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A lot of people were interested in the Sean "Puffy" Combs trial: fans of rap music; celebrity-watchers; connoisseurs of popular culture. But one group of people showed no interest whatsoever: gun-control activists. This was rather strange-a dog that didn't bark. The Combs case was awash in guns; so is Combs's world-that of rap, or "hip-hop." But the gun-controllers prefer to ignore this dark corner. Their indifference, or passivity, may be taken to represent a broader failure of liberalism to confront ghetto culture-to look it in the eye and cry, "No!"

Combs-known as "Puff Daddy"-is a major figure in rap, the boss of a record label called "Bad Boy." (Another label is called "Murder, Inc."- one refreshing thing about the rappers is their lack of pretense.) The Combs case dominated New York at the beginning of this year, the trial of a century that is still very young. What happened is this: In December 1999, Combs visited a nightclub with his girlfriend (the pop star Jennifer Lopez),...

Posted by: Rheannon Androckitis

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