Great piece by Jeff Jacoby in the Boston Globe: As gun ownership in Massachusetts plummeted, murders and violent crime soared
The whole piece here is highly recommended. From Sunday's Boston Globe:
IN 1998, Massachusetts passed what was hailed as the toughest gun-control legislation in the country. Among other stringencies, it banned semiautomatic “assault” weapons, imposed strict new licensing rules, prohibited anyone convicted of a violent crime or drug trafficking from ever carrying or owning a gun, and enacted severe penalties for storing guns unlocked.
“Today, Massachusetts leads the way in cracking down on gun violence,” said Republican Governor Paul Cellucci as he signed the bill into law. “It will save lives and help fight crime in our communities.” Scott Harshbarger, the state’s Democratic attorney general, agreed: “This vote is a victory for common sense and for the protection of our children and our neighborhoods.” One of the state’s leading anti-gun activists, John Rosenthal of Stop Handgun Violence, joined the applause. “The new gun law,” he predicted, “will certainly prevent future gun violence and countless grief.”
It didn’t. . . .Jacoby points out that while gun ownership plummeted, murder rates soared.
Labels: Crime, gun licensing, GunControl
posted by John Lott at 1:52 AM
2 Comments:
Thank you Dr. Lott, I read the piece by Mr. Jacoby and then a few of the comments. Several comments sounded like Obama/Biden "sound bites" about the strict laws being undermined by the loose laws of those areas surrounding them (even when the "strict" areas - somehow - have a bunch more gun crime than the "loose" area). I thought it was a good strong fact-based article. It seemed to me that Jacoby made objective points in a neutral way. But, not for the "true believer" from the other side - at the end of the day, unless we get ALL of those nasty GUNS out of our reach (as in the UK) those areas in the U.S. with strict "common sense" gun control like Chicago, D.C. and all the rest, will be "contaminated" by the ready access to guns in the surrounding places where irresponsible legislatures influenced by "DEMON NRA" allows a free-for-all of guns, guns, guns! Many of them "high velocity" with "mega clips", these "weapons of WAR" along with those "Saturday Night Specials" must be eliminated. And, "yes" CONFISCATION IS "ON THE TABLE". Only then will we have a "level playing field" to determine if the guns possesed by the "man on the street" really create a "wild west" in America.
Question - How BAD would it have to get before the "other" side admitted they had made a mistake about guns? [I mean after they had effectively disarmed the whole country - except, of course, for the criminals and police/military]?
Obama visits Chicago and continues to rant about needing gun control and all his "strict" litany of extra "common sense" "gun safety" laws. When it's pointed out to his spokesperson that Chicago already has them, she, cool as a cucumber, sidesteps the issue by saying - as if it were obvious, that the problem is with the adjoining areas loose gun laws, NOT Chicago's strict ones. That's why we NEED a NATIONAL approach - and I guess (they certainly believe) an INTERNATIONAL approach - maybe like the U.N.'s treaty? It's a neat package they are trying to sell us. Huh?
All we lose is our freedom.
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