Re: Taking the Next Steps on gun control

[Greg Burton <gburton@sltrib.com>]

Granted, I've only taken New York, and quickly assembled 1998 population estimates
from the U.S. Census Bureau and estimates of 1999 U.S. Department of Justice
schedule one crimes (the most serious, ie murder, rape, arson, robbery), but Ry
would actually be, statistically, a lot safer moving to downtown New York City —
that gun control mecca — than moving to Boise — that nouveau western haven and,
interestingly enough, anti-gun control oasis where everybody packs heat (don't
they?)

New York, 9.21 million people, 299,523 crimes and a rate of 29.02.

Boise, 395,953 people, 8,589 crime and a rate of 46.1

Look a little closer, and Eugene, that nice quiet college town — a lot like Moscow
but bigger — with a population of 314,068 and crimes totaling 11,567, is almost as
dangerous as New York, with a rate of 27.02

Not that I believe this means all that much, but to ignorantly imbue an argument
against gun control with pabulum about liberal city versus conservative city gun
laws is nonsense, especially when crime and criminal desperation are more a
function of economics, drug use (think crack epidemic), employment, and
demographics (ie, having lots of people aged 18-25) than whether your little thingy
has a lock where you delight in putting your hand.

cheers, greg.


Ry Jones wrote:

> > So the principle is ... If Hitler said it (e.g., gun registration), we
> > should do the opposite.
> Heh.
>
> But we don't. We just copy his efforts and follow through.
>
> The roots of modern era gun control come from Nazi Germany. Senator Dodd,
> IIRC, had the Nazi gun control laws translated in 1963 or 1964 by the Library
> of Congress. Ever wonder where the "sporting use" test came from? Nazi
> Germany was the origin of this phrase. Most of what became GCA '68 was based
> directly on Nazi era German laws.
>
> So the unsettling picture of a few days ago is historically accurate. Gun
> control in the United States started as a way to disarm blacks in the post
> civil war South, and continues today to be used primarily to disarm the poor.
>
> Is it any coincidence that the highest crime rates in the US are in the areas
> with the strictest gun control? Would you feel safe in Chicago, DC, NYC, or LA?
> These cities essentially ban guns.
>
> My challenge to gun control proponents is to put up or shut up: If you want
> guns banned, or are against having guns in the home, or support disarming
> victims (aka trigger locks), please, put a big sign on your door letting the
> rest of us know yours is a gun-free home.
>
> You won't? Why not? Why not tell the whole world there are no guns in your home?
> Why not take out one of those ads in the paper. You could all band together
> and buy a full page ad in the Daily Effort listing your names and a pledge to
> have a gun-free home.
>
> You see, even gun grabbers rely on the gun culture for the security of the
> very home they live in. They just don't realize it.
> Ry
> --
> Ry Jones
> Airgap Networks / Moscow, ID
> 208 882 2367 (office) 419 730 2199 (fax)