From: Michael S. Lorrey (retroman@turbont.net)
Date: Wed Aug 02 2000 - 10:26:46 MDT
Dehede011@aol.com wrote:
>
> In a message dated 8/2/00 7:20:41 AM Pacific Daylight Time, talon57@well.com
> writes:
> << Here's a thought: "Why is it that in Chicago handgun crime is
> fairly common despite the fact that they banned handguns over 18
> years ago, yet the surrounding suburbs where handguns are legal
> have almost no handgun crime?" >>
>
> Brian,
> Thank you. As a guy living in one of those suburbs I will use that
> ammunition. Did you ever notice the guys that go on a shooting rampage and
> killing innocents? I am sure you have; but did you ever notice how few of
> them ever receive return fire even by policemen?
> I keep hearing that some of these shooting rampages have been ended by
> citizens defending themselves but that these incidents do not make the media.
> Do you have any facts on this?
Here's some facts: a large percent of illegally purchased guns used in gun
crimes in CHicago were sold to criminals BY THE POLICE DEPARTMENT. As Brian can
probably give more details on this, there has been an ongoing scandal involving
members of the Chicago police department and members of the ATF selling large
quantities of guns to criminals, ostensibly as part of 'undercover operations'
which never wound up with any arrests. A similar situation is being uncovered
right now in Boston in the Cape Verdean community, which has seen an increase in
gun violence due apparently to the illegal gun running activities of one Cape
Verdean gentleman, Augusto Lopez, who, it turns out, bought his guns from
'undercover policemen'. This just resulted on Sunday in the first youth killed
by gunfire in Boston since 1998, a Cape Verdean 16 year old boy shot during a
drive by in Dorchester. This Lopez character was just arrested last week, and
we'll have to see what turn up in the story if any of his guns purchased from
cops are in fact murder weapons. While normally, such an offense would result at
least in gun trafficing charges against the sellers, but I doubt any policmen,
in Boston or CHicago, will ever be convicted of such.
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