Posted on 01/31/2006 9:47:55 AM PST by walkerk
High murder rate attributed to large supply of firearms
There are more guns than ever on the streets of San Francisco — particularly in the hands of young people — leading to a doubling of gun murders over the last five years, according to the police department.
The number of homicides by firearms jumped from 39 in 2001 to 80 in 2005 and a handful of other indicators, from shootings to the number of guns seized by police, all point to a greater level of gun violence in San Francisco.
The new statistics come to light as city officials grapple with The City’s bloodiest year in a decade that resulted in 96 murders in 2005.
Eighty-one percent of those homicides were committed with a gun, a 10 percent increase from the year before, according to police. There were 316 shootings in 2005, which is up from 260 in 2004.
About 60 percent of San Francisco’s murder suspects and 57 percent of its victims are under 30. More than 60 percent of shooting suspects in 2005 had prior arrests, according to police.
San Francisco police Capt. Kevin Cashman, who appeared before a special Board of Supervisors committee Monday to address the murder rate, blamed the increase in gun violence on gangs and the availability of guns on the streets. However, law enforcement officials did not provide any indications of why there are more guns in San Francisco.
Cashman said the police had seized nearly 1,100 guns in 2005 and had increased the number of cases for federal gun prosecution from 77 in 2003 to 133 in 2005.
District Attorney Kamala Harris, who also appeared at the hearing, said her department did not have an official policy on gun crime before 2004.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfexaminer.com ...
How 'bout a Beretta in the streets?........
"Answer: Arm responsible citizens, build more prisons, be less lenient on criminals."
Gee...that's so un-compassionate; so un-San Francisco; so un-liberal. These criminals are just misunderstood; they've been deprived of the good life society stole from them. They need more social programs; more community awareness; perhaps a cultural arts center that documents their plight and displays examples of heart-rending criminal "art." Why...sniff, sniff...I'm welling up in tears just thinking about it.
What hair? They're all old, fat and balding now.........
"A liberal would say that my home is awash in guns. And he would be right!"
Amen and Hallelujah!!!
Prediction----as more and more states pass "must issue" CCW legislation, criminals from the megacities in those states will migrate to megacities in blue states with strict "gun control" laws/bans, and the rate of gun crime in such cities will go UP significantly.
Correct. Actually, it's already been happening, and, as you predict, the steady increase in the number of concealed carry states is increasingly having that effect. New York, D.C., Chicago, L.A. and S.F - all places with the strictest gun control laws and the highest rates of gun violence and crime. The scumbags are cowards. They want easy pickings - not people who refuse to be victims and will shoot THEM.
Ok, so as we have been saying for decades, gun control doesn't work. What's their point?
Not possible. The city council made them illegal.
"Ok, so as we have been saying for decades, gun control doesn't work. What's their point?"
I don't think "they" have a point. I think THE point in all the utterances in this article is that, despite decades of proof and the obvious, these morons still don't get it. Ironically, it is THEY, who claim to be the great purveyors of peace, love and government protection, who are responsible for so much death and destruction. And like the camel who can't see it's own big, ugly hump, these people are still singing the same idiotic tunes. They learn nothing, and are therefore dangerous.
...but... but... I thought "gun control" worked!
Did you check the storm inlets? It did rain recently.
All they need to do is pass a law outlawing guns. Simple.
/sarcasm (and simple minded)
Idiots. They get what they deserve. But our servicemen sure as hell don't.
OK so San Francisco is a No Troops Zone but is overflowing with guns LOL.
Damn I gotta go there and pick up a few. You can keep the Glocks, I want the HK's :-)
"Why, in the most peace-loving, utopian, liberal city in the world? No! I'm just shocked...SHOCKED that this is happening!"
Your sarcasm is so true. Actually, it points up that this
entire subject, and the attendant article that it stems from, are both hilarious and bizarre at the same time. This is true instance of the lunatics running the asylum!
High murder rates have nothing to do with the number of firearms; witness Switzerland, or rural (red state) America.
It has to do with the scumbags that live in the city.
Now you're talking -- that should fix it.
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