Desertdog
Member
A gun in every house, or a sign on every lawn?
By John McKinney
http://www.portjefferson.com/1edito...2-01&-token.story=62456.112114&-token.subpub=
A surprising op-ed article in support of guns caught my eye in the New York Times the other morning. The Times, determinedly in favor of strict gun control, once in a blue moon allows the other view into print, striving, I suppose, to re-establish its bona fides as a fair and balanced newspaper. So here was a piece by Glenn Reynolds, a law professor in Tennessee, reporting that the wild-and-woolly town of Greenleaf, Idaho recently passed an ordinance requiring citizens to own guns and keep them ready in their homes in case of emergency.
The piece was headlined "A Rifle in Every Pot" and carried, somewhat provocatively for the liberal Times, a subhead asking "What's Wrong With Encouraging People to Bear Arms?" I suppose the National Rifle Association ordered a couple million reprints.
Mandatory gun ownership may not be a bad idea, Prof. Reynolds suggests, citing the contrasting example of two other small cities. In 1982 little Kennesaw, Georgia, passed a mandatory gun ownership law, after another small town, Morton Grove, Illinois, enacted a ban on handguns. Crime in Kennesaw dropped sharply, Prof. Reynolds says, while crime in Morton Grove did not. Not surprisingly, burglars tell police they try to avoid houses where they are likely to encounter armed residents.
The Greenleaf ordinance is intended to bolster citizen preparedness in the kind of emergency that's likely to overwhelm law enforcement agencies. Armed citizens conducting neighborhood watches helped prevent looting in sections of Houston and New Orleans after they were struck by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Greenleaf's mayor guessed that probably 80 percent of local residents already own guns. But the gun-owning ordinance does send a message to potential malefactors that the pickings in Greenleaf might only be gained at personal danger to themselves.
As for Suffolk County, I had no idea how many local residents own guns, but I can tell you now the number is greater than I suspected. So is the readiness to use them. I sat at breakfast the other morning in a party of five men who'd gathered to discuss a book we'd read, Timothy O'Brien's powerful memoir of Vietnam, The Things They Carried.
After a while, given the subject, talk came around to guns. I was surprised to learn that three men at the table own handguns, and they are for protection, not target practice. One man said he sleeps with a loaded pump-action shotgun under the bed. "If anybody breaks into my house, they can take anything they want," he explained. "But if they come through that bedroom door where my wife and I are, I'm using the gun."
His words produced an echo for me. A couple of weeks earlier at a New Year's Eve party, I sat at a table that included two pistol collectors. Both stated they never hunt, actually dislike the idea, but regularly fire their weapons at shooting ranges, for sport. However, one said to me, grabbing my wrist for emphasis, if anyone threatened his wife or children, he'd use a gun on them. No hesitation, he added.
My curiosity aroused by these two incidents, I called the pistol permit office of the Suffolk County Police. A helpful lieutenant told me there are more than 95,000 legal handguns in the five western townships, licensed to around 28,000 individuals. (The Sheriff's Department handles licensing for the five East End townships.) No permit is needed for rifles or shotguns, so there's no telling how many long guns are under Suffolk County beds, loaded and ready. All that's needed to purchase a long gun is a quick background check showing you're not a convicted felon.
When burglars admit they shy away from houses known to have guns, maybe all that's needed is a little sign by the driveway. "Premises Protected by Smith & Wesson" might be effective. I've seen such signs in rural areas out West. But out there — especially in Greenleaf, Idaho — the signs aren't kidding.
By John McKinney
http://www.portjefferson.com/1edito...2-01&-token.story=62456.112114&-token.subpub=
A surprising op-ed article in support of guns caught my eye in the New York Times the other morning. The Times, determinedly in favor of strict gun control, once in a blue moon allows the other view into print, striving, I suppose, to re-establish its bona fides as a fair and balanced newspaper. So here was a piece by Glenn Reynolds, a law professor in Tennessee, reporting that the wild-and-woolly town of Greenleaf, Idaho recently passed an ordinance requiring citizens to own guns and keep them ready in their homes in case of emergency.
The piece was headlined "A Rifle in Every Pot" and carried, somewhat provocatively for the liberal Times, a subhead asking "What's Wrong With Encouraging People to Bear Arms?" I suppose the National Rifle Association ordered a couple million reprints.
Mandatory gun ownership may not be a bad idea, Prof. Reynolds suggests, citing the contrasting example of two other small cities. In 1982 little Kennesaw, Georgia, passed a mandatory gun ownership law, after another small town, Morton Grove, Illinois, enacted a ban on handguns. Crime in Kennesaw dropped sharply, Prof. Reynolds says, while crime in Morton Grove did not. Not surprisingly, burglars tell police they try to avoid houses where they are likely to encounter armed residents.
The Greenleaf ordinance is intended to bolster citizen preparedness in the kind of emergency that's likely to overwhelm law enforcement agencies. Armed citizens conducting neighborhood watches helped prevent looting in sections of Houston and New Orleans after they were struck by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Greenleaf's mayor guessed that probably 80 percent of local residents already own guns. But the gun-owning ordinance does send a message to potential malefactors that the pickings in Greenleaf might only be gained at personal danger to themselves.
As for Suffolk County, I had no idea how many local residents own guns, but I can tell you now the number is greater than I suspected. So is the readiness to use them. I sat at breakfast the other morning in a party of five men who'd gathered to discuss a book we'd read, Timothy O'Brien's powerful memoir of Vietnam, The Things They Carried.
After a while, given the subject, talk came around to guns. I was surprised to learn that three men at the table own handguns, and they are for protection, not target practice. One man said he sleeps with a loaded pump-action shotgun under the bed. "If anybody breaks into my house, they can take anything they want," he explained. "But if they come through that bedroom door where my wife and I are, I'm using the gun."
His words produced an echo for me. A couple of weeks earlier at a New Year's Eve party, I sat at a table that included two pistol collectors. Both stated they never hunt, actually dislike the idea, but regularly fire their weapons at shooting ranges, for sport. However, one said to me, grabbing my wrist for emphasis, if anyone threatened his wife or children, he'd use a gun on them. No hesitation, he added.
My curiosity aroused by these two incidents, I called the pistol permit office of the Suffolk County Police. A helpful lieutenant told me there are more than 95,000 legal handguns in the five western townships, licensed to around 28,000 individuals. (The Sheriff's Department handles licensing for the five East End townships.) No permit is needed for rifles or shotguns, so there's no telling how many long guns are under Suffolk County beds, loaded and ready. All that's needed to purchase a long gun is a quick background check showing you're not a convicted felon.
When burglars admit they shy away from houses known to have guns, maybe all that's needed is a little sign by the driveway. "Premises Protected by Smith & Wesson" might be effective. I've seen such signs in rural areas out West. But out there — especially in Greenleaf, Idaho — the signs aren't kidding.
