Rapper Young Dolph was killed recently inside Makeda’s Homemade Butter Cookies in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, leaving behind two children and legions of fans all over the country. It was the second time he had been the victim of a shooting, having survived being shot three times in Hollywood in 2017. His murder was one of 268 in Memphis so far in 2021, a record-breaking pace of carnage amid the 15,000 shootings local police have responded to this year. These shootings have left approximately 2,000 people injured and forever scarred.
Like Memphis, the entire United States is currently in the midst of a historic wave of gun violence. In some cities, like Philadelphia, guns are now the leading cause of death among young Black and Latino men. In 2020, the United States saw a 30 percent uptick in murder from 2019 and a record high of 77 percent of total murders perpetrated with a gun. In 2021, the numbers are even starker, as many state governments loosened gun restrictions. Tennessee and Texas, for example, even repealed permit laws for carrying weapons, which now allows residents to openly brandish weapons without having to meet any training requirements. As a result, more guns than ever are in our streets—and more people than ever are resorting to gun violence to resolve personal disputes.
The above excerpt was originally published in InsideSources.
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