Gun crime - Each murder a threat to civil society

In the past 10 years there have been 148 gun murders in this country.

Only 16% of those have resulted in convictions. Thus, five of every six of those gun murderers appear to be getting away with the crime.

Part of the problem in solving such crimes is the difficulty in getting witnesses to come forward, because of intimidation. The gunmen and their accomplices have already demonstrated their readiness to kill, with the result that communities are terrorised into withholding evidence against gangland criminals.

Most of the murders are believed to be drug-related. The killing in Ronanstown, Dublin, over the weekend has been depicted as a gangland killing in which one gunman cut down another alleged gunman. The victim was strongly suspected of murdering another criminal seven years ago.

There is, therefore, one more unsolved murder, and the earlier murder is probably past solving. It was the second gun murder in Dublin in a week. Both victims were, as it is euphemistically put, “known to gardaí”, which suggests they had long criminal records, even though neither man was yet 30 years of age.

There is a real danger society will, in effect, welcome one less gunman. It would be a great mistake to suggest that society should allow the gunmen to wipe out each other. Ultimately this would be an invitation to criminals to gain a stronger hold on society.

Such killings must be regretted as further indication of the loss of values and a cancer that is eating away at the heart of our society. What good is our affluence if society becomes all the poorer as a result?