As the trial of alleged gunman Riccardo McCray got started last week, the case of the 24-year-old charged with shooting into a crowd during an event at the City Grill in downtown Buffalo - killing four and wounding four others - is igniting a long-running debate.

Is the McCray case a poster example for gun control? Proponents of tougher gun laws certainly think so. They point to shootings across the city that regularly make the news. The gunmen are often young, many times teenagers, and the weapons are often powerful, deadly and illegally obtained. Tougher rules and regulations, better systems of tracking sales and harsh penalties for gun dealers who skirt the rules would make a difference and save lives, according to the gun-control crowd.

Across the aisle, the NRA's Charlton Heston-types wrap themselves in the Second Amendment and often suggest the only way to take their gun is to pry it "from my cold, dead hands." Charming visual.

Back to McCray ... In the same way that the Mo Hassan trial put the spotlight on domestic violence, this case will do the same for gun control. I had discussion with a co-worker yesterday in preparation for writing this column and my argument was this: Prostitution is illegal yet there is a vibrant industry that thrives on selling sex; the drinking age is 21, yet every year thousands of minors are critically injured and die as a result of underage drinking; drugs are illegal, but a man walked up Washington Street outside of our office yesterday smoking a joint in plain sight. Legal vs. illegal, restricted vs. free access - it all seems like semantics to me. Control the guns through legal avenues and the black market will gladly step in to fill the void. It is supply-and-demand in a free-market economy at the most basic level.

Does that mean I oppose gun control? I didn't say that, either. Though I have never owned a gun, I respect an individual's rights to own one if they choose.

That being said, it is a bit ridiculous to hide behind the Second Amendment and defend the need for someone to own an assault rifle. Not that the gun-loving folks want to hear this, but there is a middle ground. Gun control doesn't mean gun elimination. No one is going to take away your right to defend your family or to kill the occasional defenseless deer, bird or bear. We see these shootings tearing apart the community and endangering not only those involved but plenty of innocent people who become collateral damage.

Having said that, I think arguing a position on gun control is about as fruitful as discussing abortion. Almost everyone has an opinion and you aren't going to change it, even with your best argument. They have one ready to shoot right back at you. My point with this discussion isn't to argue the merits of guns, or gun control; it is to point out that both discussions miss the mark.

Guns will always be readily available in our society, legally or otherwise. When you blame events like the tragedy that occurred last August outside the City Grill on lack of gun control, it deflects the focus away from the real issue. The amount of people walking the streets filled with such a sense of anger, violence and hopelessness is amazing. The number of people willing to end another human being's life, with no regard for that person or his family, is disturbing. Add to that the fact that they are so readily willing to throw their own life away, and you see the true depth of the social issue that too often goes unaddressed.

It is very easy to slap a simple label on a problem - too many guns. Sounds good - short, sweet and to the point. Of course, if anyone dare speak out against you, they can quickly be labeled a gun zealot and you move on.

In the case of the gun violence that plagues Buffalo and cities across American, it gets a bit stickier if you peel off the convenient label and start to address the root causes of what might lead these individuals - many of them still kids - to indiscriminately murder.

Poverty, illiteracy, an unstable home life, no father in their lives, parental figures who abuse drugs and alcohol, a school system ill-equipped to deal with the complex myriad of baggage these students bring to school each day, low self-esteem, gang affiliation (see low self-esteem) ... the list could go on and on.

It's east to blame guns and a lot trickier to blame parents and trickier still to suggest a lack of two parents in the home factors into what makes our young people act out with such depraved indifference to human life.

In our 2011 world of political correctness run amuck, it is OK to blame the government (that's really what is being done when you cite lack of gun control). But again, that is missing the mark. Plenty of children grow up with the deck stacked against them and they don't end up in prison, or aiming a .38 at someone and pulling the trigger.

If the talking heads want to find the source of the violence, it isn't the guns; it's the people holding them. When we as a society are ready to invest meaningfully in creating real jobs, real training and chances for the younger generation to succeed, it will be a start. When parents are ready to accept the incredible responsibility of raising children and not see it as a "right," maybe we can begin to see less kids roaming the streets at 2 in the morning or ending up in prison or the morgue because in their mind, they saw no better options, no possibilities for a brighter future.

Politicians promising "hope" means nothing if parents don't accept responsibility for their children; schools don't go the extra mile to educate even the toughest cases; and leaders in the business community don't open doors to give our youth a chance to show they are worth more than a paragraph in the police blotter.

Matt Chandler: mchandler@bizjournals.com