Comments on: DC Officials Fear Their Own Citizens

By: dans

dans — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 04:02:39 +0000

One further point wrt Richmond, keeping guns out of the hands of criminals vs. law abiding citizens :

Project Exile was indeed an effective deterrent as shown by a few statistics. In 1997, prior to the implementation of Project Exile, approximately 85 percent of Richmond’s homicides were committed with guns, with more than 40 percent of them being drug related and more than 60 percent involving offenders with prior criminal records. By 1998, when the program had been in operation for ten months, the number of homicides decreased by 35 percent from the previous year and homicides committed with a firearm were down by 41 percent. Since the inception of Project Exile, 890 persons have been indicted, 64 percent of whom were detained without bond. As a result, 1,040 guns have been removed from Richmond’s streets and kept out of the hands of criminals.”

http://www.policefoundation.org/pdf/preludetopsn.pdf

Richmond officials developed and implemented numerous aggressive and innovative initiatives aimed toward combating handgun violence and homicides. One in particular, Project Exile, has proven advantageous for the city.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2194/is_10_70/ai_80787335/pg_1?tag=artBody;col1

By: Jack

Jack — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 03:41:24 +0000

“maybe drug trade activity increases crime and, i could be wrong, but drug use and trade may be worse in dc than richmond. just a guess.”

Sure, but a dealer in Richmond cannot just open up on a rival without worrying that the non-combatants might open up on him. The law-abiding citizens in Richmond can also establish armed Neighborhood Watch patrols. That might put a damper on the drug trade.

The point of my bringing up race here was to show that it is not a factor.

By: el jefe

el jefe — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 03:35:07 +0000

i’m a bit too tired to check the stats now, but i do know that in b-more, many of the victims of homicide were involved in the drug trade or other criminal activity (i imagine they also had guns). not blaming victims here, but maybe drug trade activity increases crime and, i could be wrong, but drug use and trade may be worse in dc than richmond. just a guess.

“Drug activity is no more than another symptom. The drugs come in where the criminals can flourish.” I don’t really understand what you are saying, would guns stop drug use? i think drugs come first, then the crime.

and this race stuff is just ironic. many conservatives i hear suggest we should be color blind in hiring and that biases do not exist in any damaging form, yet race is a dominant theme in all these crime stats.

By: Jack

Jack — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 03:13:35 +0000

What's population density got to do with it? In Canada, the highest crime rates are in small urban areas, and the highest murder rates are in rural areas. Drug activity is no more than another symptom. The drugs come in where the criminals can flourish. A gun ban never does any good because the criminals tend to be younger and stronger then the general population. If all guns were to magically disappear, how would the elderly protect themselves from criminals? I bring up race in this case, and in others, to show the effects of culture.

By: el jefe

el jefe — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 02:35:56 +0000

i’m not sure the poverty cutoff is that telling, poor areas in dc look far worse than poor areas in richmond. i’d be curious about drug activity and population density. besides, a gun ban in a city doesn’t do any good if the surrounding counties make them available. a “dry” county isn’t that successful when you can go to the next county and buy beer. and why do you keep bringing up race?

By: jacob

jacob — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 15:28:36 +0000

Richmond is a poor city, but it a far better place to be than DC. The gun laws in Richmond make more sense, and the poor in Richmond are more likely to be working poor.