No Guns Equal More Crime

In 1995 was priviledged to be at a dinner where Jim Brady (Brady Bill, shot during President Reagan's attempted killing)and his wife were speaking. I remember little about the speech, but days later I read the Brady Bill as it stood never would have kept Jim Brady or Ronald Reagan from being shot. Up to this point I was more or less a gun control advocate. This was a tipping point in my move to pro-gun advocacy.

ToGetRichIsGlorious found an article showing the homicide crime rate in Washington DC as still being one of the fiercest in the US. It is also one of the few cities or towns in the country where guns are completely outlawed.

When I lived in DC in 2001 I remember taking the Metro on the Green line Southeast of town. I believe many of the murders adding up are happening in the neighborhoods near the Anacostia Metro stop. If the nations capital is going to be a "gun free zone" for law-abiding citizens, then they deserve a higher level of protection. It is apparent the criminals are getting and using guns in city where the law says one cannot have a gun. The law only keeps law abiding citizens, who would potentially lower the crime rate by carrying weapons for self-defense. If every criminal or would be murder knew each man over the age of 18 was carrying a weapon, would they not think twice or three times before attempting anything dumb?

This topics was discussed yesterday with a friend. I believe in Revolutionary times every household in some colonies were required to have a weapon. Obviously this was the time of the Minute Men and defense of the colonies against the British, however I doubt there is any way to find out how the related crime rate changed/no change during this time.

A law today stating every household must have a weapon self defense would be seen as horrific. The experts and moms would come out of the wood work pointing to all the accidental shootings to children when guns were at home. They would claim these statistics would rise. If the public was an educated public regarding weapons at home and this was part of our culture, yes I think accidental deaths at home would rise, however relative to the number of households it would not be nearly as significant as the drop in all crimes from breaking and entering, rape, homicide and others. I believe the net effect would be an unarguable savings of human life.