More on the axed DC gun ban

Post lifted from Don Surber. See the original for links

The editorial board of the Washington Post disappointed me today with an editorial - "Dangerous Ruling" - that took umbrage with the DC Circuit Court's upholding of the 2nd Amendment in a challenge to DC's 30-year-old handgun ban. The court struck the law down. In cold blood. The Post made the erroneous argument that allowing people to protect their homes with guns will lead to more murders. Poppycock.

Some facts. This law was imposed in 1976, a year in which DC suuffered 188 murders among its 702,000 residents. Despite this law, murders rose, climbing to 369 in 1988, 434 in 1989, 472 in 1990, 482 in 1991, 443 in 1992, 454 in 1993, 399 . check out the numbers for yourself.

Over time, the numbers of murders fell [in line with the overall national fall in crime]. In 2005, 195 people were murdered among the population of 550,521. That is still a higher murder rate than when this unconstitutional law was first applied.

One may argue many things but one may not argue that the handgun law reduced the murder rate in the nation's capital. It simply is not true. DC's murder rate is No. 1 in the nation (among the 50 states and Puerto Rico). DC's violent crime rate is No. 1. DC's robbery rate is No. 1. DC's aggravated crime rate is No. 1. DC's motor vehicle theft rate is No. 1. Those statistics are from here. Among cities, DC's ranking may be lower. But most of those cities have unconstitutional gun laws as well.

The Post editorial used emotions instead of facts:

According to its myth, only criminals have had guns in the city and now law-abiding citizens will be able to arm themselves for protection. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) counters that argument with the sad record of what results from a proliferation of guns. As he points out, more guns mean only more violence, and the city already has too much of both. It is important to note that the ban on handguns will stay in effect while the city considers whether to appeal.

Where are the facts? Former Mayor Marion Barry recently expressed his doubts about this ban. Americans have the right to bear arms. It is in the Constitution. I hope DC appeals to the full circuit court and then on to the Supreme Court. Handgun bans are impractical, unconstitutional and ineffective. It is time to toss this relic of the 1970s onto the garbage heap of time - alongside that other staple of the 1970s, the platform shoes.




Georgia: Determined intruder shot and killed: "DeKalb County police are investigating the deadly shooting, of a man who may have broken into home. The shooter's roommate, says the intruder wasn't wearing shoes when he came into their house. Paul Meoaur told Channel 2 Action News that the man had a kitchen knife, that was about six inches long. He says tried to bust through his friend's locked bedroom door. He told police the man didn't stop, when his roommate warned him that if he didn't leave, he would shoot. Moments later the roommate did just that. The suspect died of his injuries at the hospital. Meoaur doesn't know what the man's motive may have been. He does believe he got into their home through an unlocked side door."