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Opportunism in Action
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Opportunism in Action A few members of Congress have been using last year's terrorist attacks to justify another push for tough gun laws. Fear makes fertile ground for any law that promises greater security, but this effort is a stretch. Everyone knows that the only weapons used in the Sept. 11 hijackings were box cutters. A more legitimate link between firearms, 9/11 and citizens' safety can be found today in London, where armed robberies are up more than 100 percent. Cops have been pulled from the streets to guard sites that might be vulnerable to terrorists, and gun-wielding thugs have filled the void. Britain's rash of robberies -- more than 19,000 between September and November -- is an acceleration of a violent four-year trend. Firearms assaults were up 53 percent last year, and every category of violent crime, from simple mugging to rape, has been rising in steady leaps. Brazen British burglars now strike when residents are home about half the time. Those in favor of more gun restrictions might be interested in Jamaica, where firearms have turned Britain's former colony into one of the most violent places on Earth. About one of every 2,000 Jamaicans was a victim of homicide last year, an increase of 28 percent. Last week, about 30 armed thugs opened fire on a Kingston neighborhood and killed seven people, including two young sisters. The troubles in Britain and Jamaica might make a strong argument for tougher gun laws except for one inconvenient detail: The existing laws can't get much tougher. Britain outlawed handguns four years ago, the start of its current explosion in violent crime, while Jamaica's firearms restrictions fall just short of a total ban. The law-abiding citizens of both nations are disarmed and armed criminals are out of control. Is there a connection? That question is worth debating, but it seems far more plausible than the link some lawmakers are attempting to forge between America's gun rights and the terrorism of Sept. 11. http://www.sltrib.com/01082002/opinion/opinion.htm