It is interesting that you said absolutely nothing about the Washington
DC Murder rates. DC does, of course, have the most restrictive gun
control laws in the entire country. It is no wonder it has the highest
murder rate, as the murderers are quite confident that the people they
murder are not armed, are not capable of defending themselves.
Studies of gun crime in the US show that gun crime rates are highest in
areas that have the most restrictive gun control laws.
Additionally, it has also been shown that the murder rate among young
men 15-24 is solely tied into the current, and ebbing, wave of gang
violence, which is stimulated by the gangsta-rap culture they live in.
Now, on the overall murder rates being higher, I won't debate, its
obvious that a free society like ours will tend to grant its citizens
the liberty to be able to commit the sort of crimes involved, while
societies like those in europe, descended from fuedal systems in which
only the aristocracy had a right to bear arms, are obviously not free,
in that the government protects the citizens from themselves.
THis sort of attitude does not fly here in the US, except in liberal
enclaves and inside the beltway. As seen in the Ruby Ridge, Waco,
Oklahoma City, and the recent "Roby Ridge" incidents, Americans do not
put up with their government treating its citizens as the enemy, do not
beleive that the government knows better how citizens should live their
lives. Most of us outside the liberal establishment know that the 2nd
amendment is what guarrantees the continued existence of all of the
others against government encroachment, but that knowledge is
diminishing under continued onslaught from the liberal media elite who
refuse to post ANY peices that may put gun use in a positive light. This
is no joke, a memo from Ted Turner to his staff at CNN explicitly
instructs this.
However, this is not the only reason for the high murder rate. Indeed,
prior to the 60's, the US murder rate was no higher than any other
industrialized nation. Up to this time, the 2nd amendment had been in
existence for over 180 years to no ill effect. Prior to this time, as
well, the inner cities of America were more densely crowded, with much
higher poverty rates, much greater levels of prejudice, racism, and
ethnic strife, and gun posession was as high or higher then than it is
now.
What is it then that HAS changed here in the US???
a) the capital punishment laws were first repealed, and then when
reenacted made it almost impossible to execute even the most heinous
criminals. It turns out that a convicted murderer on death row has a
longer life expectancy than if he or she were loose on the streets. Is
that capital punishment???
b) criminal rights protections in the courts are much more respected
than prior to the 50's. While this may be a good thing for individual
rights as a whole, and respect for the rights of the accused to be
treated as innnocent until proven guilty, it is only in the last few
years that the rights of victims and victims families have begun to bear
any weight in court proceedings.
c) the educational system here in the US has been gutted by a
monopolistic union, where gun and hunter safety courses, rifle teams,
and JROTC activities have been banned from the curriculum, so that
children have had absolutely no chance to learn about responsible gun
use, and our cultural heritage of liberty derived from gun use, from
positive role models, while at the same time, the liberal entertainment
industry delights in supplying the population with 'entertainment' that
celebrates violence, irresponsible gun use, and depicts gun owners
generally as radical wing nuts and threats to public safety.
d) and most importantly, Gun Control Laws have been enacted on a very
wide basis across the country since the 60's (originally in response to
the JFK, RFK, and MLK assasinations), which made previously law abiding
citizens into criminals, stripped citizens of the ability to defend
themselves, while imposing pathetically minimal sentences on criminals
convicted of crimes while using firearms, or while violating firearms
laws (like the law against convicted felons owning guns, duh).
Given all of this, it is rather obvious that the high murder rates here
in the US can be mainly blamed on the failed policies of the liberal
establishment in the last 30 years.
-- TANSTAAFL!!! Michael Lorrey ------------------------------------------------------------ mailto:retroman@together.net Inventor of the Lorrey Drive MikeySoft: Graphic Design/Animation/Publishing/Engineering ------------------------------------------------------------ How many fnords did you see before breakfast today?