Responding the CDC study posted on Aug. 23, regarding youth shooting deaths (15-19 yrs. old). The raw data should give us all pause. However, the root cause may not be guns. There are an estimated 33K street gangs (850K-1M members) in the U.S., dealing in human, gun and drug trafficking, robbery, prostitution, fraud, and more. Over 50% of the members are under 20 years old.

Gun control laws do not impact gang members. A national effort to reduce violent street gangs will have far more impact on shooting deaths than gun control laws aimed at lawful ownership. The mainstream media and lawmakers ignore this and reach for the low hanging fruit that serves their agendas. Cities with liberal leaders enable these atrocities to continue unabated while discriminating against police and crying for more gun control, and doing nothing to address the real issues.

Minorities suffer the brunt of this in cities that have abandoned them. Violence across the country is on the rise. Robbery, assault, rape, murder are an everyday occurrence, while our liberal leaders continue to spew rhetoric and do nothing except cry gun control. How about "crime control?"

Thomas Phelps

Lisbon