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Now We’re Getting Somewhere (San Fran gun ban)
NRO ^ | November 09, 2005 | John R. Lott Jr.

Posted on 11/09/2005 1:00:10 PM PST by neverdem

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Now We’re Getting Somewhere

A silver lining in a gun ban.

By John R. Lott Jr.

Who wrote the following?

"[I]t is possible that once residents gave up their handguns, San Francisco would be seen as an easy hunting ground for criminals who have no intention of giving up their own pistols."

Is it the NRA claiming that gun laws disarm law-abiding citizens and not criminals? No. Amazingly enough it was the San Francisco Chronicle, one of the more liberal newspapers in the U.S., in an editorial arguing against Proposition H, the initiative that passed on Tuesday to ban handguns in the city.

Yet, despite this reasonableness, the initiative passed with a safe margin, 58 percent of the vote. Perhaps that isn't very surprising in a city where a proposition banning military recruiters at public high schools and colleges got even more support and almost 80 percent voted against parental notification for minors getting abortions.

Ultimately, though, the vote didn't mean much of anything. As San Francisco's Mayor, Gavin Newsom, a strong supporter of gun control, said, the ban "clearly will be thrown out [in court]... It's really just a public opinion poll at the end of the day." State law prohibits local jurisdictions from enacting such a ban, and an even weaker law requiring handgun registration that was enacted by the San Francisco County Board of Supervisors in 1982 was thrown out by the California state supreme court.

The silver lining was how forcefully many organizations such as the police came out against the gun ban. Besides discussing the increases in murder occurring in Washington, D.C. after it instituted a handgun ban, the officers stated: "When we disarm honest, law-abiding citizens, we contribute to empowering criminals and endangering society-at-large." They directly acknowledged how important it was for people to be able to defend themselves with a handgun when the police couldn't be there.

It would be nice if San Francisco could avoid the increases in violent crime rates experienced by Washington, D.C. and Chicago after their handgun bans.

But Bill O'Reilly probably said it best recently on the Fox News Channel when he noted: "Once I saw what happened in Hurricane Katrina, I said every American household should have a firearm. If there's a tremendous earthquake in San Francisco and looting, you don't want your family protected? You don't want a firearm in your house? You're living in the world of Oz."

It is one thing for a group such as the Pink Pistols, a gay-rights group that advocates people being able to defend themselves, to make these claims, but it's a broader group talking about the importance of people being able to defend themselves and their loved ones these days. The fact that so many people discuss and debate how a gun ban can lead to more crime itself reflects how much the debate has been changing.

John R. Lott Jr., a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, is the author of More Guns, Less Crime and The Bias Against Guns.


 

 
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/lott200511091053.asp
     



TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Editorial; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: California
KEYWORDS: banglist
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Why am I not surprised that populist Bill O'Reilly changed his tune?
1 posted on 11/09/2005 1:00:12 PM PST by neverdem
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To: neverdem

Spare me from the newly converted.


2 posted on 11/09/2005 1:03:19 PM PST by GBA
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To: neverdem

i think they ought to let the ban stand. AND it should be shouted from the highest rooftop - NO ARMED CITIZEN (prey) IN SF!!!".

let all the armed thugs gravitate thereto for the safe pursuit of their chosen career paths.

other cities will become safer as thugs move away, SF will become the drime pit of the USA, and everybody will know why.


3 posted on 11/09/2005 1:03:22 PM PST by camle (keep your mind open and somebody will fill it full of something for you.)
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To: neverdem
While listening to Kevin Miller interview Al Franken this morning, I realized two things:

1. Kevin's descent into buffoonery has completed.

2. Al Franken and Bill O'Reilly are mirror images of each other: pompous windbags with acutely excessive senses of self-importance.

4 posted on 11/09/2005 1:04:08 PM PST by George Smiley (This tagline deliberately targeted journalists.)
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To: camle

I thought it was the biggest crime pit in America anyway, if Willie Brown was any indication.

Regards, Ivan


5 posted on 11/09/2005 1:04:24 PM PST by MadIvan (You underestimate the power of the Dark Side - http://www.sithorder.com/)
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To: neverdem
The Second Amendment...
America's Only Homeland Security!

Be Ever Vigilant!

6 posted on 11/09/2005 1:06:23 PM PST by blackie (Be Well~Be Armed~Be Safe~Molon Labe!)
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To: GBA

John Lott is not newly converted. You should read his other works re guns.


7 posted on 11/09/2005 1:06:24 PM PST by RetiredArmy (I have no faith in any politician or political party any more. They all lie for their agendas.)
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To: MadIvan

well? if they want to mazke it worse, let them.

AND we can showcase it.


8 posted on 11/09/2005 1:10:16 PM PST by camle (keep your mind open and somebody will fill it full of something for you.)
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To: neverdem
Why am I not surprised that populist Bill O'Reilly changed his tune?

Bill O'Reilly bases his opinions on single issues, which are often misinterpreted. Before Katrina, he was pro-gun control. What an unprincipled person. He seems to be losing his mind over the oil industry turning a profit as well.
9 posted on 11/09/2005 1:10:33 PM PST by TeenagedConservative
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To: George Smiley

Who's Kevin Miller?


10 posted on 11/09/2005 1:12:07 PM PST by neverdem (May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows that you're dead.)
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To: neverdem
Amazingly enough it was the San Francisco Chronicle Examiner

Dunno the political bent of the SFE, but it's not really relevant to Lott's main point anyway.

11 posted on 11/09/2005 1:12:34 PM PST by Constitutionalist Conservative (Have you visited http://c-pol.blogspot.com?)
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Why haven't the handgun bans in Chicago and D.C. been overturned by the courts?


12 posted on 11/09/2005 1:14:22 PM PST by Rio (Don't make me come over there....)
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To: TeenagedConservative

I don't care what wakes people up to the evils of gun control. When they join us, I welcome them.


13 posted on 11/09/2005 1:16:14 PM PST by karnage
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To: TeenagedConservative

Yeah someone should also point out to O'reilly, the hell with Katrina since most of those stories turned out to be bogus anyway and instead think Paris! That's an even more stark example of reality coming to bite leftists in the ass. Or more likely to kill them!!!!


14 posted on 11/09/2005 1:16:34 PM PST by marlon
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To: neverdem

Oakland now has some hunting grounds.


15 posted on 11/09/2005 1:17:04 PM PST by edcoil (Reality doesn't say much - doesn't need too)
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To: RetiredArmy

That comment was for Bill O'Reilly.


16 posted on 11/09/2005 1:17:50 PM PST by Disambiguator (Making accusations of racism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.)
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To: neverdem

Gavin Newsom, a strong supporter of gun control, said, the ban "clearly will be thrown out [in court]... It's really just a public opinion poll at the end of the day."

Sure, you idiot; just waste the taxpayers' and the NRA's time and money on illegal "opinion polls." Good old SanFran - a complete waste of oxygen.


17 posted on 11/09/2005 1:18:46 PM PST by hsalaw
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To: Constitutionalist Conservative
Both the San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner posted masthead editorials, which I reposted here at FR, as well as a real fringe lefty local SF paper told the voters to vote no on Proposition H.

The fact that so many people discuss and debate how a gun ban can lead to more crime itself reflects how much the debate has been changing.

That their Chronicle and Examiner could see the light is no mean feat.

18 posted on 11/09/2005 1:20:55 PM PST by neverdem (May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows that you're dead.)
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To: neverdem

Morning host WPTF-AM Raleigh.


19 posted on 11/09/2005 1:21:09 PM PST by George Smiley (This tagline deliberately targeted journalists.)
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To: George Smiley

Thank you!


20 posted on 11/09/2005 1:26:11 PM PST by neverdem (May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows that you're dead.)
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