While it is true that crime and other social statistics are impossible to pin on one or another factor, given their immense complexity, one need only look at the annual "Murder Capitol" title race every year to see a trend.
Washington DC, New York, Detroit and Chicago seem to head the list every year in murders per capita. While I'm not certain about Detroit, I do know that the mayors of the other 3 cities are intensely opposed to the possession of firearms by even law-abiding citizens. Washington DC does not allow its citizens to own a handgun, much less carry one, and DC regularly has one of the highest violent crime rates in the country. One of Mayor Marion Barry's more laughable comments was that, outside of the killings, crime in DC was pretty low.
The fact is, when law-abiding citizens keep and bear arms, violent crime trends downward. Those who hate guns and don't want citizens to take responsibility for their own self-defense ignore this inconvenient truth. Their arguments are always laced with emotion. They have to be, since ALL fact and logic are on the side of those of us who believe in the 2nd Amendment.
And to anyone who disputes that our Founding Fathers intended the 2nd Amendment to be an individual right:
"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms...disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes...Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."
--Thomas Jefferson, Commonplace Book, 1774-1776
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Other reader comments on this article
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Date
Until the euphoric idealists realize that criminals have no regard for the law and will get the tools they need... [MORE]
Tim
Feb 7, 2007 09:43
Thank you for showing what should be a no brainer. That guns and law abiding gun owners do not cause... [MORE]
Kevin Chicwak
Feb 6, 2007 10:47
As a responsible gun-carrying citizen, I want to thank you for the honest perspective on this frequently misrepresented subject.
What concerns... [MORE]
Bill Garman
Feb 5, 2007 09:51
Thank you for finally getting it right! You guys are great! [MORE]
Cody Rehberg (crehberg)
Feb 4, 2007 13:27
Gun laws do nothing but erode the Constitutional RIGHT to keep and bear arms. We have already permitted our legislators... [MORE]
Christine Garcia
Feb 4, 2007 11:29
Thank you for printing the actual facts about crime in Florida. I can't believe that the ex-Mayor of NYC wants... [MORE]
Tom Irwin
Feb 4, 2007 11:23
Thanks for your article it's refreshing to know that even in New York there are objective thinkers. I live in... [MORE]
Bill P. (Flordia)
Feb 3, 2007 19:53
It is rather apropos that The New York Sun being in the east and since the sun arises in the... [MORE]
Rogers L. Marshall
Feb 3, 2007 12:27
I very much appreciate your reasoned and factual response to the misrepresentations noted in the NYT and Sun Sentinel articles.... [MORE]
David F Rothfuss
Feb 3, 2007 10:23
Why isit that the ones who tell us we dont need guns, enjoy the security of armed bodyguards? Why do... [MORE]
Yurt7
Feb 3, 2007 08:13
First, make an inanimate object illegal; then, claim it's causing the problem. To quote from the latest Guiness commercials: "Brilliant!"... [MORE]
Lysander Spooner
Feb 3, 2007 07:49
I find it funny that some Americans want to blame firearms for the crime problem in the U.S. Maybe they... [MORE]
Charles Petrik
Feb 3, 2007 02:21
I think the whole war on guns is just a distraction from the real solution that is needed. The gov't... [MORE]
BangStick
Feb 3, 2007 17:10
WOW!!!A pro gun NYC newspaper. Fabulous. Have you noticed how those who are the loudest in promoting gay rights and... [MORE]
John B. Thayer
Feb 3, 2007 01:31
It is such a breath of fresh air to read an article in a newspaper speaking truth about gun issues.
conceald... [MORE]
maintncman
Feb 3, 2007 01:01
The only places more liberal and possessed of less common sense than NYC, are San Francisco and Berkely, California. So... [MORE]
Martin W. Schwartz
Feb 3, 2007 00:31
this article is a breath of fresh air and truth. if duh mayors were truly wishing to reduce crime they... [MORE]
joe
Feb 3, 2007 00:02
Your article was well balanced and written. A far cry from the inflamatory and inaccurate ones that trumpet the same... [MORE]
Nick Rust
Feb 2, 2007 21:21
Emotion has no place in a rational, factual discussion on gun control. It should be labeled crime control. The elitist... [MORE]
Robert
Feb 2, 2007 20:02
It is refreshing to read something sensible in the media regarding guns. All too often it's "All guns are bad!... [MORE]
Bill
Feb 2, 2007 19:07
Who'ld a thunk it? I feel a paroxysm of total shock and awe overcoming me: I, really , must rest!... [MORE]
Larry Farrell
Feb 2, 2007 18:03
This is the classic problem with freedom of speech some want to exercise it even then they have nothing to... [MORE]
tinman
Feb 2, 2007 18:01
Statistical analysis of crime rates can be used in varying arguments. If there are 2 people living in a town,... [MORE]
James Morgan
Feb 2, 2007 16:18
To whomever wrote the the editorial concerning the "reporting" done by the Times newspaper; Thank you from a Florida resident.
Just... [MORE]
Keith Pletcher
Feb 2, 2007 15:51
Dear Editors,
You quote the Times as running a recent editorial titled "A Day Without Guns." I would remind the Times... [MORE]
Mike Glaser
Feb 2, 2007 15:20
I defy anyone to show us a country who has disarmed its citizens and or has draconian gun laws that... [MORE]
Kevin M
Feb 3, 2007 08:31
I cannot think of anyone at any time who has put it more planely than Mike Glaser. Touche sir! [MORE]
Mel Winegardner
Feb 4, 2007 16:53
Bravo! Well Spoken But will not convert the indoctrinated in the ant-gun crowd. As we are learning the painful lessons... [MORE]
Frank Tucker
Feb 2, 2007 14:09
Excellent article. It is a shame that many in the print, and other media try hard to not let the... [MORE]
Mike Schollmeier
Feb 2, 2007 14:07
I am fortunate to be a citizen of a State that expects its residents to be responsible for their own... [MORE]
Pete Humm
Feb 2, 2007 13:34
It's about time that the people of New York State and City vote out the politicians that have continually denied... [MORE]
Kenneth Adams
Feb 2, 2007 13:19
Well written perspective. I have had a hand gun permit for over 30 years. I have never shot anyone in... [MORE]
Dr Michael Giannone
Feb 7, 2007 20:49
vouchsafed The second amendment doesn't grant citizens the right to anything. It prevents government from infringing on a right that... [MORE]
John Lewis
Feb 2, 2007 13:18
I know that the Editorial Board of the NYT is not stupid. Would that they were. With all the anecdotal... [MORE]
Voolfie
Feb 2, 2007 12:46
I have the right to defend myself and those around me from death or injury at the hands of criminals.... [MORE]
Andrew Nelson
Feb 2, 2007 12:28
Anyone carring to challange that only has to look at chicago and it's suburbs. All the areas that have virtually... [MORE]
ted zas
Feb 2, 2007 12:16
It is very refreshing to see a NY paper that uses the facts and does not conceal them for its... [MORE]
Edward Bath
Feb 2, 2007 12:07
For those wringing their hands over firearms, here is the easy solution. The current laws are extremely harsh for anyone... [MORE]
Mitchel Kotula, Jr.
Feb 2, 2007 11:29
Thank you for discussing this subject with rational thought and common sense. On no other topic except maybe Global Warming... [MORE]
Mike Sieverding
Feb 2, 2007 11:00
While it is true that crime and other social statistics are impossible to pin on one or another factor, given...
Jon Hochgesang
Feb 2, 2007 10:18
In contrast to Florida, Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Kelly have made the Pistol Permit holder, along with out-of-state gun dealers,... [MORE]
Jim Fay
Feb 2, 2007 10:16
I work in NYC and was attacked twice with a knife and once with a base ball bat BUT thanks... [MORE]
Nemo
Apr 27, 2007 20:36
You've hit the nail on the head. In the editorial cited, the Times' tendentious prose may ostensibly relate to concealed... [MORE]
Robert J. Yankow
Feb 2, 2007 10:07
I am not a NY resident, but enjoy your paper regardless. I understand that you still have the Sullivan Laws... [MORE]
John Lewis
Feb 2, 2007 07:28
Mr. Lewis,
You quote the Times (I'm assuming the New York Times) as running a recent editorial titled "A Day Without... [MORE]
Mike Glaser
Feb 2, 2007 09:41
There's no question that gun control stirs the politcal pot like few other things. But, there is just no evidence... [MORE]