Hell Comes To Murdertown

Apparently, Labor Day Weekend only marks the end of the Summer; not the end of the homicides:

On a day devoted to neighborhood festivals promoting peace and harmony, Philadelphia police reported four more homicides yesterday, bringing the year's total to 285. Local civic leaders and anti-violence groups ended the summer with block parties and street fairs against the backdrop of a murderous season: Since the first of June, 117 people have been killed in the city.

The latest victims, police said, were men slain in separate shootings within two hours early yesterday:

* Jermaine Jackson, 26, of West Philadelphia, was found in the 3800 block of Haverford Avenue in the Mantua section shortly after 2:20 a.m., and was pronounced dead of multiple gunshot wounds at Hahnemann University Hospital.

* Terrel Davis, 24, of Frankford, was shot in the head in an alley in the 3100 block of E Street in Kensington about 3 a.m.

* Julious Pickett, 24, of Brewerytown, was shot in the face in the 2000 block of North 31st Street in Strawberry Mansion shortly before 3:10 a.m.

* And shortly after 4:01 a.m., police found Walter Drivers, 27, of no known address, shot once in the head in the 6100 block of Callowhill Street in West Philadelphia. (H/T - The Philadelphia Inquirer)

Unfortunately, this count is now inaccurate. On Saturday, September 1, Philadelphia saw 6 homicides in 24 hours. Another homicide was reported Sunday afternoon, for a grand total of 7 bodies in a day and a half. (The 2007 total stands at 288.) And the holiday weekend is not even over yet.

Obviously, something is seriously wrong in this town. The murder rate is skyrocketing, and the politicians (both at the local and state level) are trying to clamp down on legal gun owners. Now, my regular readers have heard me shout this from the top of One Liberty Place, but it bears repeating (and re-repeating): the law-abiding gun owners are not the ones murdering people like it's going out of style! It's the thugs that buy the illegal guns on street corners and back alleys! Got it?!!!

Until the idiot politicians find a way to collect and destroy all of the illegal firearms, they should stop worrying about all of the citizens carrying legal firearms.

Happy Frakkin' Labor Day.