6/07/2008

Lorne Gunter on Toronto's proposed handgun ban

Lorne's article can be seen here.

If you've recently divorced or left your common-law spouse, your chances of being approved would be reduced. Your ex-partner might even be contacted for a character reference and authorities would place a get deal of stock in her answers.

Then, if you are eventually approved, you would be able to go to a gun shop and buy a handgun. But before you could take the gun home, you would have to take the bill of sale to police and apply for a transportation permit, a step that could take several additional weeks. Then, if police grant you a permit, you could go back to the gun shop, pick up your pistol, lock it in your trunk in a locked gun case and take it directly home.

Thereafter, you could only take it from your home to the shooting range you designated on your transportation permit, again locked in a case in your locked trunk. And you would have to take the most direct route and make no stops along the way, there or back.

That's how "easily accessible" legal handguns are.

Illegal handguns are available in alleys and scores of bars in Toronto on less than 24-hours notice. No applications or ID required.

And yet Miller has convinced himself he can make his city safer by cracking down on legal handguns.
Preposterous.

A recent study by the Institute of Economic Analysis in Britain on the U.K.'s total handgun ban beginning in 1997 concluded the prohibition had been counterproductive.

"The ban's ineffectiveness was such that by the year 2000 violent crime had increased so much that England had the developed world's highest rate of violent crime, far surpassing even the U.S.A."

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3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

But since 2000, crime rates in the UK are now significant lower than they were in 1995:

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime-victims/crime-statistics/

Here are some significant crime statistics from our most recent research, Crime in England and Wales 2006-2007:

* the risk of being a victim of crime is 24% - significantly lower than the 40% recorded in 1995
* crime has fallen by 42% since 1995, meaning that 8.4 million fewer crimes took place during that time than would have had rates never fallen
* domestic burglary and all vehicle thefts have fallen by huge percentages (59% and 61% respectively) since 1995
* crime is down in most categories

6/07/2008 10:11 AM  
Blogger John Lott said...

Dear Anonymous:

Sorry, but actual crimes reported to police have gone up over that period of time. Of course, if you are interested in the information addressed in the article, you can find the International Crime Victimization Survey here.

6/08/2008 12:51 AM  
Blogger John Lott said...

Dear Anonymous:

As a second point, I suppose that you are familiar with the hot water that the Labor government has gotten into with hiding some of the crime numbers, right?

6/08/2008 12:52 AM  

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