color.


Nobody wants to be called a racist, accept maybe Neo Nazis and Klansmen. But you can't write about a subject like the K C homicide rate, throw out some hand picked stats while avoiding the most pertinent statistic, and expect to be taken seriously. Not only is it spineless, it's a disservice to the community as a whole, and more importantly it's an insult to the community who is being hit the hardest. If you happen to be called a racist for stating facts, then so be it, but at least you can say you were honest in your writing. The truth is you won't be called a racist, except by people who read race in to every syllable uttered by white folks. The truth is, the African American community is well aware of who is doing all the killing. Last I checked, there wasn't a gang of JoCo middle managers, riding on the east side in leased starter BMW's, spraying bullets, while wearing non wrinkle dockers and Tom Mcann loafers.


Gus also needs to understand that the majority of guns used in the majority of murders, in any city, are illegally obtained. They buy them on the street, the come from burglaries, drug trades. These guns, the ones that kill that 16 to 34 age group, they aren't being packed by card carrying NRA members. They are illegal weapons, obtained illegally, and carried illegally. Pussy footing around these facts doesn't change them. So say it with me Gus. The majority of the murders in this city are committed by young black men, the victims are more often than not young black men. The guns used to carry out the crime are usually stolen, or obtained illegally. Your common street thug could give a shit where that gun came from, and he has no compunction about killing someone. The problem isn't that guns need to be registered a second time. The problem is the mentality of the people doing the killing.


Some white investment bankers are responsible for the majority of white collar crime. Some young black men are responsible for the high murder rate in this city. These are facts, and facts don't kill people, people kill people, and if you happen to be a young black male in this city, and god forbid you happen to be killed, it's most likely going to be at the hands of another young black male. Stating that fact does not a racist make, dancing around it is shoddy journalism at best, and only helps the politically correct feel a false sense of superiority over everyone else. Stick to what you know Gus. Old Yeller you know, writing about crime, not so much.