When the discussion turns to inner-city gun violence, many people throw up their hands in despair that it’s just part of the fabric of American life.  Can that be true?  As long as we choose not to address the root causes of the problem and find innovative approaches to it, I fear it will continue, despite the noble efforts of credible messengers and violence interrupters in cities all across our nation.  It is a small cohort of young people, generally Black, young and dispossessed engaging in this deadly gun play which wreaks havoc for people living in their neighborhood, according to a Josiah Bates, a reporter whose beat is this issue and the author of “In These Streets: Reporting from the Front Lines of Inner-City Gun Violence.”   While much is fueled by the intersection of drugs and guns, these same young people often have easy access to guns and no conflict resolution skills, leading to a simple slight or unpaid debt as the cause of the mayhem.  We will delve into the issues of policing these in these communities and long-term approaches to solving a vexing American phenomenon.