# Op Ed Piece on Va Tech and Gun Control in LA Times (USA)



## Ninjamom (Apr 22, 2007)

This was printed over the weekend in a newspaper not generally known for a 'conservative' view on guns and gun control. I know that, in this forum, posting such a view is 'preaching to the choir', but given the source, the research stats, and the place it was published, I thought it worthy of sharing on the forum:

_(Article may be viewed at http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-wilson20apr20,0,4514008.story?coll=la-opinion-underdog )_


> *Gun control isn't the answer*
> *Why one reaction to Virginia Tech shouldn't be tightening firearm laws.*
> By James Q. Wilson, JAMES Q. WILSON teaches public policy at Pepperdine University and previously taught at UCLA and Harvard University. He is the author of several books, including "Thinking About Crime."
> April 20, 2007
> ...


 


Your thoughts?


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## tellner (Apr 22, 2007)

'struth


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## K31 (Apr 22, 2007)

Ninjamom said:


> This was printed over the weekend in a newspaper not generally known for a 'conservative' view on guns and gun control. I know that, in this forum, posting such a view is 'preaching to the choir', but given the source, the research stats, and the place it was published, I thought it worthy of sharing on the forum:
> 
> _(Article may be viewed at http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-wilson20apr20,0,4514008.story?coll=la-opinion-underdog )_
> 
> ...



Who'd have thought with all the talk of global warming that hell would freeze over?

The only thing I see they got wrong is that you can legally buy a machine gun.

The only other place I've heard the truth about the crime rates in the UK is on a local conservative radio show.


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## Grenadier (Apr 22, 2007)

K31 said:


> The only thing I see they got wrong is that you can legally buy a machine gun.


 
Quite true...

Still, when it comes to those who have the Class III permits, I have no worries about them.  There has only been a single incident where a NFA weapon has ever been used in the comission of a crime, and that was when a rogue police officer used such a weapon.  Even then, he could have simply used a department issued weapon.


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## tellner (Apr 22, 2007)

Two, and yes they were both police officers.


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## MBuzzy (Apr 22, 2007)

We've been talking about this a lot here...and the most important part of the article is that if people want guns - they'll get them.  And if they can't, they'll find another way.  Guns are illegal here in Korea, but there are Knife gangs everywhere.  Police carry long dense hard rubber "swords."  No matter what type of controls you put in place, people will always go nuts and people will always be violent.


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## K31 (Apr 22, 2007)

MBuzzy said:


> We've been talking about this a lot here...and the most important part of the article is that if people want guns - they'll get them.  And if they can't, they'll find another way.  Guns are illegal here in Korea, but there are Knife gangs everywhere.  Police carry long dense hard rubber "swords."  No matter what type of controls you put in place, people will always go nuts and people will always be violent.



Well said, here we have had a "War on Drugs" for decades and they can still at most stop only about 20%. We have so many illegal aliens that we can't even count them, only guess, and those guesses are in the tens of millions. Even if firearms were outlawed they would be available to those who wanted to break the law to possess them.


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## Sukerkin (Apr 22, 2007)

Not a lot to argue with in that article.

To give the English perspective, as I have said often, the handgun ban perpetrated by our government did not turn out anything like they anticipated.  Gun crime has escalated hugely since then :shrug:.

The higher rates of robbery and assault were not a surprise either.  Our chavs (insert other violent social groups here) see to that quite nicely .

I'd be interested in seeing a proper comparison of murder rates cross-referenced with assaults combined with the cirumstances of the incidents.  That might be revealing of where the differences really lie.


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## Lisa (Apr 22, 2007)

Good article.  Thanks for posting it.


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## jks9199 (Apr 22, 2007)

Sukerkin said:


> Not a lot to argue with in that article.
> 
> To give the English perspective, as I have said often, the handgun ban perpetrated by our government did not turn out anything like they anticipated.  Gun crime has escalated hugely since then :shrug:.
> 
> ...


I don't think you'll ever see a meaningful, truly cross cultural study comparing murder rates, or even violent crime rates.  We have problems doing that within the US alone, before you make things even more complicated by looking at different nations and legal systems.  Do you compare reported crimes, accused individuals, or convictions?  What about places that have very different legal systems from the US & Great Britain, for example some of the theocratic Muslim governments?


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