I was all set to keep IYRTP simple today.

Read some news, comment on it. Add a little Park Place update at the end. You know, the usual. Then last night, just before bed, I read Liz McClendon’s piece on Living for 32, the documentary about gun control made by Virginia Tech massacre survivor Colin Goddard.

"Imagine no easy access to guns for deranged nutbag pseudo-fans...It isn't hard to do."

Liz’s piece is short and to the point. She was there. She lost a friend. She supports Goddard’s efforts to get guns more controlled in the US. Check out the film for more specifics. The End. The lone AltDaily commentor, Anonymous (you may have heard of him, he comments all over the place regularly) may have actually written more words than Liz. Words like “I find it offensive that people take a tragedy like this and try to corrupt it into a distasteful political argument.” And words like “I don’t think we will be able to prevent anything by focusing on one single, isolated, scapegoat issue like gun control.”

Gun control is not a “political argument.” It’s a way of preventing loss of life. Plain and simple. Things that get added along with it is political, sure. “Gun control,” as Liz points out, doesn’t necessarily mean “gun taken away from you forever, Mr. Deer Hunter.” There are many levels and parameters available. Living for 32 explores gun shows specifically. It shows more than a dozen weapons (from pistols to a flippin’ AK47) purchased at gun shows without background checks regarding the buyer’s previous criminal or mental record.

If regulating gun shows only to the point of making them par with firearm retail outlets could be accomplished, this would be a major step in the right direction. For all of you out there who say “Seung-Hui Cho would have gotten a gun another way,” perhaps you’re right. For those whose biggest argument in all this is that people will still get guns via illegal means, I say yes, but only some.

Let’s play hypothetical: I’m a middle class white person. I don’t own a gun. I’m bipolar. Or paranoid schizophrenic. Or an alcoholic with a penchant for spontaneity. If I suddenly decided to get a gun off the grid, I wouldn’t know how to go about it. I know I can go to Bob’s Guns and give my personal info and wait a while and maybe get approved and most likely have to pass some sort of licensing test. I know I can go to a gun show or a private seller and bypass this. I don’t know how to go to the “ghetto”and get one illegally. No idea. Take the gun show option away and I’m immediately discouraged from the whim. This isn’t a foolproof protection but deterrents work better than wide open invitations.

I’m Liberal with a capital L when it comes to gun control. From reading Liz’s piece and the Pilot’s interview with Goddard, I’m more liberal than either of them as well. Opponents can take that fact and disregard every shred of common sense in my writing under the cloak of a (skewed, mind you) “constitutional right.” And while they do, another gun goes off somewhere in the US, and another, and another…

Art | Everywhere: Except 345 Granby

Appropriate, yes. Political, no. | davmo

Unless you’ve been in Siberia for the last month, you probably know we’re gearing up for 2011′s Art | Everywhere April 30 in downtown Norfolk. This is the public art display in which vacant downtown buildings are brightened up through the spring and early summer months by art displays in their windows. Art | Everywhere selected local artist Davmo for 345 Granby, specifically a piece honoring the memory of police recruit John Kohn (who was killed after being punched in the head during training in December.) The building’s owner, however, decided this piece was too political and has requested it be moved.

Again, I’m noticing the use of “political” in incorrect context. “In Memory”and “Norfolk did something inappropriate, etc.”are not the same thing. While the circumstances of Kohn’s death are terrible, prompting a ripple effect that’s already ended careers and revamped police training, the fact remains that he was an awesome local guy, and any property owner should be proud their window houses his public memorial.

While many will only know John as the police recruit who died in training, I remember him as the guy I bantered with at Alpha Music, buying drum equipment and talking local bands. And after all the flurry of controversy calms down, I’ll still remember him as a great drummer and supporter of local music. Mr. Property Owner of 345 Granby, you see, to a lot of us, he was a person, not a political statement, and that’s what Davmo’s piece will mean for us.

Beach wants iPads in the Schools

I hope they get them. However, I also hope schools in low-income areas get them too. I actually hope they get them moreso than Virginia Beach, where children are more likely to get iPads and other new technologies to explore at home in their free time.

Park Place Update:

I was lucky enough to attend the 35th Street Business District meeting on Monday night. The weather was finally bikeable and I pedaled to the 29th Street Library to listen and learn about challenges and goals facing the businesses of Park Place.

It was like a cross between a Civic League meeting and an advocacy group. Officer Hudson from the city’s Crime Prevention Program encouraged business owners to participate in this free “neighborhood watch for businesses.”  He’s rad. I hope to hear more about his progress from local press, as he seems very committed and energetic about our community.

As the rest of the agenda progressed, I started to get a sinking feeling that Park Place might be faced with more challenges than I previously thought. Topics included timelines for the sewer line replacement, streetscape maintenance, and the Commercial Facade & Aesthetic Improvement Grant Program. All this sounds like what you’d expect from a meeting of local business proprietors. However, as talks about who’s responsible for what, etc. arose, I learned of another group, the 35th Street Merchant’s Association. Turns out, this group’s agenda and structure is pretty similar to the Business District group’s. I’m not a member of either, and don’t know all the ins and outs of their bylaws, etc. However, members of both readily admitted that topics discussed at one meeting had already been discussed at the other, which is essentially doubling up the talk and retarding the actual walk.

It seemed pretty obvious to me that the overlap and lack of communication was proving detrimental to any real progress the district could achieve. With more cooperation between all parties involved, with more online presence for the younger generation (for example, the 35th Street Project’s page hasn’t been updated since 2007, it seems), and with some sort of umbrella group facilitating appropriate roles for anyone who wants to be involved in revitalization, regardless of where their business or political alliances lie, perhaps including civic groups like Norfolk Neighborhoods Envisioning Change, I really believe the fruits of all efforts combined will be sweeter than a Pungo strawberry.