New Jersey gun laws don't curb violence in Camden

[VTA]

I've been to Camden once - once - and that was enough.

I agree with the sentiment, but there shouldn't be a drawing of a parallel with what happened in Newtown. Newtown wasn't the product of what makes Camden a shit-hole. But at least the people of Camden are looking at the right places to stem their problems.

CAMDEN, N.J. — Anderson Baker lives in a state with a litany of gun regulations. But no law stopped him from becoming a teenage drug dealer who could easily acquire, and use, his weapon of choice.

The national debate in the wake of the Newtown elementary school massacre has centered on the legislative approach to reducing gun violence: rein in assault rifles, downsize magazine clips, expand background checks and review mental health protocols. Baker says these types of measures would do little to stem violence that for decades has plagued this small city in the shadow of Philadelphia's skyline.

"I wanted to shoot people because that's what I saw growing up," said Baker, 20, a Camden native who spent four years in jail after being involved in several shootings. "When I was younger, I would see my boys and cousins going into jail and when they got out, all the girls wanted them. So, I wanted to go to jail. I wanted to be like America's Most Wanted. I wanted my name to be known on the streets."

Baker, a convicted felon and former gang member, said this mentality is alive and well in the streets of Camden, which statistics confirm is one of the poorest and most dangerous cities in the USA.

It is against this backdrop that dozens of residents, city officials and other lawmakers in Camden shared their modest goal: prevent another record-breaking, crime-ridden year. Almost to a person, the focus was not on gun laws but on long-standing issues that fed Baker's struggles: a failing education system, a dearth of jobs and a street culture that rewards and even encourages criminal behavior.

"We need to not just try to prevent the next Newtown but look at what is haunting the people in the densely populated, poorest sections of our country," said Camden County Chief of Police Scott Thomson. "You have this paradox in that New Jersey has arguably the toughest gun laws in the nation yet has a city within it that has gun violence at Third World country rates."

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