Three deadly shootings in 10 days’ time in our community should be an alarming wake-up call for our area.

But sadly, the deaths seem to have passed without much notice. More people get upset when the city considers raising garbage rates than when someone is gunned down senselessly in our community.

Perhaps that is because, it seems at least, the victims and the perpetrators in each case seem to have known one another. These are not random acts of violence, but rather attacks for a reason.

Still, even though the victims and perpetrators may have known one another, the disregard for human life is abhorrent.

Gun control isn’t the answer, as criminals will break the laws, leaving law-abiding citizens the only ones who are affected by the law.

We’ve long contended, however, the state should increase the penalties for possession of a stolen firearm, possession of a firearm by an underage person and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Perhaps if those individuals who walk the streets with stolen or illegally possessed weapons on their bodies were ever frisked and a weapon found, much stricter laws might lock them up prior to their committing a crime with potentially deadly consequences.

The violence must stop and the only way to stop it is to go after the criminal element in a significant and noticeable way.