Several years ago the Illinois town of Morton Grove was in the news for a new ordinance their City Council passed. No guns in Morton Grove. None! A little later, in 1982, Kennesaw, Ga passed a gun law, too. Theirs read, if you live in this town you'll damn sure own a gun and know how to use it. This dichotomy of thinking intrigued me and I began to track the outcome. Over the years, I've kept it up, the last check yesterday.
Morton Grove's robbery rate tripled in a short time. Their crime rate increased. Police officials there told me they were going to have to hire more officers.
Over the years several other cities in Illinois thought, for some reason, their crime rate wasn't high enough so they passed similar laws. As of yesterday, all have been rescinded. Except Morton Grove, who, evidently, can't recognize a stupid idea when they puke one up.
Kennesaw, on the other hand, had crime reduced so much cops there told me they was worried there might be lay-offs. This shouldn't be surprising. If you were a criminal would you rather burgle a house that you knew was free of guns or one that you knew had at least one gun and someone who knew how to use it? Duh! Criminals are cowards. They'd rather rob an 80 year-old woman than a 60 year-old man. Unless he was in a wheelchair. Cowardly scumbags!
Yet this simple concept is lost on many who still blame the gun for crime problems. That's like blaming the fork when you're in a feeding frenzy and stab your hand instead of the taters. A gun is just a tool.
All folks need to do is look at New York, whose 1911 Sullivan Act is the oldest and toughest in the country. When I was a cop and visited there, I had to leave my gun outside the city. Yet, guns are as common as rude, smelly, taxi drivers in turbans.
Go figure.
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