Newspaper Page Text
The True Citizen, Wednesday, April 14, 2021 — Page 5A
Michael N. Searles
SAINT VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE
Diana Royal
DETOURS
The 1929 Saint Valentine’s
Day Massacre was one of the
more notorious mass murders
in American history. The kill
ings resulted from a gang war
between Chicago’s North Side
and South Side gangs. Seven
men at a Lincoln Park garage
on February 14 were lined up
against a wall and shot by four
men dressed as police officers.
The incident was associated
with the war to control the
city’s illegal liquor business
during Prohibition.
Three of the men killed were
gangsters closely associated
with the Bugs Moran North
Side gang. Two of the men
killed did regular work for
the gang as a bookkeeper and
business manager and as man
ager of a cleaning and dyeing
operation. The two remain
ing victims were Reinhardt
Schwimmer, an optician who
liked to associate with the gang
and John May, a car mechanic.
The presence of Schwimmer
and May was a matter of hap
penstance. They were not gang
members and had no active in
terest in gang activities. They
just liked being around those
who did.
Being a bystander can have
lethal consequences and put a
person in a particular statistical
grouping. A mass shooting is
an incident involving victims
of gun violence and while there
is no widely accepted dehni-
tion of the term, the generally
accepted number of deaths is
live. Every day on average 500
people die from gun violence
in the United States and as
of March 23, 2021, 107 mass
shootings have occurred this
year, leaving 122 people dead
and 325 injured for a total of
447 total victims.
There are numerous sug
gestions and proposals as to
how to reduce mass shootings
in America. President Biden
issued a series of Executive
Orders aimed at reducing the
number of gun deaths since
Congress is reluctant to use
the words gun, violence, and
control in the same sentence.
However, there is a way to
reduce mass shootings that
will not rile up those who feel
their Second Amendment right
is under attack. If we return
to the Saint Valentine’s Day
Massacre, this horrific mass
shooting could have been la
beled a sad homicide if only
the three active gang members
were killed.
This is a lesson for all of us.
If we do not want to be a mass
shooting statistic, we should
limit ourselves to groups of
four or less. If we are in any
public or private setting and
the number rises to live, this
is an opportunity for an an
gry, unhinged, desperate, or
mentally ill person with a gun
(preferably) an AR-15 to enter
and shoot everyone (or at least
live people) in the room, park,
musical event, theater, or fam
ily gathering. Whenever we
are gathered and the number
of people equal or exceeds live,
you should know you are in
danger. This, of course, is a ri
diculously impractical notion.
There is, of course, a realistic
and practical way to reduce
gun violence on all levels. We
could eliminate or at least re
duce our gun fetish. We have
come to love guns equal to or
more than our professed love
of God. While there are Bible
verses that reference protecting
oneself, the overall message
of Christ is love
and forgiveness.
Jesus’ reverence SEARLES,
and respect for life 6A
(Reprintedfrom March 2017.
I’ve shared this a few times, but
I needed reminding of it this
week so I figured someone else
out there probably did as well.)
Just a few hours ago I had
an epiphany Em not sure I
wanted to have. Over the last
few years, I’d swear I’ve got
ten wiser, somewhat better at
decision-making and, most im
portantly, tougher. I’ve not had
the easiest adult years, though
I am humble enough to admit
most of the fault there is of my
own doing. Nonetheless, I’ve
always felt an extra bounce in
my step when someone went
out of their way to say I am
a strong person, and further
more, seeing the attribute in
me was even inspiring. I don’t
take conversations like that
lightly, but I also fail to see
how a 30-something year old
fumbling through life in messy
ponytails and mismatched
socks could be the source of
inspiration. I’ll take it, and I’ll
feel better about myself as I
continue to frolic the crooked
miles of my life.
Today I hit a detour, deh-
nitely not my hrst and assur
edly not my last. But detours
suck. (Can I get an amen?)
There’s all these arrows to fol
low, cones to maneuver. It’s a
game of serious road defense.
You completely lose sight of
where you’re going and what
your destination is because
you get caught up in the un
expected; you’ve gotta watch
for changing lanes and bad
drivers who could potentially
run you off the road, or worse
yet, wreck you.
So there I was, cruising
through my day somewhat
high on life when a stop sign
came out of nowhere and met
my forehead with a hard bop.
Detoured. But where were the
signs? Where were the instruc
tions to help me hnd my way
again? Picture a held,unkempt
and overgrown. Briars and
waist-high grass. Not a single
insect in sight ’cause even they
know trouble when they see it.
That’s paradise compared to
the detour I encountered.
I realized then I am not
really all that strong - quite
the opposite in fact. I think
my white hag has been in my
back pocket for a while and
that today I threw it on a pile
of dirt, laid my head down and
gave up. Tears spilled over my
cheeks as defeat made itself at
home in my soul. I’d somehow
managed to let another human
being have so much control
over my own emotions that
my disappointment in their ac
tions met me at that stop sign
in the shape of a semi truck,
no brakes and Yosemite Sam
mud haps.
I know I am not alone in
saying that I felt heartbroken.
I don’t know that I know an
other person on this earth who
can say they have never felt
that pain before, for various
reasons. If there exists such a
person, I’d like to know his or
her trick. Then again - do any
of us really want to go through
life not feeling the wavering,
gut-wrenching emotions as
well? I firmly believe those
moments are the ones that
make us appreciate the good.
It doesn’t particularly mat
ter what happened to upset me
because as soon as I was able to
dry my tears and take that deep
breath, I thought about all the
other times I’ve felt heartbro
ken. And I remembered - our
hearts don’t actually break.
They’re more like proverbial
sponges, absorbing the hurts
and turning them
e cep
into fuel to keep occ
our motors run- ROYAL,
ning. Even on a 6A
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