Giuliani: Gun Control Helped Lower Crime

[Old Fuff]

Giuliani: Gun Control Helped Lower Crime
From Associated Press
February 11, 2007 4:28 PM EST

SACRAMENTO - Rudy Giuliani addressed a potentially troublesome issue with conservative voters, saying his policies as mayor to get handguns off the street helped reduce crime in New York.

"I used gun control as mayor," he said at a news conference Saturday during a swing through California. But "I understand the Second Amendment. I understand the right to bear arms."

Sure he does... Just like the current New York City Mayor.

He said what he did as mayor would have no effect on hunting.

Hunting what??? Does it say something in the Second Amemdment 'bout hunting?

Addressing another potential trouble spot with conservatives, Giuliani spoke in favor of a border fence, saying, "You have to have secure borders, you have to have a fence, and the fence I think has to be a highly technological one."

His knowledge about fences and Arizona topography is about equal to that of the Second Amendment.

The nation needs to know, he said, who is coming into the country and why. But he provided scant details on how he would deal with illegal immigrants already in the country. Citizens, he added, should be able to read and write English

.
He wouldn't know a "detail" if it kicked him in the face

Giuliani was to make an address Monday in Silicon Valley and he was to appear Tuesday at an agricultural fair in the Central Valley.

Asked when he would make a formal announcement that he is a candidate for the Republican nomination, Giuliani said: "Well, formally announce? I don't know."

Neither do we. Should we hold our breath?

He then alluded to making an announcement in multiple locations "so we get more attention" but provided no details.

 

[El Tejon]

East Coast Eloi understands the RKBA? Yeah, right, I bet he does and that's why he loathes it so.

 

[Deanimator]

What a lovely combination, the desire to disarm the populace while running a police department with absolutely no limits on its use of lethal force...

 

[dogloose]

Our two-party political system is so broke-down and riddled with corrupt power-mongers that we are rarely presented with good leaders as candidates. I fear that the current crop of presidential wanna-bees will not offer much more come election day. Rudy is merely a lesser evil than some, a greater evil than others. I doubt I would vote for him under any circumstances... even as a "no" vote to his opponent... whoever she may be...

That said... gun rights is an important issue to me. Rudy is clearly on the wrong side of that issue... but so are most (all?) Democrats. Unfortunately, the one party with a consistent gun rights platform is relegated to the third-party fringe... by both the powers-that-be... and the voters.

Voting is more of a strategy than a choice these days.

 

[EricTheBarbarian]

what do you hunt in the middle of new york city? It has nothing to do with hunting. theyre already outlawed hunting in the city if that had anything to do with it. The right to hunt??? same stuff different day

 

[Stauble]

will these people ever understand that it aint about hunting

 

[PirateJoe]

"It is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it... anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. " -- Douglas Adams.

 

[Helmetcase]

Gun control controlled crime? He knows this how?

 

[Old Fuff]

I don't know about those folks in the Big Apple, but I think they got a worm in it somewhere. Anyway, this just came in over the wire:

NYC Officer, Husband Charged in Shooting
February 11, 2007 6:02 PM EST

NEW YORK - A police officer who was caught driving the car from which authorities believe her husband shot and wounded an undercover officer was arraigned Sunday on charges including tampering with evidence, prosecutors said.

Jacqueline Melendez-Rivera, 37, was charged with obstructing governmental administration, hindering prosecution and tampering with physical evidence, said prosecutors, who accused her of trying to cover up her husband's crime by driving away his car.

Her husband, Jose Rivera, 31, also was arraigned and charged with attempted murder, assault and criminal possession of a weapon in Saturday's shooting of Officer Andrew Suarez.

Suarez, who was struck in the back, was in stable condition Sunday at a hospital, police said. He was expected to make a full recovery.

The violence unfolded just after 4 a.m. in Brooklyn. Investigators said Suarez and three plainclothes officers pulled their unmarked car over to get a closer look at a vehicle driving behind them.

The driver of the other vehicle leaned across the body of a male passenger, shouted "You got a beef?" and fired a shot at Suarez, who was driving the unmarked police car, police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said. A second shot may also have been fired, Kelly said.

Shortly afterward, police stopped a vehicle matching the description of the one that had carried the attackers. They found Melendez-Rivera driving it and arrested her, Kelly said.

Rivera later was detained at the couple's nearby home. Police said they recovered a loaded 9mm handgun in a yard on the same block.

Melendez-Rivera posted $50,000 bond Sunday and was released, prosecutors said. Her husband was jailed without bail. The wife's lawyer, Chris Devane, did not immediately return a telephone message left with his answering service on Sunday.

Now being an ignorant Arizonaian hick, I'll have to get some legal advice from El T., but it seems to me that this is some of that "gun violence," they talk about - and it obviously calls for some more "reasonable and strict" gun control laws. It's clear that there are too many handguns out on them there streets in NYC, and Rudy and Bloombrain are just the ones to deal with it. With luck they'll be so busy they won't get around to the rest of us.

 

[Helmetcase]

I haven't seen any recent stats, but the gun controllers love to point to NYC and suggest it's an example of gun control working. If you take out Manhattan and just look at the other four boroughs, the picture ain't quite so rosy.

 

[dogloose]

The rogue economist Steven D. Levitt, in his book (along with co-author Stephen J. Dubner) "Freakonomics", makes a very strong case for the reason that the crime rate dropped in MANY cities across the country during the '90's... and it wasn't gun control... it was... abortion! Whether you agree or disagree, the book is a great read... and many of their unusual and unexpected theories on a variety of subjects are very well presented!

Now... with regard to gun control and crime rates... check out "More Guns Less Crime" by John R. Lott, Jr. Another example of a qualified author on a particular subject making a reasoned and fact-based argument.

No... even if you could argue crime in NYC dropped (it may have in some, but not all areas)... who... or what... was responsible?

And what did Rudy do then... and what does he do now... other than take credit for something that is most likely untrue and certainly not his doing. Moron.

 

[Bruce H]

The second ammendment is damn sure about hunting. The season and bag limits are on the wrong species.

 

[Stauble]

The second ammendment is damn sure about hunting. The season and bag limits are on the wrong species.

fair point

 

[Standing Wolf]

We already have a RINO in the White House.

 

[Master Blaster]

The same pack of idiot violent criminals commit the same crimes over and over and over and over and over and the courts put them back out on the streets. It starts when they are 10-12 years old with their first armed robbery or assault, and gets worse from there.

By the time they shoot someonedead and get caught for it they have already been arrested multiple times for aggravated ,assault, carrying a concealed deadly weapon, selling drugs and theft and mutiple assaults under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Each time the court system give them another chance and probation or a slap on the wrist witha short sentance in juvenile rehabilitation.

I see 17 year olds who have been arrested 7 to 10 times for violent crimes usually related to the drug trade. Then they turn 18 and by age 20 they have been shot, shot others, and many times commited murders.

When you lock these habitual career criminals up for 20-life without parole or probation the crime rate drops.

Crime went down in NYC because they cracked down hard on the habitual offenders. Butt head knows this. He just wants to disarm lawabiding citizens so they are less likely to revolt when big brother tightens the screws to much.

 

[shield20]

Now, I am not an English major, but I do not see "gun control" anywhere in this explanation:

http://www.nber.org/digest/jan03/w9061.html

What Reduced Crime in New York City

"The police measure that most consistently reduces crime is the arrest rate… Felony arrest rates (except for motor vehicle thefts) rose 50 to 70 percent in the 1990s. When arrests of burglars increased 10 percent, the number of burglaries fell 2.7 to 3.2 percent. When the arrest rate of robbers rose 10 percent, the number of robberies fell 5.7 to 5.9 percent."

...

And in New Haven, Ct.:

"In the Summer of 1999, the New Haven Gun Project implemented several new strategies to attack violent gun crime in the City of New Haven. Currently, the project is fully operational in the Fair Haven, Newhallville, Hill North and Dwight/Chapel neighborhoods.

The selection of strategies relied in significant part on extensive research into the specific nature and dimensions of incidents of murder, assault with a firearm, armed robbery, the unlawful firing of firearms and unlawful firearm possession. ... Some of the data presented included:

A large percentage of offenders and victims were 15-21 years of age.

Most offenders had serious criminal histories.

One-fifth of offenders had been arrested for a prior gun offense, and three-fifths had a history of drug charges.

Over one-third of the offenders were on probation at the time of the new gun-relayed offense.

Approx one-thrid of offenders and victims associated with murders and armed assaults were members of neighboorhood "groups" involved in other illegal activities.


***************************************


New York still has a very high robbery rate (30% higher then nation) , but somehow they apparently discovered what we already know, and what New Haven found out:

Guns ain't the problem, criminals are! Enforce the damn laws, and stop coddling these scumbags!

Guiliani & any other person who mis-leads the public as to how to solve the REAL problem, are either stupid, or lying, or both. And the same for the "mis-understanding" of the 2nd amendment.

Bottom line - they do NOT deserve to be our leaders.

 

[Speer]

But "I understand the Second Amendment. I understand the right to bear arms."

No you don't.

Gun laws don't reduce crime. And you know it.

 

[Old Fuff]

Shield20 and Master Blaster are dead on. The problem has always been chriminals, not guns. I suspect that the current and recently past New York City mayors will discover to their sorrow that outside of they're own city they don't have much draw. Their quest for national office will go up in smoke.

 

[grimjaw]

What I see:

A Republican candidate trying to get the votes of Dems in California and New York, by compromising on an issue he thinks won't sink him as a Republican candidate.

jm

 

[doc2rn]

From my cold dead fingers

When you disarm the law abiding populace, only the criminals will have guns.-nuff said!:banghead:

 

[Dan from MI]

Rudy mentioning "hunting" and "Second Amendment" in the same issue secures the loss of my vote.

 

[mordechaianiliewicz]

Rudy Giuliani is a power mad despot. He won't get the Republican nomination (if the elections are fair), and he sucks as a person let alone a politician. (The # of times that is true however, makes one think being a bad person is a requisite of being a politician )

The Dems can't get a Northeastern Democrat into the Presidency, what makes a dumba&^ RINO think he can get past the primaries?

 

[shield20]

I did bodyguard work for him at a Columbus Day parade before he got elected; I was LE at the time working for a company that did such things - Other then his kid running around, it was a cool gig. Rudy had no problem having us armed all day around him and his family. Now I think him and Rosie could find something in common to talk about.

I actually liked him, think he made a big diff in NYC after Dinkins, handled 9/11 OK etc., but after I heard these comments I could just .

His pro AWB and anti CCW stances have NO basis in reality - are in no way supported by facts...think someone who wants to run the country would know better.

 

[Old Fuff]

Rudy had no problem having us armed all day around him and his family.

I actually liked him, think he made a big diff in NYC after Dinkins, handled 9/11 OK etc.,

Yup...

He's another big-shot who sees nothing wrong about having armed guards to protect him and his family, but couldn't care in the least about other "common, ordinary people" that don't have that kind of protection.

They after all, are being protected by a police department that sometimes shoots inocent people in a blaze of gunfire and has officers that drive by and plug one of their own in an unmarked car.

He may put up a big front, but behind it there is nothing but dry rot.

 

[coltrane679]

I will vote for Obama before I vote for this guy. Seriously.

First, the Republicans in Congress might be forced to find their way back to where they were in 1994 (or, better yet, 1964). If we vote a power-mad gun grabber like this in, then the destruction of the GOP (and our Constitution) so ably advanced by George W. Imbicile will be complete.

Second, if I voted for Obama, at least I get the emotional satisfaction of seeing all the bigots (you know who you are!) have a stroke. With Rudy, all I'd get is the privelege of The Great Man crapping on my head and then expecting me to say "thanks for the hat". No thanks.