Crime soared with Mass. gun law
IN 1998, Massachusetts passed what was hailed as the toughest gun-control legislation in the country. Among other stringencies, it banned semiautomatic “assault” weapons, imposed strict new licensing rules, prohibited anyone convicted of a violent crime or drug trafficking from ever carrying or owning a gun, and enacted severe penalties for storing guns unlocked.
“Today, Massachusetts leads the way in cracking down on gun violence,” said Republican Governor Paul Cellucci as he signed the bill into law. “It will save lives and help fight crime in our communities.” Scott Harshbarger, the state’s Democratic attorney general, agreed: “This vote is a victory for common sense and for the protection of our children and our neighborhoods.” One of the state’s leading anti-gun activists, John Rosenthal of Stop Handgun Violence, joined the applause. “The new gun law,” he predicted, “will certainly prevent future gun violence and countless grief.”
It didn’t.
The 1998 legislation did cut down, quite sharply, on the legal use of guns in Massachusetts. Within four years, the number of active gun licenses in the state had plummeted. “There were nearly 1.5 million active gun licenses in Massachusetts in 1998,” the AP reported. “In June [2002], that number was down to just 200,000.” The author of the law, state Senator Cheryl Jacques, was pleased that the Bay State’s stiff new restrictions had made it possible to “weed out the clutter.”
But the law that was so tough on law-abiding gun owners had quite a different impact on criminals.
Since 1998, gun crime in Massachusetts has gotten worse, not better. In 2011, Massachusetts recorded 122 murders committed with firearms, the Globe reported this month — “a striking increase from the 65 in 1998.” Other crimes rose too. Between 1998 and 2011, robbery with firearms climbed 20.7 percent. Aggravated assaults jumped 26.7 percent.
The nation’s toughest gun-control law made Massachusetts less safe – Opinion – The Boston Globe
When Democrats start talking “common sense” you know they are being completely irrational. Murders in Massachusetts have soared since 1998, while they declined in the rest of the country.
Massachusetts Crime Rates 1960 – 2011
But here is the really interesting statistic. Since the “assault weapons” ban expired in the US, the murder rate has plummeted.
Peace is achieved through strength, not weakness. Criminals are thrilled by laws which disarm their victims. Only a complete moron would not understand this.
h/t to Greg
Funny how the more liberal the state the more likely you are to be murdered. Oh well less liberals to have to deal with.
Steve,
It’s nearly impossible to reason with statists. They are blinded by ideology. They are enamored with government. They truly believe it can be harnessed to do good for the collective benefit of humanity if its agents are given enough power. Unfortunately, history is littered with the corpses of societies that were destroyed by such ideas. As Lord Acton said: “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
The anti-gun crowd is hopelessly irrational. They are driven solely by emotions. They cannot come to grips with the fact that an armed populace of law-abiding citizens is the prerequisite of a safe, civilized society. More important, as our Founding Fathers knew so well, the right to bear arms is this nation’s strongest protection against ruthless despots who would enslave us. Without the God-given right to self-defense enshrined in the Second Amendment, we have no rights.
Masters have guns, slaves do not!
From the linked Globe article:
If that is the case, then one would expect crimes in those states where guns are easier to get to increase, too. They don’t. Washington DC likes to use that argument against Virginia. But gun crimes are not increasing in Virginia. The reason is actually pretty simple: CRIMINALS who ignore the gun regulations cross into neighboring states and buy guns but law abiding citizens don’t. In Virginia, a criminal is more likely to face an armed citizen when committing a crime. In DC, only the criminal is likely to be armed.
In Virginia, people who use guns in the commission of a crime are more likely to be killed by citizens. Since a relatively few people are responsible for a relatively large number of violent crimes, killing a few of these people has a dramatic impact on the crime rate. There are no armed citizens to deter criminals in DC (or MA) and the violent criminals are not eliminated through attrition during the commission of their crimes. All one has to do in MA is avoid police. In VA, one has to avoid committing crimes.
I live in Mass, btw, and I’m not even sure what the accusation means that people go across borders for guns. Does he mean people who wouldn’t be able to purchase ANY firearm legally? That has little to do with the strictness of the laws, if you have to show any kind of ID to but a gun. The bulk of Mass. “strictness” has to do with NEW guns. There is an “official list” of permitted handguns which is far from extensive, but certainly adequate. Virtually anything from Smith & Wesson, of course, most anything Ruger makes has a Mass. compliant model, most Berettas are OK. (It’s all under the rubric of consumer safety and has more to do with a weapon’s sturdiness when dropped and not taking damage, and a certain trigger pull — although it is completely legal to lighten up your trigger!) Now, any handgun that was in-state before the ’98 ban is grandfathered in. Glocks are NOT on “the list”: LE only. But pre-ban is fine, so Glocks from that era command a pretty good price. Most any rifle is legal, with only the few “assault ” characteristics in some number prohibited, I forget exactly how that shakes out, but I believe is identical to the original Fed. ban. A recoil compensator is fine, but not an actual flash hider. Yeah, some gray area there. Oh, no threaded barrels on anything. Any legal gadget on a threaded barrel has to be tack welded or soldered in place or something. No mags over 10 round, except pre-ban, handgun or rifle. Preban 30 round AK-47 mags are plentiful but pricey, as are 17 rd Glock! Getting a long-gun permit is relatively routine, handgun can be dicier, as it goes by town and a lot are pretty capricious. Usually not too hard getting a license for target & hunting, but actual CC is gonna be a crapshoot. Bottom line, legally owning a gun in Mass. is not the nightmare it is in some places, it has more to do with what you can own. But anyway, yeah, any bad actor who wants one is going to get one, either stealing one — more likely — or going out of state to where they’re not going to look as close maybe, but that just changes the place where he’s illegally getting his weapon. It’s NOT stopping him getting it.
BTW, the article cites that “going over the borders” excuse just to refute it. Jeff Jacoby is the Glob’s token conservative.
Great article, Steve!
Reblogged this on Climate Ponderings.
Reblogged this on Dak's Bays.
Proof that gun control dosent help. And liberals still want to ban guns. Even in the republican control congress. Nothing gets through their heads.