Another Tallahatchie County teenager has lost his life to someone brandishing a gun, and unofficial word is that it may have been another teenager, or teenagers, who pulled the trigger of the weapon or weapons that fired the fatal shots.
The latest victim was an 18-year-old resident of Charleston who died in the city he called home on the morning of Oct. 14. He would have turned 19 on Dec. 6. Instead, relatives and friends will greet the date of his birth with great sadness and longing for what might have been.
This is not an indictment of firearms. The Second Amendment guarantees the legal right of the people to keep and bear arms.
That said, federal and state lawmakers have imposed certain restrictions and limitations on the purchase and ownership of some firearms.
For instance, the federal Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022 mandated enhanced background checks for gun buyers aged 18 to 20 and increased penalties for gun trafficking.
Yet, it seems too many of our young people somehow are able to get their hands on firearms, too often leading to very tragic consequences.
It should go without saying that we are not talking about .22 pistols and .22 rifles, but weapons that pack much more of a punch and, therefore, are potentially far more lethal.
It is safe to assume that in some cases the firearms, often handguns, are acquired illegally.
According to Bureau of Justice Statistics and prison survey data, 56% to 86% of firearms used in crimes in the United States are obtained illegally or via underground/street markets, family/friends, or theft.
Oh for a return to those days when a personal grievance could be settled with an old-fashioned, bare-handed fistfight among men, or women, who valued brawn over bullets.
