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Guns are up in D.C., violence is down
Charleston Daily Mail ^ | May 28, 2009 | Don Surber

Posted on 05/28/2009 12:41:49 PM PDT by neverdem

The law-abiding weren't the problem in the nation's capital

About a year ago, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down 30 years of social experimentation in Washington, D.C., by declaring that the district's de facto ban on gun ownership is unconstitutional.

The city's gun laws were so strict that a security guard could not get the permission to own a gun, hence the lawsuit on the constitutionality of the district's statutes.

Disarming the law-abiding populace left them at the mercy of criminals. Violence escalated, with homicides at one point more than doubling the pre-ban numbers.

With the ban gone, Mayor Adrian Fenty was forced to ask city council to change the law and crack down on illegal gun ownership, said Peter Nickles, attorney general for the district.

Writing in the Washington Post in March, Nickles bragged about cracking down on gun violations. This, he said, led to a 5 percent decrease in violence in the city.

Which is nice, but the city still needs to answer the question: Instead of giving security guards and little old ladies a tough time in seeking a gun legally, why was the city not going after the gangs all along?

The failure of urban gun laws to reduce violence is based on holding inanimate objects - guns - responsible for the actions of criminals.

Criminals are cowards. They go after easy prey. This is why they target the poor, and not the rich.

Criminals also target the unarmed, which is why Washington, D.C., was a "gangsta paradise," to quote an old rap song.

Police occasionally give self-defense lessons to law-abiding citizens, encouraging them to use judo and the like to disarm a criminal.

Training the citizenry on how to shoot and carry a handgun might be a better investment. Everyone in a city does not have to be armed - just enough to keep criminals wondering if that "easy prey" is protected by Smith & Wesson.

- - -

Meghan McCain has become the latest to join the Ron Reagan Jr. Club. He has fashioned a nice occupation by being the son of a Republican icon who puts down Republicans.

Want someone to knock down a Rush Limbaugh or Sarah Palin? Dial 1-800-RONJR. MSNBC even gave him a show for a while.

His brother, Michael Reagan, actually follows politics as a conservative talk show host. Outside of Fox News, the national news outlets ignore him.

President Nixon's lawyer, John Dean, has a side business of writing books that declare Republican presidents as worse than Nixon.

In Miss McCain's case, I think she is just upset that her dad, John McCain lost. She wants Republicans to nominate a moderate next time.

Like they did with her dad.

- - -

Imagine the reaction if a nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court said that white men are superior to wise Latina women?

Such a statement would be blasted as the racist garbage that it is.

President Obama nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the 2nd U.S Circuit Court of Appeals to the high court, despite her statement to the New York Times: "I would hope that a wise Latina woman, with the richness of her experiences, would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

She may be a woman. She may be a Latina. But clearly, she is not wise.

Once again, I question the judgment of the president.

- - -

The State Police crackdown on speeders and on people who don't wear seatbelts is a good thing. Safety compels people to travel at the same speed as the rest of traffic, and to wear seatbelts.

I cannot help but notice that it comes at a time when state revenues are about to dip.

Surber may be reached at donsur...@dailymail.com. His blog is at http://blogs.dailymail.com/donsurber.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Editorial; Front Page News; Politics/Elections; US: District of Columbia
KEYWORDS: banglist; bluezones; crimerate; dc; heller; shallnotbeinfringed
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1 posted on 05/28/2009 12:41:49 PM PDT by neverdem
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To: neverdem

2 posted on 05/28/2009 12:45:08 PM PDT by RasterMaster (DUmocrats - the party of slavery, sedition, subversion, socialism & surrender)
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To: neverdem

“She may be a woman. She may be a Latina”

Just exactly what is a “Latina woman?”

She was born in the Bronx with a Spanish surname. She is a U.S. citizen (of the worst kind).

A “Latin person” is a person born south of our boarder and citizen of one of those many countries. “Latino” is not a citizenship.

Is Charles Krauthammer a German because he has a German last name?

Am I a Brit because I have an English last name?


3 posted on 05/28/2009 12:56:36 PM PDT by Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)
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To: neverdem

I’d say crime is still up in D.C., and will continue to rise until the American people do a complete housecleaning.


4 posted on 05/28/2009 12:56:57 PM PDT by P8riot (I carry a gun because I can't carry a cop.)
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To: Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)

Latina Woman is redundant. By definition, a “latina” is a latin woman.


5 posted on 05/28/2009 12:58:50 PM PDT by P8riot (I carry a gun because I can't carry a cop.)
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To: RasterMaster

6 posted on 05/28/2009 12:59:11 PM PDT by Iron Munro (The Obama Tao: Hard work only pays off in the future. Laziness pays off right now.)
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To: neverdem

HEADLINE SAYS IT ALL!


7 posted on 05/28/2009 12:59:15 PM PDT by BillT (The Gov has bankrupted my children & are not working on my grandchildren)
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To: P8riot
I’d say crime is still up in D.C., and will continue to rise until the American people do a complete housecleaning.

Yep. It has just shifted in emphasis from muggings and petty theft to larceny on a scale that makes the sacking of Rome look like nicking a gumball...

8 posted on 05/28/2009 1:00:12 PM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
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To: neverdem

In D.C., I’d expect the government to send the police out to shoot people, so they can keep the gun violence numbers up.


9 posted on 05/28/2009 1:04:07 PM PDT by 3niner (Hoover turned a recession into a depression, FDR turned it into The Great Depression)
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To: neverdem

Crime is down because of the general good vibes emanating from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue since January 21. Nothing else.


10 posted on 05/28/2009 1:04:36 PM PDT by gundog
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To: Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)

As an American of Italian (hence TRULY Latin heritage), I resent the Spanish speaking Siberian immigrants stealing the term “Latino”. MY ancestors were “Latino”. Their ancestors came from Asia or Siberia 10,000 years ago, and were eventually conquered by Europeans who spoke SPANISH or Portuguese, Romance languages. Nothing about them is Latin except the derivation of their language. They are more correctly called Siberian Americans. But hey, history is just the way that the white man keeps minorities oppressed.


11 posted on 05/28/2009 1:25:30 PM PDT by Hardastarboard (I long for the days when advertisers didn't constantly ask about the health of my genital organs.)
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To: neverdem

Duh...


12 posted on 05/28/2009 1:28:14 PM PDT by Jeff Gordon (I don't trust Obama with my country. Do you?)
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To: Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)

She ruled that the 2nd Amendment does not apply to the States.


13 posted on 05/28/2009 1:28:58 PM PDT by Jeff Gordon (I don't trust Obama with my country. Do you?)
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To: Hardastarboard
A more accurate term is Mestizo:
Mestizo (Brazilian Portuguese: mestiço, French: métis) is a Spanish term that was used in the Spanish Empire to refer to people of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry in Latin America. The term continues to be used today in the Americas.

It is also used in some parts of Asia-Pacific to refer to people of mixed European and other indigenous ancestry.

The term is mostly used specifically of those people of the particular racial mixture of European and American Indian who inhabit and comprise much of the population of Latin America.


14 posted on 05/28/2009 1:31:30 PM PDT by PapaBear3625 (The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money -- Thatcher)
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To: neverdem

No, the state does not have the right to tell me I must wear a seat belt. But when Washington’s honest citizens are once again armed, crime will go down. It always does.


15 posted on 05/28/2009 1:39:35 PM PDT by Oldpuppymax (AGENDA OF THE LEFT EXPOSED)
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To: Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)
She could have been born in Puerto Rico and she'd still be a citizen. That fact alone is why most Puerto Ricans look down on Mexicans. You see it all the time over in Jackson Heights.
16 posted on 05/28/2009 1:40:47 PM PDT by JimC214
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To: JimC214

Yes, Puerto Ricans are American citizens. But Puerto Ricans born on their island are first Puerto Ricans because of the difference in culture. Secondly they are American citizens.

I am not criticizing. I can see where they are coming from. They feel more secure in their Spanish speaking culture.

So why don’t they vote to make their island an independent country? Because they know they will not be as well off being attached to the U.S.

With Obama, maybe they will change their minds.


17 posted on 05/28/2009 1:57:53 PM PDT by Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)
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To: PapaBear3625

While I have no doubt you are correct, I would bet $10,000 that calling someone of Spanish heritage would get you fired from any corporation in the country. And it would be like the word “niggardly” - the ignorant fools wouldn’t have a CLUE what the word means.


18 posted on 05/28/2009 2:02:42 PM PDT by Hardastarboard (I long for the days when advertisers didn't constantly ask about the health of my genital organs.)
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To: AdmSmith; Berosus; Convert from ECUSA; dervish; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Fred Nerks; george76; ...
Criminals are cowards. They go after easy prey. This is why they target the poor, and not the rich. Criminals also target the unarmed, which is why Washington, D.C., was a "gangsta paradise," to quote an old rap song.
Thanks neverdem.
19 posted on 05/28/2009 2:11:21 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/____________________ Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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To: Hardastarboard
If I have to be hyphenated, I choose Southern-American
20 posted on 05/28/2009 2:16:56 PM PDT by oyez (To the extent veterans read it as an accusation -- and apology is owed(i.e. not given))
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