Should Guns Be Banned?

[OverMyHead]

NEW YORK -- Gangs, drugs, easy access to guns and a disturbing tendency among young people to pull guns to demand respect were among the causes authorities cited in trying to explain this year's increase in murders in New York and many other major cities after years of decline.

The number of murders reached its highest levels in a decade or more in some places, but some big cities, including Los Angeles, reported drops in the number of murders.

New York reported 579 homicides through Dec. 24 -- a nearly 10 percent increase from the year before. The spike mostly reflects an unusually large number of "reclassified homicides," or those involving victims who were shot or stabbed years ago but did not die until this year. Thirty-five such deaths have been added to this year's toll, compared with an annual average of about a dozen.

At the same time, Police Department spokesman Paul Browne noted that this year's total comes after last year's 539 homicides -- the city's lowest death toll in more than 40 years.

Browne blamed the rise in part on the availability of guns, particularly weapons from out of state. The city this year sued dozens of out-of-state gun shops that it says are responsible for many of the illegal weapons on the city's streets.

In Chicago, homicides through the first 11 months of the year were up 3.3 percent compared with the same period in 2005, reversing a four-year decline.

Houston police attribute a 15 percent increase in the homicide count to the influx of Katrina evacuees from the Gulf Coast.

"So we expect that to settle," Lt. Murray Smith said. "We're hoping it will go down."

Some cities, such as Cincinnati -- which has had 83 homicides so far, up from 79 in 2005 -- posted their highest numbers ever. Others saw their highest death tolls in years.

Oakland, Calif., had 148 homicides as of Wednesday, up 57 percent from last year. The number was the highest in more than a decade.

Philadelphia's 2006 homicide total was 403 as of Wednesday, the first time the number has topped 400 in nearly a decade. There were 380 murders in 2005.

Philadelphia officials have struggled all year to reduce the violence. In July, Mayor John F. Street gave a televised address in which he pleaded with young people: "Lay down your weapons. Do it now. Choose education over violence."

In New Haven, Conn., homicides were up this year by more than 50 percent, to 23 as of Tuesday. Police chief Francisco Ortiz said young people were too quick to use firearms.

"They're all struggling with this thing about respect and pride," he said. "It's about respect. It's about revenge. It's about having a reputation. It's about turf, and it's about girls."

Los Angeles' total was down about 4 percent to 464 homicides through Dec. 23. San Francisco's fell about 15 percent. San Francisco Police Sgt. Steve Mannina said the drop is partly due to increased patrols in violence-prone areas and the approval of more overtime.

New Orleans, with its post-Katrina exodus, is the only major U.S. city that saw a sharp decline in the number of homicides. Police spokesman Sgt. Jeffrey Johnson said there were 154 in New Orleans this year as of Monday, down from 210 in 2005. But the city was largely empty during the fall and winter of 2005-06, and even now has only about half of its pre-Katrina population of 455,000.

The FBI does not release its national crime statistics until several months after the end of the year. The bureau's statistics for the first six months of 2006 showed an increase of 1.4 percent in the number of murders in the first half of 2006 compared with the same period in 2005.

Andrew Karmen, a criminologist at John Jay College in New York, said that while there are various theories for the drop in murders in New York and other cities in the 1990s, no one knows for sure why they decreased. He noted that police departments tend to take credit when the murder toll goes down.

"When crime goes up, it will be interesting to see whether they will accept responsibility," Karmen said.

That's me right there. Let me apologize..

[Darthphere]

Should Overmyhead get banned?


The answer, after this break....

[USMC]

Welcome back.

Yes.

[Ben Urich]

Yeah, take away the 2nd amendment.

[Honey Vibe]

Why should my right to bear arms be taken away, just because you are simple?

[USMC]

I meant yes, OMH should be banned, hahahah!

And no, guns shouldn't be banned.

[Addendum]

Criminals will always be able to obtain guns through illegal means. Preventing law-abiding citizens from obtaining guns legally will do nothing to stop criminals from getting them illegally

[Calvin]

Not banned, but we could stand to have a little more gun control. I'm also in favor it stricter driver's license requirements.

[Calvin]

Originally Posted by Addendum

Criminals will always be able to obtain guns through illegal means. Preventing law-abiding citizens from obtaining guns legally will do nothing to stop criminals from getting them illegally

Seems to be working in europe for the most part.

[terry78]

You should be required to perform practice shooting at a range in front of authorized government personnel before obtaining a gun, regardless of past experience you may or may not have. Anyone's ass could snap one day and just start shooting up a mall.

[Calvin]

You should have to make it through fairly difficult IQ and mental health tests. For both owning a gun and driving.

[Future Prez]

I Like Chris Rock's approach. It's not about gun control, its about bullet control. If we make bullets cost $5,000 each, the murder rate would drop like a rock.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdJGcrUk2eE

[Yurka]

I hate Chris Rock

[Kritish]

No, the law abiding citizens of a the U.S. are promised the right to guns under the constituion.
I do believe in gun-control, no criminal should be allowed to own a any gun not just hand guns.
I don't think it should be legal to buy guns without a criminal record check, therefore I don't think being allowed to buy a gun in a newspaper or purchase one without a check at a gun show.

[OverMyHead]

Who here owns a gun, and what kind of gun do you own?

[Hades]

I think we should go back to using swords.

[mightiest_mortal]

I think guns should be legalised in England.
There are too many places now in this countrty where I'm scared to even go out during the day let alone at night. Shouldnt have to feel like this.

[terry78]

Be a man and use your fists or make a weapon out of whatever's lying around. Time it right and you can deflect the bullet.

[Kritish]

Originally Posted by OverMyHead

Who here owns a gun, and what kind of gun do you own?

I own a BB gun.

[mightiest_mortal]

well im an Ethnic minority in this country, so if I even shout back at people who are tring to spit on me in the street then i normally have whole gangs of youths trying to chase me to kick me head in. Fun Fun Fun.
And when i try to explain this to friends from richer Areas they all just assume im a racist


(..and yeah i am white Caucasian)

[Kritish]

Originally Posted by mightiest_mortal

well im an Ethnic minority in this country, so if I even shout back at people who are tring to spit on me in the street then i normally have whole gangs of youths trying to chase me to kick me head in. Fun Fun Fun.
And when i try to explain this to friends from richer Areas they all just assume im a racist


(..and yeah i am white Caucasian)

Um...I went to the U.K. once for a trip and I've never seen so many white people in my life.

And I'm white...

[mightiest_mortal]

Originally Posted by Kritish

Um...I went to the U.K. once for a trip and I've never seen so many white people in my life.

And I'm white...

things change... give it 10 years and itl be renamed "Pakistan 2"

[OverMyHead]

You are a racist.

[Kritish]

Originally Posted by mightiest_mortal

things change... give it 10 years and itl be renamed "Pakistan 2"

New Pakistan will be France, not England.

[mightiest_mortal]

Originally Posted by OverMyHead

You are a racist.

im not racist. England has ridiculous immigration policies by any standards, what seems like the majority of immigrants dont make any effort to integrate, and im actually disadvantaged by the goverrnment and any benefits because im white and was actually born in England.
All factual statements.

Originally Posted by Kritish

New Pakistan will be France, not England.

I thought everyone was just waiting there til they could get through the tunnel?