Posted on 11/04/2005 9:09:21 AM PST by kiriath_jearim
Movement To Ban Firearms In San Francisco
By Carolyn Tyler
Nov. 2 - When you go to the polls one week from today, state propositions aren't the only measures some voters face. There are local issues as well. In San Francisco, voters will decide whether to try to ban guns in the city.
Pat Barsetti owns a Smith and Wesson.
Pat Barsetti, gun owner: "This has always given me a sense of protection."
She would be forced to give up her gun if Proposition H passes.
Four San Francisco supervisors put the measure on the ballot. It prohibits "residents from possessing handguns" in the city and bans "the manufacture, distribution, sale and transfer of firearms and ammunition" in the city.
Chris Daly is the chief sponsor, motivated in part by the shooting death of 15-year-old Scharod Fleming outside a Tenderloin YMCA last year.
Chris Daly, San Francisco supervisor: "If we can get handguns, some of the handguns out of the hands of some of the criminals, then we'll make a small dent in some of the homicides and that is the intent of this legislation."
Guy Smith monitors and writes about gun control nationwide. He says Washington, D.C. and Chicago have bans and they don't work.
Guy Smith, gun expert: "Washington, D.C. has been the homicide capitol of America for 14 of the last 15 years."
But in Bayview Hunters Point, a neighborhood plagued with violence, Shawn Richard has founded a group called brothers against guns. He thinks Prop H could make a difference.
Shawn Richard, Brothers Against Guns: "Uzis or Mac 10s, stuff like that is being used on the streets of San Francisco that are only supposed to be used for the war. How are they getting in here? So I'm supportive of this ban on these guns."
The San Francisco Police Officers Association isn't. Cops say the bad guys will always have weapons, ordinary citizens will be vulnerable.
Gary Delagnes, Police Officers Association: "To basically send a message to every criminal in San Francisco that 'hey, if I'm a burglar or a robber and I want to climb in somebody's window, I'm pretty self assured there won't be a weapon in there."
Prop H allows police to carry weapons, but only while on duty. This retired officer worries about what might happen in an emergency, like a major earthquake.
Larry Barsetti, Coalition Against Prohibition: "A good percentage of our officers still live outside the city and those who live here will be disarmed. It makes absolutely no sense."
If voters okay the ban, it would take effect in January and residents would have another 90 days after that to turn in their guns. Keep in mind, opponents are already planning a legal challenge if the measure passes.
"Baghdad by the Bay" is soon going to resemble Fullajah.
Yet another reason I am glad I do not live in the homosexual capital of America, and Kaliforniastan. Yet another reason I WILL NEVER live in both. It is bad enough here in the Peoples Republic of Soviet WA State, but I only have three more years on my sentence of living here, and we are moving to Wyoming. The city of puke continues to puke.
Uhhh, unless the gang bangers from down south drive them up at a double premium and make a killing, no pun intended. What a bunch of maroons, might as well ban door locks so as not to inconvenience the perps either.
Would they be required to turn in their guns, or would they have the option of housing them outside the city or selling them? And, for those who turn them in, will they be compensated?
They might as well as just open up their wallets as they go and leave their doors unlocked with 'welcome, please don't mess things up too much' on their doors.
I can guarantee you'll get *none* of the handguns from *any* of the criminals and you will only see homicides rise.
How can a guarantee this? Because it has happened EVERY OTHER PLACE that has implemented gun confiscation.
But this isn't about fighting crime, is it?
It really did wonders in DC when Guns were banned there.
It has worked so well in every other city that has tried it.
NOT!
Even cops could not carry weapons off duty, nor retired cops.
One can only surmise that the knaves promoting this insanity want to see stuff happening like in France. They can't really believe that this will make SF safer. They can't believe this. No one could be that deluded.
Go for it, it's worked so well for Australia, UK, and Wash., D.C. Glad I don't live there.
"But this isn't about fighting crime, is it?"
Nope. It's about power.
"Chris Daly, San Francisco supervisor: "If we can get handguns, some of the handguns out of the hands of some of the criminals, then we'll make a small dent in some of the homicides and that is the intent of this legislation.""
Chris Daly is obviously a complete moron, or a liar. Criminals by definition do not follow laws. This legilation obviously does not have the power to provide the result he's claiming it is intended to provide.
I've found a lot of ballot initiatives to be VERY DECEPTIVE in their wordings.
Why sure. They'll be given a choice between having a donation made in their names to the DNC, and a voucher good for free entry to any performance of the Vagina Monologues.
You get guns out of the hands of the criminals by confiscating them from the law abiding. Makes perfect sense. If you are a liberal. Then houses cannot be expected to have guns and people in them who might shoot those guns at "home invaders" and such.
Well, murderers and rapists and burglars just have cultural differences that must be respected.
Folks can't just go around committing crimes like self defense.
To be a liberal one must believe that the people are such criminals as to not be trusted with firearms but honest enough to turn them in if demanded to do so.
To be a liberal one must believe that there is such violence from firearms as to demand their banning but anyone who wants a firearm for defense against such violence is just being paranoid.
And when that becomes apparent then the "authorities" will say that they were not rigorous enough and people still have guns so maybe they start sending SWAT teams into law abiding peoples' homes to find the guns that the gangbangers are using to shoot each other and policemen and law abiding people.
NOT!
Amazing, isn't it? All over the countries communities are relaxing gun control laws, issuing CCWs and watching crime rates go down yet San Fran still thinks they can pawn this off on their population (who will probably vote for it).
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