December 29, 2004

San Francisco Voting to Ban Handguns

- SFGate

San Francisco supervisors want voters to approve a sweeping handgun ban that would prohibit almost everyone except law enforcement officers, security guards and military members from possessing firearms in the city.

The measure, which will appear on the municipal ballot next year, would bar residents from keeping guns in their homes or businesses, Bill Barnes, an aide to Supervisor Chris Daly, said Wednesday. It would also prohibit the sale, manufacturing and distribution of handguns and ammunition in San Francisco, as well as the transfer of gun licenses.

Barnes said the initiative is a response to San Francisco's skyrocketing homicide rate, as well as other social ills. There have been 86 murders in the city so far this year compared to 70 in all of 2003.


Now I ask you something. Of the 86 murders this year, how many were done by handguns? Of the handguns that attributed to the 86 murders, how many were legally purchased handguns? How many handguns murdered someone without a person pulling the trigger?

This law is not only against the Bill of Rights, but it doesn't make any sense. Guns used in homicides are overwhelmingly purchased on the black market. Very few guns used in homicides are legal guns, therefore what good is a law to band handguns going to do considering there are many more illegal guns used in acts of violence than the legal guns they will now ban?

After I read this story, I thanked God I live in a state where you can apply to carry a concealed handgun, not a city where only the crooks can carry them.

Update:
The only other city in the United States with a handgun ban is Washington DC, which banned them in 1976. Homicide did go up in Washington DC and DC still remains the city with the highest homicide rate in the U.S. despite a ban on handguns. Guess what is the weapon of choice for murderers in DC? Guns, not just handguns though.

Cross-posted at In the Bullpen

By at 01:56 PM | |