Bonnie Watson Coleman: “A few days ago, at the Trenton Art All Night Festival, a fight between two individuals resulted in a mass shooting; 17…”

“A few days ago, at the Trenton Art All Night Festival, a fight between two individuals resulted in a mass shooting; 17 people shot, at least one critically injured. Fortunately, the only casualty--fatality, I should say--was one of the shooters. Even so, nearly 20 people shot at a community festival dedicated to breathing new life into the city and bringing the community together around something that is positive deserves our attention. Unfortunately, we have a bad habit of assigning sympathy and coverage only to certain kinds of shootings. In fact, it is safe to say that there are some who believe that there are communities in which gun violence will always be an unavoidable norm. That is false. That is a horrible and destructive stereotype that ignores the underpinning of our conversation about guns. From access to excessively destructive accessories, guns are the problem. NRA advocates would argue that in Parkland the shooter got his gun legally. But should an 18-year-old be able to buy a gun, especially when that gun is never going to be used for sport? Those same advocates would argue that most shootings in urban areas occur with illegally obtained weapons and that no regulation would prevent them. But because we refuse to require registries, we don't know where these guns come from. Perhaps if we did, perhaps if we knew who the first buyer was and which States those illegal weapons came from, they wouldn't end up in the wrong hands. Mr.…”