Boston Reverend Takes on NH Gun Laws...not quite.

[Jackson1999]

I read the headline and sighed, thinking this was another person looking to blame someone else for local authorities' inability to fight crime. But then I read through the whole story. I like this guy. The headline is misleading. He is doing the right thing. You should read the whole article.

http://www.necn.com/Boston/New-England/2009/08/13/Boston-Reverend-takes-aim-at/1250168456.html

Boston Reverend takes aim at New Hampshire gun laws

(NECN: Lauren Collins) - Aiming for change. The laws covering gun purchases in New Hampshire are more lenient than in other parts of New England. Gun control advocates say too often weapons bought legally in the Granite State end up in Boston. NECN's Lauren Collins spoke with the man leading the charge for education and accountability.

His face is familiar in Boston’s toughest neighborhoods. But Wednesday the Reverend Bruce Wall made a plea to the people of New Hampshire and hoped to appeal to Governor John Lynch:

“To talk with him about the number of illegal weapons that are traveling from New Hampshire and across the Massachusetts border right in to the city of Boston, specifically to Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan.”


<snip>

Reverend Wall in fact has no contention with New Hampshire's gun laws, but rather a concern about the state's young people. He fears they're easy targets for persuasive inner city criminals.

“We're trying to communicate to the residents of New Hampshire, especially the families - check your young people out. I mean, are they involved in this? Are they purchasing guns and then selling them or giving them away to their friends?”

[LAGC]

1. Cross-border trafficking is always going to be a problem.

When you have states with more liberal (relaxed) gun laws bordering states with more restrictive gun control measures.

How can you stop it? Only by more restrictive uniform Federal level gun control -- and who wants that? Doesn't even the Democratic Party platform preach against those "one size fits all" approaches to the issue? ("...what works in Chicago may not work in Cheyenne...")

Really, you've got to target the gang problem in those states with the more serious gun crime issues if you want to get to the root of the problem.

[Jkid]

6. Federal level gun control is possibly the only way we can control firearms

Even though the DC handgun ban was effective, Virginia gun laws are less restrictive. Thus this allowed gang members to transport guns illegally into DC easy.

[paulsby]

7. wow, talk about begging the question

"Even though the DC handgun ban was effective,"

seriously

[Jackson1999]

8. shirley, you jest. nt

[SteveM]

10. Mexico has strong drug prohibition laws; little pot comes from Mexico.

When it does come in, I see to its disposal immediately. Now, if only Virginia would follow this example with regards guns.

[Statistical]

15. Based on that "logic" shouldn't gun crime be HIGHER in VA than it was in DC?

I mean if you have an illegal gun why not use it in VA. Will it only work in DC?

If relaxed gun laws in VA contribute to crime problem in DC then one would expect to see....

very high crime in VA (most guns used locally) and then high (but lower than VA) crime in DC due to DC laws being unable to prevent access although still harder than in VA.

The reality was exactly the opposite cities right on the border in VA had substantially lower crime & homicde rates than DC depsite having "easier" access to firearms.

So maybe poverty, drug problem, lack of education, lack of mental health system, lack of economic oppertunity has more to do with crime (of which DC fails in all those categories) than guns.

[iverglas]

18. that was your "logic", dear

No one else's.


If relaxed gun laws in VA contribute to crime problem in DC then one would expect to see....
very high crime in VA (most guns used locally) and then high (but lower than VA) crime in DC due to DC laws being unable to prevent access although still harder than in VA.

And that would be because ...?

I'll bet there are some smart cookies in Virginia who have figured out they can make money by buying guns and selling them to, uh, tourists from DC. Or maybe even going to DC for a weekend getaway themselves and taking their product along.

I guess you couldn't figure that one out, though.

[iverglas]

2. yeah

Reverend Wall in fact has no contention with New Hampshire's gun laws, but rather a concern about the state's young people. He fears they're easy targets for persuasive inner city criminals.

“We're trying to communicate to the residents of New Hampshire, especially the families - check your young people out. I mean, are they involved in this? Are they purchasing guns and then selling them or giving them away to their friends?”

Rev. Wall cites one New Hampshire woman who is serving time in a federal prison for legally buying guns and giving them to her boyfriend, a Boston man later arrested for illegally carrying the weapons.

“And she said I have other girlfriends who are purchasing nine guns, or eleven guns, for their boyfriends in Massachusetts.

“And the young men in Massachusetts though either sell the guns, get rid of them, or use them in homicides, in robberies.”

Probably a good idea to repeal pretty much all the criminal laws.

After all, it's parents' job to teach their kids to do the right thing.

And fuck the people who are harmed when the parents don't, or the kids are just unteachable.

Eh, Rev?

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

3. I wish they would arrest and prosecute those straw purchasers.

[iverglas]

4. lend them the crystal ball, Dave

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

5. Who needs a crystal ball, they have a witness.

[iverglas]

13. they do?

You don't think that maybe what they have is a hearsay witness, who has no evidence to offer of the alleged offences other than what she heard someone say about them?

That one is in jail, you may have noticed. Looks like when they do have evidence, they prosecute.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

17. Easy enough to find out. I hope they thoroughly investigated.

[rd_kent]

11. When you have solved the gun and crime problem in Canada

Then you can lecture us on how we do things.

[iverglas]

12. when you behave like a decent human being

and call for policies and laws that address firearms trafficking, well, then you'll be a decent human being.

[rd_kent]

14. Straight for the personal attack! You stay classy, iverglas.

[iverglas]

16. if you observed me beating a dog

what would you call me? And would what you called me be a personal attack?

Reason by analogy, now.

[rd_kent]

19. What the fuck are you talking about?

Your words get more screwy everyday. Professional help....seek it.

[iverglas]

20. help for anyone who needs it

http://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/simplepage.cfm?ID=-1945763801

concrete thinking

This is the opposite of positive formal thought disorder in that the links between thoughts are very rigid. It is sometimes called concrete thinking.

The patient is unable to think in abstract terms and will give an over-literal interpretation of proverbs e.g. when asked about the phrase "a rolling stone gathers no moss", the explanation revolves around stones and moss.

Concrete thinking is a symptom of schizophrenia.

http://www.bianys.org/learnet/tutorials/concrete_vs_abstract_thinking.html

WHAT ARE CONCRETE AND ABSTRACT THINKING?

Abstract thinking is a level of thinking about things that is removed from the facts of the “here and now”, and from specific examples of the things or concepts being thought about. Abstract thinkers are able to reflect on events and ideas, and on attributes and relationships separate from the objects that have those attributes or share those relationships. Thus, for example, a concrete thinker can think about this particular dog; a more abstract thinker can think about dogs in general. A concrete thinker can think about this dog on this rug; a more abstract thinker can think about spatial relations, like “on”. A concrete thinker can see that this ball is big; a more abstract thinker can think about size in general. A concrete thinker can count three cookies; a more abstract thinker can think about numbers. A concrete thinker can recognize that John likes Betty; a more abstract thinker can reflect on emotions, like affection.

... Another example that applies to two or three year olds is the following. One of the favorite Dr. Seuss books is Green Eggs and Ham, which ends with the narrator changing his mind from rejecting green eggs and ham under any circumstances to trying them and actually liking them. At a concrete level of understanding, the story is about a stubborn person changing his mind. At a more abstract level of understanding, it is about people in general being capable of modifying their thoughts and desires even when they are convinced that they cannot or do not want to do so. This more abstract level of understanding can be appreciated by two and three year old children only if the higher level of meaning comes out of a discussion of the book with a more mature adult. At older ages and higher levels of thinking, this same process of more mature thinkers facilitating higher levels of abstraction in less mature thinkers characterizes the process of teaching abstract thinking. For example, this is how great philosophers, like Socrates and Plato, taught their pupils how to think abstractly.

[Jackson1999]

9. The comments are nuts....

The ones that drive me crazy are the folks who say "You can register a shotgun in DC, so he should have done so." Trust me, it is not like it is mailing in a piece of paper.