Attempted murderer turned drug dealer?

Almost thirty years after shooting at four teenagers on a Manhattan subway, Bernard H. Goetz has made himself publicly known again after allegedly trying to sell marijuana to an undercover police officer. He was arrested Friday night; earlier that day, the cop asked if he was selling, to which he replied yes, he went up to his apartment and when he returned, he was arrested.

On December 22, 1984, Goetz, a 37-year-old electrical engineer, was riding on the Seventh Avenue express train when he was approached by four teenage boys asking for the time, cigarettes, and money. He had been mugged in the past, and made the choice to defend himself and avoid letting this happen to again by firing five rounds from an unregistered pistol.

Because of this incident, Goetz became very famous in New York, to some people, he was a hero, and to others he was an out of hand criminal. This raised controversy concerning gun control, crime, citizen’s right to self-defense, and race. Goetz is white, while the four young men were black. One of the young men who were shot at, Darrell Cabey, was paralyzed and suffered from brain damage. Another one of the men, James Ramseur, died in 2011 on the 27^th anniversary of the shooting; his body was found in a motel in the Bronx.

In 1987, Goetz was acquitted of attempted murder but was found guilty of weapons possession. It is unjust that Goetz was not found guilty of attempted murder, although none of the four boys were killed from the shots, he still harmed them and should have been punished for committing a crime. Although that was over thirty years ago, because of a current incident, we can still see that Goetz is still up to no good. According to evidence gathered from the police, Goetz is now a drug dealer. It seems that he has been just trying to make a living ever since the incident in 1984. He ran for mayor in 2001 but has kept a relatively low profile throughout the recent years.

I think one of the larger problems we face relating to Goetz is gun control. It seems crazy that he was able to walk around with a loaded gun. If this was not possible, those four young men would not have been put in danger that day. But if people are demanding guns, someone is always waiting there to supply them.