Post by MARIO on Mar 31, 2005 10:11:27 GMT -8
By John Lott
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While murder rates have been falling or have been flat for years in the rest of the country, Philadelphia's rate has been rising. Last year's murder rate was the highest since 1993, and Philadelphia replaced Chicago, the perennial leader, as the top 10 largest city with the highest murder rate. With 85 murders in the first 88 days of 2005, the city's murder rate is well ahead of even last year's. Mayor John Street's solution? He's doing little about fixing the city's declining arrest rates for murder. Instead, he blames the law-abiding citizens who have permits to carry concealed handguns. He announced on Thursday that the city will deliberately begin delaying issuing new concealed handgun permits. Gov. Rendell's proposed crime task force promises to examine the issue further. No reporters seem to have asked Street or Rendell the obvious question: If permit-holders are the problem, how many of those 85 murders were caused by a person with a permitted concealed handgun? When I asked, the city police and mayor's office were unable or unwilling to answer that question, but my guess is zero. ...Indeed, with 28,000 concealed handgun permit-holders in Philadelphia and more than 600,000 statewide, there was no such murder last year, or the year before, or the year before in the entire state. Only two have been recorded since the state law started in 1989. Instead, in Philadelphia there are a number of cases such as this: Last December, a robber shot at a deliveryman despite having taken all his money, and only then did the deliveryman use his permitted concealed handgun to wound the robber. There are dramatic cases statewide. A couple of years ago, a serial rapist in Pittsburgh was wounded by his sixth intended victim who had a permitted concealed handgun. ...If the state's gun laws are a problem, then why has Pittsburgh's murder rate fallen by 20 percent this year while Philadelphia's has increased? As State Rep. Dwight Evans, a Philadelphia Democrat, noted, "If Mayor Street thinks he's going to suddenly make street violence disappear by denying law-abiding citizens their right to self-defense, he's sadly mistaken." If Mayor Street is unwilling to protect Philadelphians by fixing the city's problems with law enforcement and lax judges, at least let law-abiding citizens protect themselves.
www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/editorial/11253556.htm
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While murder rates have been falling or have been flat for years in the rest of the country, Philadelphia's rate has been rising. Last year's murder rate was the highest since 1993, and Philadelphia replaced Chicago, the perennial leader, as the top 10 largest city with the highest murder rate. With 85 murders in the first 88 days of 2005, the city's murder rate is well ahead of even last year's. Mayor John Street's solution? He's doing little about fixing the city's declining arrest rates for murder. Instead, he blames the law-abiding citizens who have permits to carry concealed handguns. He announced on Thursday that the city will deliberately begin delaying issuing new concealed handgun permits. Gov. Rendell's proposed crime task force promises to examine the issue further. No reporters seem to have asked Street or Rendell the obvious question: If permit-holders are the problem, how many of those 85 murders were caused by a person with a permitted concealed handgun? When I asked, the city police and mayor's office were unable or unwilling to answer that question, but my guess is zero. ...Indeed, with 28,000 concealed handgun permit-holders in Philadelphia and more than 600,000 statewide, there was no such murder last year, or the year before, or the year before in the entire state. Only two have been recorded since the state law started in 1989. Instead, in Philadelphia there are a number of cases such as this: Last December, a robber shot at a deliveryman despite having taken all his money, and only then did the deliveryman use his permitted concealed handgun to wound the robber. There are dramatic cases statewide. A couple of years ago, a serial rapist in Pittsburgh was wounded by his sixth intended victim who had a permitted concealed handgun. ...If the state's gun laws are a problem, then why has Pittsburgh's murder rate fallen by 20 percent this year while Philadelphia's has increased? As State Rep. Dwight Evans, a Philadelphia Democrat, noted, "If Mayor Street thinks he's going to suddenly make street violence disappear by denying law-abiding citizens their right to self-defense, he's sadly mistaken." If Mayor Street is unwilling to protect Philadelphians by fixing the city's problems with law enforcement and lax judges, at least let law-abiding citizens protect themselves.
www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/editorial/11253556.htm
