Washington Times Rx for Detroit: More Guns, Less Crime

The Washington Times isn’t exactly what you call a liberal media outlet. And if you were thinking of calling it one, today’s editorial on Chicago’s gun crime would put paid to that idea. Guns needed to stop Chicago murders does exactly what it says on the tin: argue for arming private citizens to stem the gun violence plaguing The Windy City. By way of claiming that the city’s gun ban has actually exacerbated the problem. “Since 1982, Chicago has banned the private ownership of handguns and rifles by requiring a convoluted registration process designed to be impossible to complete. Exceptions to the rules enable politicians and their personal friends to own and even carry handguns – but nobody else. This unconstitutional scheme has been a colossal failure. Before the ban took effect, Chicago’s murder rate had been falling relative to the nine other largest cities, the 50 largest cities, the five counties that border Cook County, and the United States as a whole. After the ban, Chicago’s murder rate rose relative to all these locations. During the first 19 years of the ban, there were just three years when the murder rate was as low as when the ban started.” In short, “Encouraging personal ownership of guns is the only proven solution to Chicago’s crime problem.” My, how the tempus have fugited.