In the city that was once known, a long time ago as “Toronto the Good”, perhaps not. But in light of a recent event it is something that should be considered. In the early hours of October 25, just prior to closing time, a dispute began in the Duke of York Tavern in Toronto’s now trendy Leslieville area. As is common in drinking establishments, the participants took their fight outside. At least one of the men involved pulled out an automatic pistol and fired off about 15 rounds. When it was over, four people had been injured and 23-year-old Bailey Zaveda, who had left the tavern before the bar before the fight started to have a cigarette, lay dead.
Sgt. Gary Giroux of the Toronto Police Force described the incident and Zaveda’s murder as a “Jane Creba-type scenario”. Creba was the 15-year-old student who was gunned down while Boxing Day shopping with her mother and sister on Toronto’s main drag in 2005. Despite the lack of concern that Zavedo’s shooter had for anyone who happened to be around and the fact that Zavedo, like Creba was completely innoncent, there is a major difference between the two shootings and Torontonians would do well to think about that.
The chance of being gunned down while shopping in a respectable store on a main street in the middle of not only a holiday afternoon but the most crowded holiday for shopping is extremely remote. For violence to break out in a crowd of shoppers is so rare that it is not worth thinking about every time we decide to walk into a store. This is not the case with pubs, taverns or other public establishments where alcohol is served. Bar fights are a fact of life; they’ve been around since the first tavern opened up and will be here until the last establishment is closed, probably by some future power tripping government such as the ones led by Premier Dalton McGuinty and Mayor David Miller, whose simplistic solution to many of society’s ills is “ban it”. But up until recently, those in or just outside of drinking places; those who were not directly involved in a dispute that occasionally happens when people sit around drinking, were at very little risk of harm. There was always a slight chance of being hit by flying glass, the weapon of choice of the truly inebriated but generally, as long as people stayed out of the conflict and moved a short distance away, they were safe.
It’s almost trite to say that those were the good old days. Times have changed. It used to be that participants in a fight would use whatever was handy if they felt the necessity of using a weapon. Occasionally a knife would come out. These days there is always a chance that one or more of those involved a dispute will pull out a gun and start shooting. Unlike the bar fights of old, there is no time for others to escape the immediate vicinity between the time the gun comes out and the bullets begin to fly.
Contrary to what those who see the solution to Creba’s and Zeveda’s murders is to ban guns, that is not the real problem here. Although guns have not been as prolific as they are now, they have been around in a long time. The difference now is that many of the thugs with guns have no regard for anyone, except of course themselves. They are products of our society who has taught them to believe that their feelings, their wants and most of all their self esteem are most important. They’re mad so they take out a gun and begin firing without particularly paying attention or caring to the possibility of killing or seriously wounding someone other than their intended target . And when Kyle Weese was arrested for the murder of Bailey Zaveda, the media couldn’t wait to tell us how “stressed out” he was. He’s of course presumed to be innocent and may well not be convicted, but he’s a violent criminal nonetheless. His “feelings” were put on a par with the feelings of Zeveda’s family and friends. The hug-a-thug advocates have created a society where too many people become totally indifferent to the consequences of their actions.
Police are always saying, especially to women, that they should always be aware of their surroundings. People need to be aware of their surroundings especially in a bar or tavern when a dispute erupts. And if it does, they have to get out of their as quickly as they can.
Bars can be extremely dangerous places these days. Bailey Zaveda likely never thought about this when she was outside of the Duke smoking her last cigarette. Unlike us, she had no point of reference.
