Misinterpreting a Tragedy in Boston
The Wall Street Journal proves its "news" pages are just as liberal as most mainstream newspapers.
The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article today (behind the pay wall) about the increase in gun trafficking and how illegally purchased weapons are being transported from states with less restrictive laws to those with more restrictive laws.
It is interesting because it is more deceptive and dishonest that one would suspect for something published in source many turn to for honest and factual reporting.
What they print is true, as far as it goes, but the argument of the authors, Dan Frosh and Zusha Elinson, is weakened by an overt emotional appeal, beginning with the tragic and horrific murder of Alissa King, a 17-year-old “popular youth basketball star” who died in Boston from a gunshot wound to the neck.
While the province of the weapon is the focus of the article, it describes the events leading to Miss King’s death:
“Anthony Kelley bought the Taurus sometime between November and April, stashing the cardboard box it came in downstairs in the basement, according to a police report.
Barely 18, he lived with his grandmother in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood in a sea-green, three-story building. Mr. Kelley said a friend had been murdered and he bought the gun from someone out of state for protection, according to law-enforcement records.
His lawyers declined to comment.
Under federal law, Mr. Kelly was barred from purchasing a handgun from a licensed dealer until he turned 21. Under Massachusetts law, he couldn’t buy one through a private sale either until he turned 21. Massachusetts gun owners also need a permit to carry firearms in public.
In Alabama, an 18-year-old can buy a handgun through a private sale and no permit is needed to carry a firearm in public.
Prosecutors say that on the afternoon of April 15, Mr. Kelley had the Taurus in his pants pocket while walking near his home. In a police interview, Mr. Kelley said he noticed Ms. King walking nearby…
Mr. Kelley and Ms. King knew each other from the neighborhood. Mr. Kelley told police that she was friends with his enemies and that he was concerned she was following him. He turned toward her and fired multiple times, according to his interview with police.
A single bullet struck Ms. King in the neck. She died on the street.”
Even before the murder, several laws had already been broken. It is also not explained – or even questioned – where a “barely 18” (as the WSJ describes him) kid got enough money to buy a black-market gun.
Note also the murderer lived with his grandmother, so no father or mother are in the picture.
As to the reason for his purchase, Mr. Kelley cited he bought it for “protection”, which is probably true since Mr. Kelley resided in the Mount Ida/Dorchester area of Boston, an area ranked as “most dangerous” based on law enforcement crime data.
The statement “In Alabama, an 18-year-old can buy a handgun through a private sale and no permit is needed to carry a firearm in public” as absolutely no relevance to the murder of Miss King since everyone identified in the article as being involved in the trafficking of the murder weapon, except for the murderer, was over 18.
Wow.
There are so many sociological issues here to consider before we even get to the mode and method of the murder, and yet, in typical fashion, this article makes the presence of the gun the problem.
In a smart, storied business publication like the Journal, one would assume they would not overlook the role of economic law in this situation, and yet it is never mentioned. In economics, capital will flow to areas where it is needed and desired to generate a particular outcome. In other words, it flows from areas of low demand to areas of high demand.
Say’s Law also states that supply creates its own demand, and while that is an oversimplification of what 19th century French economist Jean-Baptiste Say actually proposed, in this case it is clear to understand that an oversupply of criminal opportunities brought about by a soft on crime attitude of local government would create a demand for criminal activity.
Now apply those simple laws to this situation. That black and tan Taurus handgun did not walk to Boston from Alabama on its own power. It did not decide to make the trip on its own, the attitude of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu to defund police while restricting the ability and capability of the public to protect itself through restrictive gun laws, created a scarcity of protection and therefore created a demand for guns.
Economics are not lost on criminals either - there are criminals in Boston who understand market dynamics better than graduates of MIT’s Sloan School of Management - and the criminal element in Boston knows fewer guns in private hands means more opportunity for less dangerous scores, so the demand for guns in the criminal market has also increased.
Quoted in the article, Prim Escalona, the U.S. Attorney for Alabama’s Northern District, whose office prosecuted the trafficking case, said “To see something that starts in a small town in Alabama, that’s affecting families in Boston and taking the life of a 17-year-old, it’s horrific.”
But the murder of Alissa King didn’t start in Alabama, it started where the demand was created – the Mount Ida/Dorchester neighborhoods of Boston.
Since trafficking in illegal weapons is already a federal crime, perhaps we would be better served to look at what is creating the demand for illegal weapons rather than what is generating the supply.
Four days ago, the Wall Street Journal published an op-ed piece by George Soros. It is confusing and disturbing to think about what is happening at the WSJ.
Talk about misinterpreting, the story's title, which you fail to mention, is "Gun Trafficking Surges Across State Lines: One Pistol’s 1,200-Mile Journey to a Boston Homicide." It is a story about gun trafficking across state lines, and the Alyssa King homicide is merely an anecdotal example.