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Smart strategies for fighting youth violence 

<<The truth behind the murder statistics that people are quoting.>>

The homicide rate was 9.8 per 100,000 population in 1991, and 6.3 per 100,000 in 1998 - a 36 percent reduction in seven years. 

Alfred Blumstein of the National Consortium on Violence Research recently presented a paper at a seminar sponsored by Harvard's Kennedy School. Blumstein dissected the statistics and provided some answers.

The 24 percent increase in homicides between 1985 and 1992 can be attributed almost solely to the huge increase in murders by young people. During that period, the arrest rates for murder across all age groups increased by 24 percent, but the rate for those aged 30 and above declined by 20 percent. However, the arrest rate for murder by people age 18 to 24 doubled. 

During this jump in murder rates, there was no increase in murders committed with weapons other than handguns (knives, fists, long guns, etc.), but handgun homicide among youth increased by a startling 128 percent. 

What had happened? The illegal drug market had changed. Relatively low-cost crack replaced more expensive cocaine as the street drug of choice in the mid-1980s. Lower prices meant more demand. To meet the demand, drug sellers recruited more young people into the business - they are cheaper, more daring and less vulnerable to punishment by the criminal justice system. More kids with more guns meant more deaths. <<These are criminals not kids. The million moms' should take action to remove the drugs & criminals from their neighborhood. That's the real cause.>>

What about the recent decrease in homicides? That, too, is due to young people: The arrest rate for murder fell faster for those under age 24 than any other age group. Plus, murders in which handguns were used fell off faster than murders with other weapons. Illegal drug markets had changed again.

By 1992, crack sales began to fall off. Fewer kids in the drug markets meant fewer guns and fewer homicides. A hot economy deserves some credit, too, as the rich supply of legitimate job opportunities provided an alternative to the drug industry and an avenue for those "laid off" from the changing drug trade. <<Drugs=Crime=Murder; Guns=Self Defense=Protection=Life>>

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<<Solution>>

For example, we know that family connectedness (feeling close, loved and understood) is associated with lower youth-violence rates. Building school morale and commitment to school through organizational development strategies such as school teams reduces crime. Young people who participate in quality after-school activities are more likely to avoid violence. Children who learn to read at grade level by grade three tend to stay in school and out of trouble. 

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Debate over gun ownership continues
HOUGHTON, MI (June 6)

<<a quickie>>

The U.S. Justice Department recently said the practice of background checks in 1999 resulted in the stoppage of the sales of more than 200,000 guns. The significance of that number in the protection of society can be debated.

Some gun dealers said the new law hasn't had too much of an impact on sales.

Law enforcement officials said most criminals bypass the background check laws by purchasing rifles and shotguns from private citizens or having someone else register their handguns.

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N.Y. City Council urges NRA not to open proposed store

<Another quickie>>

In its resolution Monday, the council said, "The promotion of guns has no place in such an entertainment venture and especially not in Times Square, where the city has worked hard to rid the area of guns and gun-related violence."

But Bill Powers, the NRA's director of public affairs, said the vote would have no effect on the group's plans.

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Two Pro-Gun Choices to Choose From?
The New Jersey Record

<<Someone on our side>>

For months now, voters in the 5th Congressional District have heard a fusillade of rhetoric from Rep. Marge S. Roukema and her challenger, E. Scott Garrett, with each claiming to be a conservative, albeit of a different stripe.

Gun control: 

Both candidates say they respect the right of citizens to own firearms, and that's where the agreement ends.

Garrett opposes most restrictions on gun ownership, saying many such proposals are just political grandstanding and that it would be better to enforce existing gun laws.

In the Assembly, he has voted to repeal the assault weapons ban and sponsored a bill that would make it easier to carry a concealed handgun.

Roukema says she has no intention of taking guns away from owners, but says she wants to make sensible changes to gun laws. She favors requiring dealers at gun shows to do background checks and that guns be sold with safety locks, and supports research on smart-gun technology to limit use of guns to their legal owners. She voted in favor of a federal assault weapons ban.

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AG's office to prosecute illegal gun buy attempts
New Hampshire

Last year, 247 people in New Hampshire were denied gun purchases because of Brady Law background checks. Some had felony convictions, some were drug traffickers, and active arrest warrants were pending on 58.

The law worked because these individuals were denied the guns. It failed because none of the 247 were prosecuted.

A new component of the state law, to take effect Jan. 1, specifically targets anyone trying to buy a gun when that person is the subject of a domestic violence protective order.

McLaughlin praised the support of gun dealers, including the state's 10 busiest, for making the enforcement a priority. Jim McLoud of the Manchester Firing Line, however, said gun sellers and legitimate owners need no convincing that guns should not be in the hands of felons and others prohibited from buying a firearm.

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Teen shot at home of gun collector
WESTMINSTER, CO

Two boys were arrested Monday after a third boy was shot in the foot in a home filled with dozens of guns and several unsupervised children, including a 11/2-year-old toddler.

There were eight other youths in the home, but no adults. <<Problem #1 - Unattended kids>>

Authorities found 53 other weapons in the home, ranging from .22-caliber handguns to rifles, that were unsecured in a bedroom closet. <<Problem #2 - Unsecured weapons>>

"None were illegal weapons, as far as the type," Tallman said. All 54 weapons, including the .22-caliber handgun that was involved in the shooting, were confiscated. <<Why?>>

It was not known if any of the youths were familiar with the use and handling of guns. <<Problem #3 - Lack of education>>

<<Recipe for danger. How can people take more care and safety with children and a lawnmower than a kid and a gun....Because the media says guns are not for kids....BS!....An uneducated kid is not for a gun or a lawnmower. Kids that grow up with guns are safer, more respectful of guns and become more law abiding citizens.>>

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Rosie O'Hypocrite
CNS Commentary from ConservativeX.com

<<Must read...know thine enemy...>>

Following the Columbine tragedy, Rosie exclaimed, "Outlaw all guns, and put all gun owners in jail!" This statement shows us that Rosie has no regard for the Constitution, is incapable of understanding the legal utility of guns, and wants her own body guard in jail (the one who recently applied for a concealed weapons permit).

If it were attainable, would Rosie approve of outlawing all guns? Of course, because that would be a "perfect world." So understand Rosie to be saying, "I want to get rid of guns entirely, but politically we can only do it one step at a time."

Rosie stated, "I would say, maybe they care about their own kids. But not kids in general. The only life that is important to them is white, Republican life."

So Rosie believes that NRA members only care about white kids, which means that black NRA members don't care about their own kids. Hmmmm. 

Once again, Rosie engages in stereotyping people based on their race and economic status.

So what have we learned?

Rosie O'Donnell comes off as racist, intolerant and hateful, and she stereotypes people based upon their economic circumstances. She also has no regard for the document that permits her to be all of these things, namely, the Constitution.

<<It continues to show her real colors!>>

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Phony police officers rob two homes in KC

Twice within three hours over the weekend, two men dressed in black and shouting "Police," kicked in the doors at two Kansas City, Kan., houses and then robbed the occupants of money and guns. 

"What we know is these are violent, predatory-type crimes where individuals are not safe inside their homes," said Sgt. Henry Callahan, Police Department spokesman. "It can't be tolerated."

Before the resident opened the door, one of the robbers shouted that they were the police and kicked open the door. The men, armed with long-barreled handguns, forced the 59-year-old resident to hand over his wallet and a .38-caliber revolver. The men fled in an unknown vehicle. 

In the second incident, someone knocked on a front door just after 3 a.m. Monday in the 7000 block of Gibbs Road, in a sparsely populated area more than six miles west of the previous break-in. The 20-year-old resident was handcuffed, and a gold ring was taken off her finger. They also took money, three shotguns, a rifle, handgun, television and computer equipment. 

<<This can happen to anyone, even gun owners. The "sensible gun law" people say the police will protect us. Where was the protection for these people?>>

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Gun ban on buses sought in Waukesha, Wisconsin
Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on June 3, 2000.

<<See what a frenzy the media has stirred up. Time to act Milwaukee!>>

After a man stepped onto a city bus toting a rifle and boxes of ammunition, alarming the driver and other passengers, Waukesha transit officials decided they wanted to ban firearms from buses.

While waiting for his stop, he "started examining the ammunition," said transit system Director Robert Johnson.

"That unnerved the driver and the passengers. We nearly had an insurrection" by upset passengers, Johnson said. The driver radioed a supervisor, and police were called to intercept the bus, Johnson said.

Police determined the man was transporting the rifle in a legal manner, but "the guy voluntarily agreed to leave the bus," Johnson said. "The guy made no threatening overtures," he said. "He was innocently transporting the gun somewhere." <<What a surprise>>

The incident occurred in January, and Johnson said transit officials waited until now to bring it up for two reasons.

"One, we wanted to avoid sensationalism," Johnson said. And since the incident, City Attorney Curt Meitz and other officials have been doing research so that any local ordinance or administrative rule enacted would not conflict with federal gun control legislation. <<Bullshit, they saw the time to act is now, on the coattails of the million mom march.>>

If a person boards a bus with a gun in a case, drivers do not have the time or all the information to decide whether the person carrying the firearm is a responsible gun owner, he said. <<The driver doesn't have to, it is every American's right to carry a firearm.>>

Waukesha's Johnson said he could find no federal or state laws that explicitly prohibit people from carrying guns on buses.

That's why the Waukesha Metro Transit Commission is working to draft a local rule.

Nonetheless, Fendry said a local rule banning guns would violate the state Constitution and a 1995 law that prohibits Wisconsin municipalities from passing firearms ordinances that are more restrictive than what the state allows. <<And the National Constitution>>

Meitz - who was formally asked by transit commission members on Thursday for a legal opinion - said in the case of guns on buses, one incident might be enough to justify a local ordinance. 

<<Can you believe tha?  It will take only one incident by a criminal to take the rights from the innocent. Why are we letting this happen? If you are not in action to be part of the solution then you are part of the problem!!!!!>>

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Campaign eyes guns in homes 

BATH, Maine (AP) Gun-control advocates are urging parents to ask the parents of their children's friends if guns are kept in their homes.

Maine Citizens Against Handgun Violence on Friday launched its campaign, which encourages parents to find out whether guns are kept in a home and how they are stored before allowing their children to play there. 

''It's a wonderful way for parents to get involved and reduce gun violence against children,'' said Maryellen Sullivan, the Maine coordinator of the Million Mom March and a board member of Maine Citizens Against Handgun Violence. <<Gun violence against children? Watch out for this new phrase! It should be " protect kids from negligent use of firearms">>

Sullivan said it is time to put the responsibility on adults to keep guns from children. Many guns are not properly stored and do not have safety locks, she said. <<Yes, and the crack punk who shot his teacher in Michigan was really a good kid, but his father forgot to put his safety lock on that day.>>

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Elimination of guns not the answer 

A gun is a tool, Marian, no better or no worse than any other tool -- an axe or a shovel or anything. A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it. 
-- Shane 

The gunfighter, Shane, was a fictional drifter in the 1952 film of the same name, directed by George Stevens from the Jack Schaefer novel. The movie about conflict over frontier settlement in a ranching/farming valley stands as a classic, arguably the finest western of all time. 

A gun is a tool. It is as good or as bad as the person using it. It is that simple. 

But many people just do not see it that way. They are convinced that a gun, unlike an axe or an automobile, somehow has an evil core of its own. 

It could not possibly be the fault of Little Johnny who skipped school and snuck the shotgun from his father's closet. Nor could it be the guilt of Cousin Ed, out on parole, who bought the pistol from a pawn shop. It must be the industry's fault for manufacturing a gun that will shoot when the safety is off and the trigger is pulled. <<Let's sue Ford and Chevy for drunk drivers. How about suing Intel, IBM and Mac for making the computer, when combined with the internet becomes an instrument that can distribute pornography to children. How about suing the baseball bat manufacture in all domestic violence & assault cases in which they are involved.>>

...but the deterioration of goodness remains no fault of the gun. 

Nor is it the fault of the law-abiding gun owner. His gun is not society's problem; society's problem is the kid with no particular moral dilemma in settling a score or eliminating a witness by walking up and shooting someone in the face. 

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Cops put guns back in circulation

Colorado police agencies have supplied the consumer market with hundreds of used guns equipped with high-capacity magazines banned from manufacture by the 1994 federal assault-weapons law.

"I didn't realize they were selling things that were considered to be assault weapons,'' said Colorado House Minority Leader Ken Gordon, a Denver Democrat who has called for stricter gun controls. "I have a problem with that. They shouldn't be putting them in the stream of commerce.''

But Robert Delfay, president of the Connecticut-based National Shooting Sports Foundation, the largest lobbying organization for gun manufacturers, said police departments commonly trade used firearms for newer models, and "it's just logical that guns being traded in right now are going to be pre-ban.''

<<IMPORTANT FACT>>

And even if criminals eventually acquire some of those used police guns, "in the average criminal shooting, 3.6 shots are fired,'' Delfay said. "That would seem to indicate that the magazine capacity is not really an issue.'' <<Then why the high capacity magazine ban?>>

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John Kent is a Vice President of a firm in Phoenix, Arizona who has found the time to contribute to the education and inspiration of gun owners as time permits.  This above news service may be posted anywhere with a link back to http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com.