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Media slap at NRA (once more)
The FBI issues its preliminary crime report for 2005, showing nationwide a 4.8% increase in murders (that's number, not rate, which will be somewhat lower). The preliminary figures give no breakdown as to weapon used.
Associated Press reports it with a note:
Criminal justice experts said the statistics reflect the nation's complacency in fighting crime, a product of dramatic declines in the and the abandonment of effective programs that emphasized prevention, putting more police officers on the street and controlling the spread of guns.
"We see that budgets for policing are being slashed and the federal government has gotten out of that business," said James Alan Fox, a criminal justice professor at Northeastern University in Boston. "Funding for prevention at the federal level and many localities are down and the (National Rifle Association) has renewed strength."
Hmm... NRA was pretty strong in 2004, too, when homicide rates fell by 2.4%.
And, strangely, in 2005, the FBI report notes, homicide rates fell by 3.9% in nonmetropolitan areas where gun ownership is highest.
And the lowest 2005 homicide increase came in the West, where gun ownship is also highest... 3.2% there, compared to 5.2% in the Northeast.
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Where are the crime increase location. I bet poor minorities drug and gang infested areas. What percent of crimes are done by whites and what are the percent of crimes are done by minorities? I never see these figures show up in the TV or in news papers?
Obviously, murders went down when the Brady Bill and Assault Weapons ban went into effect.
They've gone up now that the Assault Weapons ban has expired.
Crime rate has been going up and down for the last 25 years, has nothing to do about the Brady Bill weapon ban expiring, had zero effect on crime. There are also other states that did not supply data that's why the report is preliminary. Crime rates is lower now then 25 years ago. One possible reason the crime rates went up is due to Hurricane Katrina these places were hit hard and there was little to no police and non active goverments. Police in Louisana confiscated firearms from law abiding citizens which was illegal, but they did nothing to take then from criminals and you can imagine the results. What is one to do when there is little to no police and no active goverment.
Katrina may have had the effect of increased reporting of crime. Criminals leave New Orleans and go to places with better police agencies. The local residents have more faith in their LEOs and so are more likely to call.
Louisian Police have a poor tracked record.
http://flyservers.com/members5/policecrime.com/misconduct/Louisiana_police.html
CNN Headline News just mentioned that crime is up because, among other things, there is less federal funding to control guns and "the National Rifle Association is stronger than ever." (Monday June 12 2006 at 4:00 pm EDT).