Year In Review - The Top 15 Newsmakers of 2005 - #13

Gunplay hit the streets of Toronto hard this year, with almost 50 gun-related deaths over the course of 2005 so far out of a total of just over 70 as of the time of this writing.

One of the more troubling incidents involved the fatal shooting of one 18-year old male during the funeral of a previous victim. Random bullets also struck children as young as four years old.

Explanations for the cause of the violence ranged from the influence of the lyrics of rap star 50 Cent, to the presence of smuggled weapons from the United States, to Jamaican gangs importing their turf wars to Toronto, to the excessive use of plea bargains on weapons offences, to Mike Harris' welfare cuts. Of course, racism was blamed as well.

One of the more controversial suggestions made to deal with the problem came from Toronto councillor Michael Thompson, who suggested that police openly "target" young black men at random to stem the violence. Thompson, himself black, came under pressure from community groups to retract his suggestion, which they alleged amounted to racial profiling. As I recall, he did not issue a retraction, however, he has not been heard from since the uproar.

As 2006 approaches, this issue is not going away any time soon, especially given the federal election campaign and stories like this from December 6's Toronto Sun:

10G's Bail Outrage: Family, police angry that suspect in car-dealer's killing was freed

As a second arrest was made in the city's latest murder, debate raged yesterday over why the first suspect was released on bail for serious firearms charges just three weeks before the slaying.

Jodie Wheatle, once a rising high school basketball star, was arrested at the crowded Yorkdale mall on Nov. 5 allegedly with a loaded, stolen gun that had its serial number scratched off.

The 20-year-old was released two days later on bail and now faces a second-degree murder charge in connection with last Thursday's slaying of used car salesman Sepehr "Danny" Fatulahzadeh-Rabti at a North York dealership.

Now those who knew and loved Fatulahzadeh-Rabti can't help but wonder if the 25-year-old's death could have been prevented.

We at the Road Hammer are still waiting on word from federal authorities if the weapon Wheatle used to kill his victim was registered as part of the $2-billion gun control program.