Got this one from a Kalifornia newspaper online:
Do gun laws really work?
(Published Oct. 8, 1999)
Last Tuesday's edition of The Sacramento Bee included these stories about homicide:
A psychiatrist testified that a 16-year-old boy felt guilty about having sex with his 18-year-old cousin and in a psychotic state beat her to death with a baseball bat and a crowbar.
An Auburn man was sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of beating his former girlfriend to death with a hammer after she dumped him because of his drinking.
The U.S. Supreme Court voided the death sentence of a 39-year-old man for beating a Sacramento woman to death with a hammer and causing the fatal heart attack of another woman with a severe beating.
A Wisconsin man asked to be executed for slashing and stabbing a 9-year-old Oroville boy to death in a restroom. "My whole purpose in life is to help destroy your society," the drifter told jurors.
What do these homicidal snippets have in common beyond their horrific nature? None of them involved a gun.
That's not to say, of course, that guns are not involved in homicides. They were used in nearly 70 percent of 1998's 2,170 homicides in California. But it's clear that those who kill are perfectly capable of using such seemingly benign objects as hammers and baseball bats.
The just-concluded California legislative session saw enactment of an unprecedented series of gun laws, reflecting the newly ascendant power of Democrats. At least a half-dozen major laws were enacted, including ones to strengthen the ban on so-called assault rifles, regulating the sale of inexpensive handguns and limiting gun sales to one per month per buyer.
There was never any evidence, in the form of authoritative research, presented that the measures being considered would actually have some impact on gun violence. But many legislators just felt good about voting for them, while others reflected the power of gun control as a political issue, especially among women.
Throughout the year, Republican state Sen. Richard Rainey, a former Contra Costa County sheriff, refused to vote for the gun control bills even though he faces a very stiff challenge next year from Democratic Assemblyman Tom Torlakson. Finally, to the relief of his advisers, Rainey voted for one gun control law, partially inoculating him.
But just after the session ended, the issue got another test in suburban Southern California. Sen. Joe Baca, D-Rialto, one of the few Democrats to vote against most gun control bills, defeated another Democrat in a highly contested special congressional election, even after being repeatedly accused of being in bed with the National Rifle Association.
Emboldened by this year's success, gun control forces are planning a new series of legislative efforts in Sacramento next year, including measures to require registration of all guns and licensing of gun owners. But Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, perhaps taking his cue from Baca's win, is calling for a timeout. Davis said he wants legislators to hold off on additional gun laws "until the impact of the laws recently enacted can be measured and analyzed."
Last year, about 1,500 guns were involved in homicides in California, an almost infinitesimal fraction of the estimated 25 million guns in the state. Ironically, the Department of Justice reported a major surge in gun sales as the new laws were being enacted, apparently in anticipation that buying guns would become more difficult.
Is gun control an effective tool or merely a political icon? An objective analysis of gun laws and their impacts is long overdue. But one wonders whether dispassionate analysis of such an emotional matter is even possible.
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Exodus 22:2 -- Biblical precedent for home defense.
Do gun laws really work?
(Published Oct. 8, 1999)
Last Tuesday's edition of The Sacramento Bee included these stories about homicide:
A psychiatrist testified that a 16-year-old boy felt guilty about having sex with his 18-year-old cousin and in a psychotic state beat her to death with a baseball bat and a crowbar.
An Auburn man was sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of beating his former girlfriend to death with a hammer after she dumped him because of his drinking.
The U.S. Supreme Court voided the death sentence of a 39-year-old man for beating a Sacramento woman to death with a hammer and causing the fatal heart attack of another woman with a severe beating.
A Wisconsin man asked to be executed for slashing and stabbing a 9-year-old Oroville boy to death in a restroom. "My whole purpose in life is to help destroy your society," the drifter told jurors.
What do these homicidal snippets have in common beyond their horrific nature? None of them involved a gun.
That's not to say, of course, that guns are not involved in homicides. They were used in nearly 70 percent of 1998's 2,170 homicides in California. But it's clear that those who kill are perfectly capable of using such seemingly benign objects as hammers and baseball bats.
The just-concluded California legislative session saw enactment of an unprecedented series of gun laws, reflecting the newly ascendant power of Democrats. At least a half-dozen major laws were enacted, including ones to strengthen the ban on so-called assault rifles, regulating the sale of inexpensive handguns and limiting gun sales to one per month per buyer.
There was never any evidence, in the form of authoritative research, presented that the measures being considered would actually have some impact on gun violence. But many legislators just felt good about voting for them, while others reflected the power of gun control as a political issue, especially among women.
Throughout the year, Republican state Sen. Richard Rainey, a former Contra Costa County sheriff, refused to vote for the gun control bills even though he faces a very stiff challenge next year from Democratic Assemblyman Tom Torlakson. Finally, to the relief of his advisers, Rainey voted for one gun control law, partially inoculating him.
But just after the session ended, the issue got another test in suburban Southern California. Sen. Joe Baca, D-Rialto, one of the few Democrats to vote against most gun control bills, defeated another Democrat in a highly contested special congressional election, even after being repeatedly accused of being in bed with the National Rifle Association.
Emboldened by this year's success, gun control forces are planning a new series of legislative efforts in Sacramento next year, including measures to require registration of all guns and licensing of gun owners. But Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, perhaps taking his cue from Baca's win, is calling for a timeout. Davis said he wants legislators to hold off on additional gun laws "until the impact of the laws recently enacted can be measured and analyzed."
Last year, about 1,500 guns were involved in homicides in California, an almost infinitesimal fraction of the estimated 25 million guns in the state. Ironically, the Department of Justice reported a major surge in gun sales as the new laws were being enacted, apparently in anticipation that buying guns would become more difficult.
Is gun control an effective tool or merely a political icon? An objective analysis of gun laws and their impacts is long overdue. But one wonders whether dispassionate analysis of such an emotional matter is even possible.
------------------
Exodus 22:2 -- Biblical precedent for home defense.