Baltimore Mayor Calls for Tougher Gun Laws, Interesting Fact Noted

While we support law enforcement (even if we call out their fobbles from time to time), we realize that crime in our nation’s cities remains a problem. But we found an interesting fact in a story in The Baltimore Sun, which noted how the city’s incoming mayor, Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake, is calling for tougher gun laws. The laws in this case we actually agree with, where use of a gun is added to a criminal’s charges when arrested (i.e. “use of handgun in commission of a crime”), but it is this passage that we found interesting:

“Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III tried to steer the focus back to the legislation, saying that 26 percent of the guns seized in Baltimore last year were long guns.”

This is notable because many cities make it so much harder to own handguns. In New York for example, you need a different permit for long guns (rifles and shotguns) as you do for handguns. Two different offices handle these permits, and these aren’t even located in the same borough of New York City let alone the same building.

Now we worry that the anti-gun zealots will use this as ammo to say, “all guns are bad,” but we’ll flip the argument and say, “see if criminals can’t get handguns they’ll use rifles,” and to make our point, “if they can’t use rifles, they’ll use bats, axes or sticks with a nail.” Criminals, in other words will use anything they can as a weapon.

Baltimore Holds Buyback, Baltimore Sun Offers Biased Take

According to The Baltimore Sun about “150 guns” are “off the streets.” Bravo to the St. Gregory the Great Church and the St. Wenceslaus Churches, you’ve managed to make a lot of people feel good, while giving $50 for “regular” guns, and $100 for “semiautomatic weapons.”

In case you couldn’t tell, there is a bit of sarcasm in that previous paragraph. How does the reporter know these were ever “on the streets.” And the money give: $50 and $100 for firearms? Again, small change for items that could have been worth far more, and to the reporter at the Sun, what exactly is a “regular” gun versus a “semiautomatic weapon?” Is this a case where the reporter doesn’t really know firearms and thus wrote a piece that was confusing, and biased? Of course the fact that only one source is quoted, with a feel good quote at that, we can’t help but thinking this is so sugary and sweet without any actual bit.

“As we approach the season of peace and harmony, we hope this prompts people to think more about peace,” said Monsignor Damien Nalepa of St. Gregory.

This is a slap in the face to any soldier, any hunter, any collector, or just about anyone else who owns a firearm. Guns in themselves do not have to be violent items, and this quote suggests otherwise. While we hope this is a season of peace, the fact is that even men of the cloth shouldn’t demonize firearms.

Another Church Buyback This Saturday

Yet another gun buyback will happen this Saturday in Baltimore, but at least it will offer something resembling real cold, hard cash for the guns – unlike the recent buyback in Detroit! Still, from the story in The Baltimore Sun, the amount paid is likely a fraction of what firearms are worth:

“The program offers a $100 reward for each workable automatic or semi-automatic handgun or assault rifle, and a $50 reward for any other workable gun turned in. Some of the weapons surrendered in September included rifles, shotguns and assorted handguns.”

It is a shame that these events occur. While it is true that these churches and law enforcement have good intentions, the fact is that these hardly get guns off the street, and as we’ve said before good people sell their potentially valuable firearms for a fraction of the value.

What makes this even worse is that that St. Gregory the Great is now looking for donations. This will make the buybacks bigger, but likely without solving the bigger issue of crime.

Baltimore Sun Compares Cities – But is it Apples to Oranges?

It is a tale of two cities indeed, and on first pass may seem especially biased, but give this blog post on The Baltimore Sun’s Web site a read: “London and gun crime.” The story notes that London has less gun crime:

“London, a city of about 7.5 million, has had 110 homicides this year, 17 of which involved guns. Baltimore, a city of about 640,000 has had 208 slayings so far this year, most with guns.”

But consider this passage:

“The Trident unit has 300 officers and a $44 million budget. Baltimore cops have about 70 homicide detectives investigating murder; the homicide unit has a budget of $5.3 million (the Criminal Investigation Division’s budget is $38 million).”

The blog post even notes that 40 officers are assigned to a single murder case in London, so is it the dedication to law enforcement that is really what keeps crime low?