and hit a home run. You used better statistics and sound logic to prove your point.
But perhaps I've found someone to discuss gun control with who holds a different view than mine and may present arguments that may cause me to reconsider and modify my own views. All to often many good posts on DU are ignored or receive only "drive by shooting" replies.
True, I believe that fewer restrictions on gun ownership by honest citizens does lower the murder rate. It's my feeling that allowing responsible people to own firearms for self defense changes the nature of crime in an area. You may find the number of home invasions decreases as the criminal element fears an encounter with an armed citizen. But the number of home break ins on unoccupied dwellings may increase.
But many factors contribute to the murder rate of an individual city. You asked if I could explain why Houston's murder rate has increased. Well, the two following newspaper reports may explain the problem.
With more than 300 homicides since January, Houston is on pace to record nearly 400 slayings for the year - which would be the highest number of killings the city has seen in more than a decade.
]As of Oct. 16, the city had recorded 316 homicides, up 25 percent from the 252 slayings at this time last year. The Houston Police Department said an uptick in homicides by Hurricane Katrina evacuees has contributed to that increase.
"We recognize that the homicide rate is up as far as raw numbers and as well as percentages relative to the population,'' said Capt. Dwayne Ready. ``We also recognize that Katrina evacuees continue to have an impact on the murder rate."http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4277375.htmlHOUSTON -- Houston's murder rate was No. 2 in the nation in 2006, outranked only by Philadelphia, KPRC Local 2 reported Tuesday.
According to statistics compiled by the FBI, Houston's homicide rate climbed 12 percent in 2006 with a total of 334 deaths. The Bayou City had more murders than Dallas for the first time in more than a decade.
Police admitted that the Houston homicide rate spiked in 2006, but insisted that it is on the decline in 2007.
Officials attributed the surge to what they call the "Katrina effect."
The wave of Katrina evacuees that settled in Houston included criminals that police said were involved in 74 killings last year.http://www.click2houston.com/news/13448543/detail.htmlBut this year Chicago is on pace to become the murder capitol of the U.S. And why is this?
Overall, Chicago is on pace to top 500 murders for the year, the highest since a particularly violent 600+ murders in 2003. The number of "aggravated batteries with a firearm" also increased over the same time period from 2007 with 1,153 being reported so far this year, 245 more than last year. Chicago Police Department Monique Bond claims that gang violence is to blame for the spike in violent crime.
"The department's been focusing on targeting gang hierarchies, which have been dismantled over an extended period of time. causing gangs to now operate in smaller crews that compete against each other for narcotic turf, which leads to deadly violence...Law enforcement is having to adapt to that and looking at different kinds of ways that are outside the traditional ways that we've been using to attack gang violence."http://chicagoist.com/2008/08/07/chicagos_murder_rate_up.phpAnd Philadelphia seems to be facing an increase in murder and violence caused by teen aged drug gangs according to this 2007 report:
Over the past couple of years, Philadelphia’s murder rate reached highs not seen since the 1980s, according to the Philadelphia Police Department. So far this year, more than 315 people have been killed, a pace of well over a murder a day, police said. That’s a higher rate, according to FBI statistics, than much larger cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York.
]But Philadelphia’s situation is different today from years past in that more and more of the killers are teenagers, according to the Philadelphia Police Department and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office.
“They just shoot at anything and everybody, without even looking,” said Shawn Banks, a former drug dealer and gang member. Now in his 30s, he said the new generation that rules the streets is made up of kids who shoot first and never consider the consequences.http://www.keystonepolitics.com/story/regional-news/philadelphia/city-death-philadelphia-murder-rate-highest-nearly-20-yearsBut New York Cities murder rates have been dropping. Why. Perhaps this report shows the cause:
With the Bronx, like the rest of the city, seeing crime declining to its lowest numbers in decades, 140 brand-spanking-new cops will hit the borough Friday, assigned to specific stubborn trouble spots.
The plan, known as Operation Impact, has been a major factor in stamping out crime hot spots around the city and helping drive crime down to levels not seen since the 1960s.
Citywide, the number of homicides is expected to dip below 500. http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/bronx/2007/12/28/2007-12-28_3precinct_operation_aims_to_lower_crime.htmlA number of times I've posted my own views on gun control which have resulted in few coherent responses.
So I'll ask for your opinion.
True gun control is not limiting or restricting firearms owned by honest responsible citizens but focusing on taking illegal guns from the hands of irresponsible people and the criminal element.
Fewer firearms in the hands of the criminal element will reduce the demand for firearms by honest citizens. Of course we may have to hire more police and build some new prisons to house the criminals caught with illegal firearms, but the homicide and crime rates will decrease.
Honest citizens obey laws. Criminals don't. Gun control laws that focus on the good element of our society have little effect on the bad element.