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When the new Broad Ripple fire station is built, the old one ought to be given to the IMPD as a local station that can be staffed 24-7. This would give law enforcement a greater visibility and presence in the heart of the village.
Of course, they best approach to the problem is for the state to allow the city to adopt stricter gun control measures. It’s clear the legislature’s preference for unlimited firearm ownership, without background checks or permits, is driving the increase in gun use. The state laws are simply insane.
I agree with you that our gun laws are nonsensical: permitting and background checks are essential, common sense measures. And, the current loose regulations help foster a wild-west environment that is quite insane.
Speaking of a wild-west environment, if we’re going to focus on the actual problem at hand, it’s really quite simple (as nearly all criminal matters are): there are a handful of really crappy bars, run by crappy owners, who attract crappy customers – customers who don’t think twice about randomly shooting into crowds (regardless of the gun laws in place). Remove the nuisance, and the bad actors disappear. Don’t welcome criminals to the neighborhood – arrest them. Don’t coddle and make excuses for moronic bar owners – revoke their licenses.
Why is it so rare that these horrible gun crimes spill over into the suburbs, where regulations are even more lax?
Why does Chicago, a city with some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation, have among the nation’s highest levels of shootings–while 40 miles south Kankakee (no great shakes of a flourishing town) has a fraction the crime rate, despite both cities being equally close to the Indiana state line where guns are readily available?
Why did Indy’s homicide rate go up nearly 50% during the Hogsett years, even though Hogsett most certainly didn’t relax any gun control measures?
I don’t like guns and don’t even own one. But I can at least recognize how ludicrous it is to think top-down measures will help. But then, we have a lot of top-down thinkers around here at the IBJ. If “thinkers” is even an apt term.
Only a very confused person would think that the majority of these random shootings in pedestrian heavy places are taking place from the same people who are taking advantage of permitless carry. The thugs going pow-pow on Broad Ripple Ave would use “permitless carry” even if we had Illinois-style laws.
Michael H. I agree with revoking their licenses, this has been proven fruitful with the Meridian St. bars downtown. When the city revoked Tiki Bobs and Tap and Dolls license, the area immediately got better.
Lauren – you are describing a scoio economic issue and disguising it as veiled racism?
Indianapolis has one of the lowest socio economic climbing abilities in the country
If you are born poor and are going to die poor – what is the point of trying to make a better life?
Frankie–
Do you know the demographics of Kankakee? I deliberately chose it.
Trotting out the predictable leftist “thinking” that poverty breeds crime, what’s to explain for the sizable amount of white-collar crime conducted by upper-middle class scumbags? I think they should face sizable prison sentences too.
Do you enjoy watching the collapse of urban America as you rationalize and justify criminal behavior? How much longer can Broad Ripple businesses sustain a high crime rate, let alone downtown?
@ Lauren https://fox59.com/news/indycrime/indianapolis-homicide-rate-greater-than-chicagos/
Lauren – until IMPD does their job we will have nothing to argue about.
The common denominator is we have never had a more well funded police force who does less.
Frankie – well funded is a gross oversimplification of where funding is actually going for IMPD. The officers that I interact with are working their tales off. Every one of them has the same gripe, the prosecutor’s office loves to let criminals walk. It is catch and release with Ryan Mears.
Legally owned guns and user are not shooting up Broad Ripple.! The people who are shooting up BRV are not punk thugs with little to no adult supervision in there life, so please quit blaming law abiding citizens. To sell a gun legally there is a background check required and is mandatory.
The increase in gun use has two obvious problems and you might want to change your city leadership to improve the situation for one.
“If you are born poor and are going to die poor – what is the point of trying to make a better life?”
JJ if you believe this statement you are bound to succeed! So JJ what have you done to help the police fight crime, with the quantity of shootings and murders they are spread thin and frustrated, “it takes a village”! (Hillary Clinton circa 1995)
Brent B.
I’ve got a better idea.
Stop pandering to the social justice warriors.
Stop with the racial equity and social justice nonsense.
Prosecute the CRIMINALS.
Broadripple had a violence problem long before the Constitutional right to
carry.
Eric R.
You know what have on South Meridian Street now?? Nothing.
What was once a thriving entertainment district is nothing now.
How’s that working out?!
@ Jolf https(colon)//www.mystateline.com/news/chicago-named-murder-capital-of-the-u-s-in-new-report/
Chicago had nearly 700 homicides in 2022. For Indy’s rate to be on par with Chicago’s, it would have to have 228 homicides in 2022. Indy had 226 that year. Almost identical homicide rates despite radically different gun control regs.
So…is this a flex on your part?
Agree Lauren B!
Maybe the focus of the BRVA is wrong. Maybe the problem is something like TOO MANY GUNS available to anybody anywhere? And now with permitless carry, the police have one less tool to use. I’m still not sure how any Indiana Republican law maker can say they’re tough on crime and then in the next move say let’s give criminals easier access to guns and less consequences.
Studies have shown that states that have permitless carry, have a gradual increase in gun violence that will rise for the next 10 years until it plateau’s about 10% higher than the current level.
Welcome to the Republican vision of a New America!
This isn’t about gun control. I guarantee the 3 groups of kids that shot the sky up don’t have registered guns.
This is about bad citizens. The crime isn’t from the Broad Ripple community, they are coming from the west side. I ask the bar owners where the addresses on the IDs left behind at night. Nothing within miles of Broad Ripple. I think IMPD is doing a pretty good job. The focus is now on the bar owners that foster and promote a crowd of folks that don’t care about Broad Ripple or the good proprietors that makes it great. We’re working to make it great. When Broad Ripple Avenue opens again and a flow of traffic rolls through, we’ll be on the way up.
I think most of those who have posted here are way off the mark. Take emotion and bias out of the issue and any reasonable person would conclude as Lauren stated that the issue of permitless carry is not a problem. If you disarm the law abiding citizens, the only people with guns aside from the police, will be the criminals. They do not care about following laws and will always find ways to get guns. I don’t know why so many dismiss this key point. It is reality and that is the world we live in. If you do not want a “wild-west environment, maybe look at the large number of bars catering to the masses. Could that be part of the problem? Is the city government’s apathy towards crime part of the problem? There are have been several shootings on I-465 lately. Do you think the folks who have a gun permit are doing this? I have a permit but have never carried and I know many like myself. The big takeaway needed here is to remember that CRIMINALS DO NOT FOLLOW THE LAW. I guess that is news to some …
Maybe the issue is we have zero routes for success for those who are poor in our city?
The data shows that if you are born poor in marion county you will die poor.
We have zero motivation for our citizens to become anything other than criminals as basic opportunities do not exist
JJ Frankie: I won’t disagree that we need more economic opportunity – of course we do. But, I think you’re off the mark in saying there is “zero motivation” for our citizens to become anything other than “criminals”. This is akin to the fallacy of the “root-cause” ideology of crime prevention: the persistent belief among some (unfortunately, our prosecutor and mayor, among others) that we need to solve the alleged “root causes” (poverty, lack of opportunity, lack of educational opportunity, etc.) before we have a meaningful impact on crime. This fallacy ignores the fact that 98% of the poor folk from the same “root causes” demographic do NOT become criminals – they’re the primary victims of the repeat offenders we allow to roam the streets. Focus on behavior – not background. Make an impact immediately (for the betterment of the 98%) by arresting those who violate the law – and get them off the street.
I agree – IMPD should do their damn job instead of having their policy of not leaving their cars and not chasing criminals
JJ Frankie J. why would any cop try to stop these criminals when they will be the ones ending up in jail if they have to shoot back and, god forbid, kill one of these A-holes?
if I was a cop in this current climate I would never get out of my car. even black cops are being arrested now for doing their jobs. The brilliant “defund the police” policy championed by the left is a BIG PART of this problem.
@ Joe 77% of mass shooting in this country were done by people who purchased guns legally.
IMPD is the opposite of being defunded – they have seen a 145% increase in budget under Hogsett.
You can’t use national clickbait headlines to discuss intricate local issues.
IMPD officers should do their job or get new careers. They are being paid almost 2x what a teacher makes, act like it a public servant or leave.
@Joe Then why do other countries not have these problems? No Republican ever answers this rationally lol. If you take emotion and bias out of the issue, any reasonable person would conclude America’s lack of gun regulation is the problem. There needs to be a national background check and gun registration system. If you are caught with an unregistered gun, I think a 10 year minimum sentence seems fair for the first strike. Assault weapons need to be banned, and anyone who owns one needs to be required to sell it back to the government for what they paid. 10 year prison sentences seem appropriate if you break that law too. Amending the 2nd amendment isn’t some impossible process. There’s my completely unemotional argument.
A very simple solution that would make an immediate impact is to shut down Connor’s Pub and the Red Room. Get rid of those two “establishments” and a lot of these bad actors will not have bars to hang out in. And there definitely needs to be more a police presence to monitor the thugs that just congregate in parking lots in BR.
Michael Q.
Shutting down those two bars will NOT solve the problem.
The bad actors will simply migrate to other establishments.
+1. The liquor licenses are the leverage. Pressure needs to be applied to both the county and state ABC Board and have them yanked.
Only those devoid of any semblance of common sense believe that guns laws will make criminals and gangs think twice.
in America*
it works everywhere else, but it cannot work here**
America is a magical rainbow unicorn*
The city better things under control and stop pandering to the social justice
warriors that care more about the criminals than the victims.
Investments will dry up and people will move out.
Bad bar owners= Bad bar customers Does this happen on Mass Ave ?
Close the damn bars at 1AM then swatch em scatter to other bar areas with their guns
A lot of the problems rest solely on the landlords, whose greed has negatively impacted the charm Broad Ripple once had. So many landlords either raised the rent so high local shops were forced out in favor of nigh clubs or for some reason, they find it beneficial to let their buildings sit empty….
A good start is ENFORCING CURRENT LAWS. Police can gather all the thugs up in a basket but if the Prosecutor refuses to prosecute and courts allow zero cash bail nothing will work. Deny this at your own risk. Most of the current criminals and those
involved in both sides of homicides are out on no or low bail for previous offenses.