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 Marion Barry/Violent crime 
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 Post subject: Marion Barry/Violent crime
PostPosted: Wed Jan 04, 2006 6:07 pm 
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Found on Townhall.com

Gun free in D.C.
Jan 4, 2006
by Cam Edwards ( bio | archive | contact )

Washington D.C. -- City Councilman Marion Barry’s become the latest victim of violent crime. Barry was in his Southeast apartment this week when he was robbed at gunpoint by a group of young men. They entered his apartment, held a gun to his head, and took off with his wallet, credit cards, and cash. Barry had given the teens a few dollars earlier in the evening after they helped bring in some of his groceries. The former mayor describes the incident as “traumatic”. I’d describe it as common.

This is life in “gun free” Washington, D.C. No one is safe. Marion Barry’s a victim of a home invasion. Supreme Court Justice David Souter was assaulted while jogging last year. Teresa Heinz was mugged outside her Georgetown home. Wanda Alston, the head of the mayor’s Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Affairs was murdered in a home invasion robbery. You are not safe in Washington, D.C. No one is.

It doesn’t have to be this way, of course. Thirty years ago, our nation’s capitol was in the midst of a crime wave. The city council responded by banning handguns and requiring shotguns and rifles to be kept unloaded, dismantled, and locked away. The law abiding residents of Washington, D.C. had been disarmed, and the criminals took notice. Violent crime dipped slightly in the two years following the ban, although the murder rate actually continued to climb. By 1979, however, the violent crime rate was back above 1976 levels, and it has remained so ever since.

In the past two years, the U.S. House has passed the D.C. Personal Protection Act, which would once again allow law abiding citizens to protect themselves with a firearm in their own home. The bill has been vilified by members of the D.C. City Council and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, who said the intent of the measure was to “get more children killed”. At least three children died from shootings in “gun free D.C.” in 2005. None died from shootings in nearby Fairfax County, where Virginia’s laws allow not only possession of firearms, but concealed carry as well. I’m not blaming D.C.’s firearms prohibition for the deaths of the three children, but it’s pretty clear that the laws aren’t effective in stopping criminals from arming themselves illegally.

What does stop a criminal? Evidence suggests even more than increased police patrols, the fear of an armed citizenry makes a criminal have second thoughts. A number of studies dating back to the 1980’s indicate a majority of criminals say they will not engage in a criminal act against someone they believe is armed. But who’s armed in Washington, D.C.? Only the criminals and the police. There’s a vast unarmed populace to take advantage of, and no one is safe. Not even the former mayor.

Cam Edwards is the host of “Cam and Company” on www.nranews.com and Sirius Satellite Radio. A veteran talk show host and political analyst, he blogs at www.camedwards.com in addition to his daily talk show. Cam lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and five children.

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PostPosted: Wed Jan 04, 2006 6:23 pm 
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Gosh, they were probably just after his crack cocaine.

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PostPosted: Wed Jan 04, 2006 7:46 pm 
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Andrew Rothman wrote:
Gosh, they were probably just after his crack cocaine.


I'm sure that was a different Marion :wink: :wink:

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PostPosted: Wed Jan 04, 2006 8:35 pm 
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So, how's that gun ban thing working for them?

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PostPosted: Wed Jan 04, 2006 9:57 pm 
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gunflint wrote:
So, how's that gun ban thing working for them?


Just about as well as their crack ban, I'm thinking.

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PostPosted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 10:58 am 
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Got this from the NRA:
Quote:
THE KIDS SET HIM UP--
Marion Barry Inadvertently Exposes the Fallacy of D.C.'s Gun Ban

Washington, D.C. has a gun ban, and gun bans stop crime. That's the ruse the gun ban lobby and their cronies would have you believe. That's what Washington, D.C. Council member and former mayor Marion Barry (D) would have you believe. But, in an ironic twist of fate, Barry's anti-gun premise has been challenged by circumstances involving none other than Barry himself.

This week, the ex-mayor was the victim of a violent crime in "gun-free" Washington, D.C. He was robbed at gunpoint by two young men who entered his apartment, held a gun to his head, and robbed him of his wallet, cash, and credit cards. The nearly three-decades-old ban did nothing to protect Barry. Despite the ban, Barry admitted that "guns are everywhere." What he didn't say is that those guns are in the hands of criminals, while the District's law-abiding citizens are prohibited from possessing them. Clearly, the ban has done nothing to stem the tide of armed criminals carrying out violent crimes.

While not suffering any physical injuries during the ordeal, Barry did indicate that his feelings were hurt. "There is a sort of an unwritten code in Washington, among the underworld and the hustlers and these other guys, that I am their friend....I was a little hurt that this betrayal did happen."

Councilman Barry, himself a convicted felon, says he does not want to prosecute the perpetrators (if they are ever caught), but also says that he will push the city council to pass a bill he introduced that would increase penalties for carrying a gun in the District! Such is the contradictory logic of the ex-mayor. Pass more gun laws, and don't enforce existing ones.

Of course, violent crime in D.C. is nothing new. Homicide had been declining in D.C. before the 1976 ban, but increased after the ban was imposed. By 1991, D.C.'s homicide rate had risen more than 200%. By comparison, the U.S. homicide rate rose only 12% during the same period. Since then, the District has ranked at, or near, the top of the list for highest per capita murder rate of major cities in the nation. If gun bans work, how can this tragic and shameful distinction possibly be?

In the wake of his most recent ordeal, Barry called for a summit of the city's leaders to address the "pandemic" of gun violence in the District. Clearly, he and the law-abiding citizens of the District of Columbia would be better served by a summit convened to call for the enactment of S. 1082 and H.R. 1288--the Senate and House versions of the "District of Columbia Personal Protection Act."

As we continually note, this legislation seeks to restore the constitutionally-guaranteed Second Amendment rights of the law-abiding residents of the District of Columbia. It would allow these citizens to lawfully defend themselves and their families from violent crime. It is time to pass this critically important and obviously necessary law.

Please be sure to contact your U.S. Senators and Representative and ask them to cosponsor and support S. 1082 and H.R. 1288.

For a list of Senate cosponsors, please visit http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z ... 01082:@@@P.

For a list of House cosponsors, please visit http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z ... 01288:@@@P.

You can call your U.S. Senators at (202) 224-3121, or your U.S. Representative at (202) 225-3121.

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"Criminals thrive on the indulgence of society's understanding."

"A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity." - Sigmund Freud


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 Post subject: More DC Safety News
PostPosted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 12:53 pm 
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Quote:
The area where the attack occurred is one of the safest in the city.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/08/AR2006010801179.html

Quote:
N.Y. Times Editor-Reporter Dies After Attack in NW
Police Searching for Clues in Robbery

By Martin Weil and Allan Lengel
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, January 9, 2006; Page B01

David E. Rosenbaum, a longtime editor and reporter in the Washington bureau of the New York Times, died yesterday after being beaten and robbed Friday night near his home in upper Northwest Washington.

Rosenbaum, 63, died at 7:10 p.m. at Howard University Hospital, where he was treated for a head injury suffered during the attack on Gramercy Street NW, said Philip Taubman, chief of the Times's Washington bureau.

Doctors had operated on Rosenbaum on Saturday to relieve pressure on his brain.

D.C. police were canvassing the neighborhood yesterday for clues in the attack, which occurred in a quiet section between Connecticut and Wisconsin avenues. No arrests had been made.

"David was one of the most accomplished journalists of his generation in Washington," Taubman said last night.

"He could do anything, and he did so many things brilliantly," Taubman said. "He was an all-time great, versatile reporter who could tackle any subject" and wrote about the most abstruse matters, particularly in financial areas, with "remarkable lucidity, speed" and sophistication.

Rosenbaum joined the Washington bureau in 1968 and, with the exception of three years as an editor in New York, had spent his entire Times career there. He retired late last month but was to continue contributing to the Times.

After leaving his house Friday night for a walk to get some fresh air, Rosenbaum was found by a neighbor about 9:30 p.m. in the 3800 block of Gramercy, a one-block street in an upscale neighborhood about a half-mile south of the Montgomery County border.

Little was known about the circumstances of the assault and robbery.

Police said earlier that two men had been seen getting into an automobile and leaving the area about the time of the attack.

Police said Rosenbaum's wallet was taken, and his brother, Marcus, said the family received a call Saturday indicating that an effort had been made to use a credit card belonging to Rosenbaum.

Rosenbaum's survivors include his wife, two children and two grandchildren.

The area where the attack occurred is one of the safest in the city. Street robberies have been reported there occasionally, but homicides and other violent incidents are all but unknown.

Police said last night that they were treating Rosenbaum's death as a homicide, pending an autopsy.

"It's a remarkably safe neighborhood, or it feels that way . . . until now," said Peter Bass, who lives on Gramercy.

On his street and on adjacent streets of single-family homes, "everybody's comings and goings are noticed," Bass said.

In recent years, he said, many of the houses on the tree-lined streets have been sold by longtime residents to younger couples with growing families.

"We have very small children. We'll have our guard up even more, use our alarms more religiously," Bass said.

Karen and Mitchell Strickler, who moved last year after living on Gramercy for more than 30 years, expressed surprise at the news.

It was a neighborhood, Mitchell Strickler said, where people often did not feel the need to lock their houses. "There was no fear of things," he said.

Rosenbaum was known as a mentor to younger reporters and taught and lectured at Dartmouth College, his alma mater, as well as Stanford University and other colleges and universities.

He was a native of Miami and grew up in Tampa. He worked for the St. Petersburg Times in Florida and Congressional Quarterly in Washington before joining the New York Times.

Among the stories he covered were the Senate Watergate hearings, the Iran-contra affair and budget and tax debates between the White House and Congress.

Rosenbaum's work also was focused on national politics; he directed Times coverage of the New Hampshire primaries in the last three presidential election years and continued to be active in covering the 2004 general election campaign.

In the past year, he had covered Social Security restructuring proposals.

_________________
"Criminals thrive on the indulgence of society's understanding."

"A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity." - Sigmund Freud


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PostPosted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 5:02 pm 
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Quote:
"We have very small children. We'll have our guard up even more, use our alarms more religiously," Bass said.


Will Bass and his family stay indoors for the rest of their natural days, too? How will alarm on his doors keep him from being beat to death in the street?

It must be hard to breathe with his head that deep in the sand.

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