As David Kopel "discovered" 15 years ago, it is a social/cultural
problem. http://davekopel.org/CJ/Mags/InnerCityCrisis.htm
Access to guns have little to do with causing or increasing the
violence (although the violent people may use them). Notice how the
chief's have to make a token mention of guns before they get down to
discussing the real causes. They are failing because every dollar
they waste on "gun control' is stolen from a social program that might
have worked.
In a front-page New York Times story today, north Minneapolis
alongside south Los Angeles and Dorchester, Mass., were described as
an "astounding" pocket of crime responsible for a surge in violence in
American cities.
First the key.
[quote]“There’s a direct correlation between the kids who drop out of
our high schools who get involved in selling drugs and who end up in
homicides,” Mr. Duffy said.[/quote]
Now the rest of the story.
[quote] “There’s a mentality among some people that they’re living
some really violent video game,” said Chris Magnus, the police chief
in Richmond, Calif., north of San Francisco, where homicides rose 20
percent and gun assaults 65 percent from 2004 to 2006. “What’s
disturbing is that you see that the blood’s real, the death’s real.”
* * *
Police officials say the violence tends to happen among young men in
their late teens and early to mid-20s. In some cases, it is random.
But in many cases, it is among people who know one another, or between
gangs, as a way to settle disputes. Arguments that 20 years ago would
have led to fistfights, police chiefs say, now lead to guns.
“There’s really no rhyme or reason with these homicides,” said Edward
Davis, the police commissioner in Boston. “An incident will occur
involving disrespect, a fight over a girl. Then there’s a retaliation
aspect where if someone shoots someone else; their friends will come
back and shoot at the people that did it.”
In Richmond, Chief Magnus said he would often go to the scene of a
crime and discover that 30 to 75 rounds had been fired. “It speaks to
the level of anger, the indiscriminate nature of the violence,” he
said. [/quote]
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/09/us/09crime.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
See also:
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/national/20070307_Crime_Report.pdf
Professor Joseph Olson, J.D., LL.M. o- 651-523-2142
Hamline University School of Law f- 651-523-2236
St. Paul, MN 55113-1235 c- 612-865-7956
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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