With 294 murders in Philadelphia this year,80% involving handguns, is it time to ban handguns and put in more

Question

gun control measures as recommended by the city? Or do we fall back onto that old chestnut about the constitution allowing guns so that we can keep killing each other?

Answer 1

No,Just enforce the gun laws already in place!!

Answer 2

I do not know if anyone has mentioned this but enforcing existing gun laws is very good start. Despite all the crap gunstore owners get the failure to enforce laws almost always can be traced to law enforcement (local, and federal).
The fact that guns were used in murders does not mean that if we outlawed guns less murders would happen. The CDC has come out saying that gun laws do not affect crime rates. John Lott has done the most in depth study I am aware of showing guns decrease crime. Gun laws in the U.S. have been getting looser and looser over the past 20 or so years. During that time we have had decreasing violent crime during recessions and boom times. The U.N. did a recent analysis of countries with high civilian gun ownership. The top countries with the exception of serbia and Iraq (gun ownership was an artifact of recent wars in those countries) were low crime, affluent countries. In fact they found a correlation between affluence and gun ownership not crime and gun ownership. Cross sectional data while convincing is not the best way to analyze gun laws. More and more time series data is showing that gun ownership reduces genocide, murders and rape. Antecdotal evidence can be used by both sides but I think it is telling that Britain seriously restricted gun ownership and saw violence and gun murders increase. Do you want to do the same for Philadelphia?

The tone of your question implies that at this point you will be dismissive about any argument against your present beliefs. I suggest you thoughtfully research this topic. The facts are just that overwhelming for gun ownership. I also encourage you to keep a scorecard on lies. Make a tally about which side puts out the most inaccurate and misleading information.

I do believe in inalienable rights even if I didn't I would still be against a gun ban.

Answer 3

I am always sorry to hear that gun has been used in a crime. It another piece of evidence that someone will try to use to infringe my right to own a gun.

I would like you to look objectively at facts. I do not wnat to persuade you to adopt my opinion. Just review the evidence and draw your own conclusions.

Washington D.C. has had a handgun ban for many years and their crime rate and gun related homicide is shocking. Same for Chicago. The gun ban did not do very much to decrease crime in those cities. Chicago recently has had a dramatic decrease in gun crime. It comes 20 years after the ban took affect. Studies have related that decrease to the strict enforcement of other laws that were already on the books.

As another writer stated. Criminals are not giving up their guns. Not a chance. They are going to continue to do what they do. Sorry. But that is the harsh truth.

It is true that you are more likely to be harmed by a gun in your home if you own one. So, if you don't like them and don't feel at ease, then by all means, do not bring one into your home. But leave me and my guns alone.

I promise you that my guns mean you no harm. If your kids come to my house to play, they are perfectly safe. My guns are secured. I take great pains to be sure of that. I love my kids more than life itself. I leave nothing to chance. Even if you cut me off at the traffic light, steal my parking place, and call me an stupid idiot in the parking lot. You are still safe. My gun stays holstered even when confronted with the rude, crude, ill mannered, and ignorant people that are all too common here in this sociery. However, if you become a threat to my or my family's safety, you are in big trouble. Handgun or shotgun, or rifle, or bare knuckles. Be ready.

I think this is the prevailing attitude of most decent people. If you lock up the people who break the law and keep them out of polite society, then the gun crime will get better. Why dont we just try it my way for a while and see. ???

Best regards. Always shoot safely and responsibly.

Answer 4

Gun Laws hurt citizens and therefore help Criminals.

They are a "placebo" for dealing with crime. It's like taking a Vitamin C tablet when you have Cancer.

It may feel like you are "doing something about the problem" but it's just that....a "Feel Good" measure.

I live in a large city that is just about half the size of Philadelphia, with a poorer economy and more citizens living under the federal 'poverty threshold'. Year-to-date, we have 13 homicides. Thirteen! Last year it was 18 for the year, and more than half of those were domestic homicides, where law enforcement has little bearing.

The differences? Police and Courts that actively and aggressively send career criminals to prison and a population that is well-armed and just does not tolerate crime in our communities.

Gun control does not work and it's been proven time and time again. Police enforcement and harsh sentences for criminals work.

Answer 5

Let's see, ownership of firearms in Great Britain is severely limited so the criminals that don't have guns quite effectively use clubs and knives. Last thing I heard was that they were considering restricting the ownership and possession of knives (including some kitchen knives). Canada restricts the ownership of firearms so the rate of burglaries is several times higher than it is in the U.S. Australian criminals have turned to "Wrist Rockets", and now those are being regulated. And let's not forget that FBI statistics show that the a high level of citizen firearm ownership generally translate into a low crime rate. So when you're Philly, safe and secure in the knowledge that honest, law abiding citizen have lost the ability to defend themselves and someone breaks into your house late at night, the police can probably be there in 15 minutes or so. And by the way, the Constitution guarantees the right to own firearms as a way to protect ourselves from the government! Read it before you cite it.

Answer 6

It seems from experience in the rest of the country that a combination of better police work and loosening restrictions on handguns is the proper way to limit violent crime. Where citizens are allowed to go armed, violent crime drops. It's another old chestnut: an armed society is a polite society.

Answer 7

Philadelphia doesn't need any more gun laws, nor do they need to outlaw handguns. As a former LEO I would have a problem believing that 80% of the killings were handgun related in the first place

Even if in fact they were, there still isn't a need for more arcaic laws, The ones that already exist have to be enforced and used to put these felons away for long jail/prison terms without parole.Those that commit heinous murders should get the needle.Period. But there is a whole new point of discussion raised on that point too....I shutter to think what would happen if we disarm America, and take away our rights to gun ownership. I for one feel that we can't count on Police protection 24/7 and even being a retired LEO myself, most of my friends in law enforcement agree that without private gun ownership,the majority of Americans would not have the abilities to protect themselves or their families from the criminals and terrorists that have already attacked our country, and continue to target our society.

Answer 8

Cities that have shared Philadelphia's growing crime rate, all have one thing in common, impoverished underclasses.

To Quote:

The statistics show that Philadelphia's peer group is not really other mega-cities, but other cities with substantial impoverished underclasses - Atlanta; Baltimore; Washington; Memphis; Oakland, Calif.; Richmond, Va.; St. Louis; Detroit; and Newark, N.J.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/20070605_Phila__leads_big_cities_in_murder_rate.html

and another quote from the article:

Violent crime is up in cities with populations larger than 250,000, which have LOST about 10 percent of their law enforcement resources since 2000, said James Alan Fox, a criminal justice professor at Northeastern University in Boston.

In the rest of the country where police forces have NOT shrunk, he said, crime rates are STEADY. "I know people want their tax cuts, but a few hundred dollars in extra taxes seems small when you're staring down the barrel of a gun," said Fox.

Criminologists say the crime is attributable to a complex mix of social and economic causes - UNEMPLOYMENT, a resurgence in gang activity, increased traffic in ILLEGAL guns, reductions in programs for youth development, children growing up in POVERTY, and single-parent households.

Wow, you mean LEGAL gun ownership is not one of the causes...AMAZING isn't it....

The city officials advocate gun control and a ban on handguns because it's a scapegoat for their incompetence. The right thing to do would be to hire more police or create more jobs (thus alleviating impoverished conditions).

Answer 9

Sorry with reference to the "outdated chestnut" yet i myself do no longer think of removing the bill of Rights is what the answer is. And confident the 2d modification does persist with to voters and not basically to the protection rigidity and the nationwide shelter-protection rigidity on the time of the writing grew to become into defined as all unfastened in a position bodied men between the a while of sixteen to sixty 5 (might have the a while a touch off). in view that criminals are actually not allowed to purchase weapons legally first of all what makes you think of banning them might artwork? The prohibition of alcohol worked and you may desire to have confidence that unlawful drugs do no longer exist in view that they are unlawful. If a industry exists then some one will fill the industry. Philadelphia already has extra restrictive gun rules then many different places with decrease homicide fees, as does ny, in spite of the fact that if it has no longer solved the priority. the priority is the individuals utilising them; make a lengthy needed sentence upload-directly to against the regulation dedicated with a firearm, no shortening and no parole or probation-you utilize a firearm in the fee of against the regulation then you definately get in spite of the fact that sentence the decide palms down plus 5 or ten years needed in penal complex-you %. the dimensions. If human beings choose to kill human beings they are going to do it; the potential might substitute yet then what do you do? Outlaw knives, baseball bats, or in spite of the fact that they use. you do no longer talk approximately banning vehicles because of the fact under the impact of alcohol drivers kill human beings-you talk with reference to the under the impact of alcohol drivers, why might desire to this be diverse?

Answer 10

Philadelphia has a people problem; not a gun problem. How many people were stabbed to death? How many were killed by cars? How about hammers? Do you see any of the liberal left whining about doing away with cars, knives, or hammers? Get real; it is the loose nut behind the wheel that does things; not an inantimate object made from metal or plastic. So it has been throughout the ages; people kill people, pure and simple. Alcohol and drugs only exacerbate the situation, I know of no cars or guns or hammers that drink or shoot up drugs.

Answer 11

Why don't we ban murder first? Oh Wait!! That's right!! Murder is already illegal!

The fact that people kill and related firearm violence are symptoms of deeper issues in society. Banning handguns did little for places like Washington, DC and NYC. Giving guns to everyone like they do in some countries where every male is expected to be armed and ready to defend (Switzerland comes to mind) doesn't mean there is going to be a lot of gun violence.

Banning guns is like getting your leg cut off and treating it with a Band-Aid because you are bleeding. It may look like it makes sense, but if you look at the bigger picture, it really is quite ridiculeous.

Banning anything doesn't work if you don't fix the problem first. History has taught us that.