[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

New York, with about three times the population, ended the year with 596 homicides

When Dinkins was mayor, New York murders topped 2000.

I remember when he kicked off his campaign with a speech to inmates at Riker's Island.

His constituency was incarcerated in prison.

That was when New York was mad as in "mad dog"!

[Vigilanteman]

Yeah, I'm waiting with baited breath for the nightly reports going "Two more murders in Chicago today, making the annual total 187 so far, or 12,367 since Democrats have held a monopoly on the Mayor's office. </ sarcasm>

[PAR35]

Raw numbers are statistically irrelevant. Murders per capita is a better statistic to use. Either the AP reporter is ignorant, or has an agenda.

[LA Conservative]

"Los Angeles, which had the most murders in 2002 at 658, wound up 2003 with an estimated total just under 500."

Go 3 Strikes!

[Prince Charles]

Since Mayor Dummy has planted so many nice flowers and put up so many nice-looking wrought-iron fences, I think we should give him a pass on this.

[Myrddin]

Chicago's gun control laws are very effective at keeping guns out of the hands of law abiding people while doing nothing to keep them out of the hands of street gangs.

I'll bet Chicago doesn't want to reveal the racial/ethnic breakdown of the victims and perpetrators. That would really expose their agenda.

[Burkeman1]

Boston had the lowest in decades this year- only 41. But "assaults" (bar fights) have risen sharpley (I blame the smoking ban in bars.) Far cry form the height of the crack years in the mid and late 80's when Boston had 2 to 3 hundred murders a year.

[Mark was here]

Have yet to see the statistics broken down by race.

[neverdem]

Happy New Year

[Nov3]

Wait you can't have pistols in Chicago. You cna't even buy ammo without a FOID! This is a mistake!

[DumpsterDiver]

Los Angeles, which had the most murders in 2002 at 658, wound up 2003 with an estimated total just under 500.

We just haven't found all the bodies yet. Give us a few more days.

[jwalsh07]

Interesting that more Americans were killed in Chicago in 2003 than were soldiers killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined. Wonder if Peter Jennings will be giving us a nightly update with a smirk on his face?

[Teacher317]

Kudos to LA and St Louis this year.

[Shooter 2.5]

Take a good look at this map and compare it to what the article said. Notice they said places like Detroit and St. Louis had their murder rates go down.

[litany_of_lies]

Cincinnati is a more dangerous place than Chicago:

+++++

From the 1/1/04 Cincy Enquirer:
http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/01/01/loc_bondhill01.html
(excerpt)
Cincinnati recorded its most deadly year since 1977, and 2003 was the fifth straight year that the city's homicide total increased. The 75 killings marked a 12 percent increase over 2002's 66 deaths. Based on Cincinnati's 2000 population of 331,285, the city's homicide rate jumped more in the last three years than the rate of killings in larger and historically more dangerous cities.
(end excerpt)

+++++

Cincy's murder rate per capita is roughly 40% higher than Chicago's. Its murder rate has gone up dramatically in the 2-plus years since the 2001 riot. The article notes that 84% of the murders are black-on-black. All of this deterioration has taken place since the police have had their hands tied and have been demoralized by the "civil rights" fallout from the riot.

IMHO, a good 75% of Cincinnati is more dangerous than most of Chicago.

[Clintonfatigued]

Overall, the news is good. Crime has falled dramatically over the past few decades. Anti-crime measures pushed by conservatives are a major reason why.

[RWR8189]

As long as you stay north of Roosevelt Rd you'll be fine, trust me.

[Outraged]

Those crazy Gore counties.

[DMZFrank]

I am a retired police officer and a certified police firearms instructor. I support right to carry because it is a basic human right (to keep and bear arms) supported by the United States Constitution. I support the possession of homeland defense rifles (gun grabbers call them "assault weapons") by every law-abiding citizen because they are the weapons most suitable for modern-day militia use. My support of the Second Amendment is unequivocal.

Having said all this, I think we do a disservice by positing the notion that we are all equally at risk from homicide and therefore deserve the right to carry to prevent it. My experience as a police officer taught me that the OVERWHELMIG majority (between 70 and 80%) of homicide perpetrators AND their victims, particularly in big cities, are persons with extensive criminal records who are already disqualified from legal firearm ownership. These people frequently have extensive felony records and patterns of reckless and irresponsible behavior.

This does leave those relatively few genuinely innocent victims who might benefit from the right to conceal carry. Has a tactical measure I suppose it is useful to present the right to conceal carry has a needful protection for the contemporary homicide problem in Chicago. But the real reason for firearm ownership is for service in the "well-regulated militia" (which meant in the contemporary vernacular of the founders well drilled and properly organized) that the founders envisioned has the counterweight to oppressive government necessary to the security of a free state. Self-defense is an incidental benefit corollary to this right. We need to stop letting these politicians and gun grabbers separate the need for gun ownership from the Constitution.

[Dan from Michigan]

Chicago? That's impossible. Guns are banned there......