The Best Treatment for a Broken Leg Is to Take Aspirin and Walk It Off

That was my first thought about this:

PITTSBURGH — Four churches held a prayer walk to honor victims of gun violence Saturday morning.

Eastminister Presbyterian Church, Valley View Presbyterian Church, East Liberty Presbyterian Church and Cavalry Episcopal Church conducted the walk. At each church, T-shirts were lined displaying the name, age and death date of each person who lost their life to gun violence in Allegheny County this year.

I am not belittling the toll taken by mostly young men shooting at each other in city neighborhoods. But let's be honest about this: Violence in impovershed neighborhoods is a symptom. It is a symptom of poverty, of hopelessness, of crappy schools, substandard housing, occupation-style policing and all of the other issues that have been noted for decades. Getting rid of the guns would not fix any problems, other than kids shooting each other.