The Advocate’s editorialist, Will Sutton, is justifiably upset with the spate of shootings in our state. But in his recent editorial, his answer is the to-be-expected liberal solution, get rid of guns.

Sutton’s editorial was about “mass” shootings, but the same argument against violence holds sway for the sky-high number of non-mass shootings. Statistically these crimes are more out of control than mass shootings.

By taking the usual liberal path of blaming all on guns and not on those who chose to use guns, he misses a point that is so obvious that it jumps out. Within a small distance of each other lay two parishes. One with high gun violence rates, one not so much. So, with equal availability of guns, one has to ask what is the significant difference between Orleans and Jefferson Parishes?

I suppose that there are several key differences, some such a lack of commitment to nuclear family structures leading to children without fathers in the home I have propounded on. But I suspect that the most significant difference is a powerful determination to enforce laws that exists in Jefferson Parish.

Now I do not blame the New Orleans Police Department one bit. That department has a really good chief that is in charge, but since the Landrieu Administration cut the budget for public safety, they have struggled under the burden of manpower shortages. Just as problematic, they must contend with the liberal pipe dream policies of “constitutional policing” that were imposed when the Landrieu Administration accepted the Obama Justice Department’s consent decree.

I believe that the Tale of Two Parishes is a function of the commitment of parish leadership to place public safety above all else. Criminals are anti-social, but not stupid. When police numbers are depleted and when their tools are limited by politicians, criminals naturally take advantage. So, in one parish where funding and commitment to policing and the criminal justice system as a whole are high priority, crime is lower, even as in the other parish, where funding and manpower are diminished and the criminal justice system is viewed as racist and unfair, crime is expectantly higher.

Mr. Sutton is right to be concerned, but his dedication to liberal talking points has blinded him to the obvious. Shootings are the result of cause and effect. Only when policies are strong on support of police and strong on enforcement of criminal laws, the effect will be a reduction in shootings. The evidence is so obvious that it jumps out.