North Carolina Town Plans Useless Gesture to Try and End ‘Gun Violence’

There are two kinds of useless gestures when it comes to communities trying to stop violent crime. Some are really just frauds being perpetrated on the people, like so-called buybacks. Those who push these claim they work, that there’s evidence they work, but no such evidence exists. It’s nothing but an attempt to frame the narrative as these people doing something useful when they’re not. It’s fraud.

Then you have the benign useless gestures. They won’t do anything, but they’re generally well-intentioned, and the people who take part feel better afterward. They’re still frustrating because all that effort could go toward something actually useful, but it’s not.

It’s the latter that’s taking place in Asohkie, North Carolina.

The Ahoskie Police Department is planning a special event early next month.

“Guns down, Prayers up” will be held Saturday, May 2 at the all-purpose field adjacent to the Town of Ahoskie Gym on Main Street.

The event begins at 10 a.m. with a peaceful march along Main Street. The march begins at the railroad crossing and ends at the all-purpose field.

“Everyone is welcomed to come out and join us,” stated Ahoskie Police Chief Michele Garrett. “We want this to be a big event, especially paying attention to its purpose and that is our ongoing effort to reduce gun violence.”

Garrett said families who have lost loved ones to gun violence are encouraged to carry a photo of those victims during the march.

And what will happen after this?

Nothing. Nothing at all.

In all my years, I’ve read a lot of accounts of people straightening up their lives and leaving a criminal past behind, and not a single one has ever said, “There was this demonstration against gun violence, and that’s when I realized that the public didn’t approve of me randomly killing people.”

Not. A. One.

Those who march will feel better about themselves when they’re done, which is fine. The police department gets some goodwill from the community, which is never really in enough supply for law enforcement, and that’s it.

They could have used those resources, though, to fix street lights in troubled neighborhoods, maybe try the whole “turn vacant lots into gardens” and generally address the whole Broken Windows theory, and see if it works. If it doesn’t, no harm, no foul. If it does, you make a real difference, and those who participated actually helped do something real.

See, demonstrations work only if the people you’re trying to reach are willing to listen. Politicians might because those demonstrations represent voters, and they need them. Corporations might do so because they don’t want to anger customers or the public in general.

Criminals, though? If the fear of arrest or being shot doesn’t dissuade them, do you think public outrage will do it? Hardly.

Again, it’s not malicious, and it’s not one of those things that’s being sold as a solution that will cost a bunch of money that’s been definitively proven not to work, but it’s still not going to change a thing.

It’s benign, but only if you don’t consider what could have been done instead.

Editor’s Note: The radical left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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