Posted on 12/31/2011 7:23:43 AM PST by marktwain
It is, of course, reason to celebrate that Flagstaff is on track to finish 2011 without a single murder inside the city.
Flagstaff is hardly Mayberry, RFD, but violent crimes of all types have plummeted in recent years, thanks to more community policing and better use of neighborhood-level police reports.
We'd like to think that the absence of a murder so far this year is due, in part, to those initiatives by the police and community leaders.
But we are also realistic enough to know that lethal violence in a state with lax gun laws is hard to keep at a zero level for long. As every study shows, more guns mean more gun violence, everything else being equal. But with every state, city or region being different, establishing direct causation between restrictive gun laws and lower crime is like hitting a moving target. Other socioeconomic factors, like poverty and education, also play key roles in gun violence rates.
FEELING DISEMPOWERED
If Arizona's cities, counties and even universities were in control of their own fates on gun access, at least local citizens would feel more empowered to demand change at the local level when gun policies don't work out.
But the Republican majority in the Legislature, marching in lockstep with the National Rifle Association, has gradually removed that local control even as they rail against federal interference in state affairs. Although many of them campaign as law-and-order candidates, they routinely tie the hands of police chiefs and county attorneys on proven ways to reduce or penalize gun violence, including background checks of gun show purchases and mandatory training for carriers of concealed weapons.
Two years ago, GOP lawmakers pushed through a bill that dropped permit requirements -- including background checks -- for any carrier of a concealed weapon.
(Excerpt) Read more at azdailysun.com ...
If someone wrote an editorial attributing the lack of murders to an increase in firearm availability and the numbers of people carrying, I suspect the editorializer would be the first to scream for cited sources of the "facts."
Here in Wisconsin a concealed carry law was recently passed. Outside of Milwaukee and Madison (two Dem strongholds) gun violence is extremely low. In my area of metro La Crosse (pop. approx 125,000) there are maybe one or two murders per year. Many of those murders are drug-related. Since the concealed-carry law was passed, there has been virtually no uptick in violence. And there won’t be because most Wisconsinites do not think pulling a gun out and shooting someone is a rational act. And believe me, there are a lot more guns in this state then there are citizens.
It always amazes me how some people will root for a disaster to push their agenda, just so they can say “I told you so”.
That's Funny? The book “more Guns less crime” Shows the more guns the less violence.
They left out that the criminals probably have to drive to Mexico to get the Government rate on their weapons purchases and Flagstaff is soooo far north that it takes too much gas money (another thing to thank the government for). /sarc/
It truly takes a liberal to be perpetually unhappy that the government hasn’t been able to spread misery to everyone equally.
and still no comments? Methinks something fishy about that.
of the officers killed in the line of duty in AZ, I wonder how many of the perps were illegals?
It’s actually pretty funny to read an article that admits there’s been a drop in crime while warning that there will be an increase in crime. If I were the author (and I wouldn’t be, given the topic) I think I might have shelved it till something bad happened.
Let's just assume that their murder rate is lower than it has ever been. This a**hat of a writer fails to admit the reason is probably because people can carry without going through onerous permit requirements, hence, every law abiding citizen could potentially be armed, which would give many criminals second thoughts about assaulting someone.
Flagstaff is a university town. Of course, the article has a liberal bias. And yes, the trend is unlikely to last; the actual news article in the paper points out that the last time this happened was in 1967.
Granted, I didn’t spend a lot of time looking, but I only found two AZ officers that died in 2011. Both gunfire. No other deaths of any sort. FBI has not released data, that I can find. Very deceiving editorial...
http://www.odmp.org/search?name=&agency=&state=Arizona&from=2011&to=2011&cause=Gunfire
God bless their families and friends.
Looks like they have the New York Times Style Guide at hand. First write the article you want to write, then ignore any inconvenient facts that conflict with the narrative. Or just lie, even about things that are easily checked.
One of the officers was killed by a parolee (illegal gun) and the other was killed by an illegal aleien whom California had failed to deport at the end of a prison term. Neither had guns legally under AZ’s lax? rules.
One of the officers was killed by a parolee (illegal gun) and the other was killed by an illegal aleien whom California had failed to deport at the end of a prison term. Neither had guns legally under AZ’s lax? rules.
One of the officers was killed by a parolee (illegal gun) and the other was killed by an illegal aleien whom California had failed to deport at the end of a prison term. Neither had guns legally under AZ’s lax? rules.
Indeed. I posted a while ago and it still hasn't shown up.
“One of the officers was killed by a parolee (illegal gun)”
“illegal possession”.
Their thinking seems to be, 'Why make do with that antiquated and flawed 2nd Amendment, when we can add to the over 20,000 laws already on the books concerning ownership and carry of firearms, and straighten everything out?".
I'm sure they think that with just one or two more restrictive gun laws Utopia will finally be achieved.
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