Nothing harms Jackson, our state’s capital city, more than it’s murder rate.

The city suffered 68 homicide’s in 2016, equal to its most in years. That is far too many for any municipality, much less one with less than 200,000 residents.

Murder is so frequent in Jackson these days that the news of another and another becomes so repetitive it is numbing. The many murder deaths become a punch line of sorts, something they have to uncomfortably laugh off because to date nothing can be done about it.

When the police chief of your city notes that everybody has a gun and isn’t afraid to use it then you know the problem is large.

Beyond the obvious, pain caused to families by senseless killing, the damage to Jackson is severe. The capital city is viewed as unsafe and out-of-control, with neighbors killing neighbors over turf wars and petty cash related to the drug trade and use.

And, while the killing may be confined mostly to some areas of the city, it taints the entire state.

It’s time for all of Mississippi to get serious about finding solutions to Jackson’s problems. Neighborhoods need opportunity, and drug dealers need to move on. Whatever it takes to repair our state’s capital.