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Monday, July 14, 2008
Another Shooting: One Dead Another Two Shot
A random shooting on 38th Street near Sherman Drive has left a 24-year-old man dead and a child in another car injured by a stray bullet. WTHR reports there was a third shooting victim in another passing car which travelled on to the hospital. An IndyGo bus travelling on 38th Street at the time of the shooting was also hit but no injuries were reported on the bus. This is the 13th homicide since June 30 and the 68th homicide of the year. According to the Indy 911 Calls site on IndyStar.com, it's a violent night. There's a car-jacking on South Port Road, a person assaulted on the southeast side, and shots fired on the eastside, among many other calls tonight.
More gun control. The right to bear arms, but with the right responsibility. The right to bear arms comes with responsibility. If we make it hard to get guns, then mostly responsible people will jump through the hoops needed to get them. When we make guns so widely and easily available, they easily fall into the hands of criminals. Sure criminals can get black market guns, but they'll pay a higher price and there will be fewer if we reduce the number of guns produced. The right to bear arms isn't all inclusive. You certainly can't have a nuclear arm in your possession. Flame throwers shouldn't be allowed in just anyone's hands. It's up to us to decide what arms we allow into our society.
ReplyDelete"If we make it hard to get guns, then mostly responsible people will jump through the hoops needed to get them."
ReplyDeleteYou mean having legislation like 'The Brady Bill?' Now that one really worked wonders, didn't it? Worked so well that it was finally allowed to fade into oblivion.
Someone thinks that the average joe criminal sleeze ball actually purchases their guns? Hence we need to make it more difficult for them to purchase their gun in order to rob their next convenience store? That is surely the most ridiculous statement I have read during this entire election cycle.
ReplyDeleteOH COME ON!!! Get serious! The problem is not gun control; the problem is not our sheriff, prosecutor and courts letting violent criminals out of jail; the problem is not that we have been fighting crime with stupid slogans and prayer vigils;the real problem is that Olgen Williams and his group of phoney ministers forgot to put "Peace in the Streets" signs at 38th and Sherman Drive!
ReplyDeleteI am sure that "MR. Had Enough Ballard" will fix this right away!
Mayor Ballard needs more yard signs!!
ReplyDeleteIf we make it hard to get guns, then mostly responsible people will jump through the hoops needed to get them.
ReplyDeleteMore speech control. If we made it hard to put out gangsta rap, then only the most responsible people would be heard in public. We wouldn't hear about gats, ghettos, shoot-outs, kids out of wedlock, etc..
It is up to us to decide what speech we allow into our society.
Gun control is not the answer to crime control. All that happens when the government introduces draconian gun legislation is that law abiding citizens, who's only concern is for the safety of themselves and their families, are forced to "jump through the hoops" while criminals are allowed to get their guns anywhere.
ReplyDeleteIn Australia, where there had been no Second Amendment right to gun ownership, the government instituted a buy back program in 1997 after a shooting in Port Arthur. Over six hundred thousand firearms were taken from citizens. The result? Murder decreased 11.5%, however, attempted murder (bad shots?), manslaughter, assault, sexual assault, kidnapping, and armed robbery all increased.
Before anyone goes running off to vilify me and my figures, I will point to a report in 2006 from the Bureau of Crime Statistics, and Research NSW, that pointed to a 44% decrease in crime over 1996 (http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/bocsar/ll_bocsar.nsf/pages/bocsar_mr_cjb98). However, a Daily Telegraph article's headline in May 2007 reads, "Gun crime explodes" (http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21678380-5006009,00.html).
There are and will always be peaks and valleys in crime. July is one of the most dangerous months in Indianapolis as far as the homicide rate is concerned. Has been that way for years.
Additionally, the framers of the US Constitution saw first hand what occurs when government restricts the right of the individual with regard to gun ownership. Hence the Second Amendment. The original writing of the Amendment, the one sent to the ratified by the states reads: "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution)
The founders knew that an uncontrolled and unrestrained government would need to be resisted by the citizens, and that resistance may in fact necessitate the use of firearms. The Second Amendment is not for hunters or sport shooter. It is not just the right to protect yourself from the bad guys lurking in the dark, it is the right to protect yourself and your country from an out of control government. God help us is we ever loose that right!