[b]LINK NO LONGER ACTIVE[/b]

The good news is that the big apple has seen a steady decrease in the number of shootings.

The bad news is, i fear, anti-gunners will point to New York's rabid gun laws as the reason to why this is true.  The police commissioner does attribute the decline to a crackdown on narco-traffic, but I think it will largely be ignored by legislators.

I know, I know, it's New York.  Be careful though, as gun laws here could be used as a model for more municipaliites across the country.

Any thoughts?

Hmmm...no thoughts from anyone?  Otto's right.  Anti-gunners will make a strong case for gun control using NYC as a model.

EDIT:  I know I said you're right, but I still think you're dumb.

Here's good news.

[url=http://1010wins.com/topstories/local_story_365062716.html]Manhattan sees lowest murder rate in 100 years[/url]

Edited to add: Chimbo, you dick. [:)]

But look at Los Angeles and Chicago.  They have the highest murder rates in the country and some of the most rigid gun laws at the same time.  Yea, gun control works![whacko]

I have been driving around the 5 boros of NYC on the Job day & night for over 22years, I can tell you guys the city is a whole lot safer than it has ever been, Areas that I dreaded to go to in the early 1980 are now full of yuppies. I don't know where all the bad guys went, Maybe Rudy Giuliani scared them all away!

HR: I agree with you, I just think we need to be prepared for "The shining example of gun-prohibition" argument.

Sure, and another shining example is Washington dc. I don't think anyone is gonna make an analogy to NYC's decrease in crime and it's strict firearms laws. You do that, you open yourself up to the 'what about dc', what about la', etc, etc. Crime in NYC has been going down for about 10 years now, other then the useless NYC assault weapons ban, no new gun laws have been enacted in NYC. And of course, we all know how many crimes were/have been committed with those dreaded nyc assault weapons!

Got THAT right, DC's laws are more restrictive AND thier homicide rate is up:

[url]http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27164-2002Dec22.html[/url]

I assume that doesn't count the 2800+ killed on 9/11/01 or was this just 2002 figures?  

If they were ever to really get serious about reduce the murder rate they would repeal the damn drug laws.

Bingo!  We have a winner.

Wave, are you willing to go on CNN for an interview???     [:D]

Calif has some of the "toughest" gun control laws in the USA, banned "assualt weapons" & Sat. Night Specials, L.A. has banned sales of ammo 5 days prior to New Years and 4th of July, you have to get a Basic Firearms Safety Card to buy a gun, you can buy one gun a month, only safe guns as determined by CalDOJ can be sold etc. it boils down to the fact that criminals don't obey stupid gun laws, on the good guys.
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[url=http://www.kfwb.com/news_local.asp?displayOption=&contentGUID={78BFC17B-4931-42F5-9EE2-6D75D9C32BDA}&groupName=KFWB Front Page Local Headlines&siteGUID={3B62BF55-4A93-48E6-A45D-6A495DC423AD}]California's Homicide Spike Sets Disturbing 2002 Trend
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Some cities saw a decline in bloodshed, but even without complete statistics for the entire year, Attorney General Bill Lockyer this month acknowledged what he termed "a painful truth" in reporting preliminary figures.
LOS ANGELES (KFWB/AP) 12.31.02, 2:50p - - "Stop the killin'. Save our children."
The chant echoed through South Los Angeles on a recent night as 70 community members drove or marched, under police escort, to sites on streets and sidewalks where people died in a wave of homicides this year in the nation's second-largest city.

The chant resonated up and down California as 2002 drew to a close. A number of cities had disturbing increases in homicides, many involving gangs.

Attorney General Bill Lockyer this month reported preliminary six-month figures that revealed a 3.3 percent increase in violent crime in California, including a 16 percent rise in homicides, over the same span in 2001.

Los Angeles had 656 homicides as of Dec. 28, up 10.1 percent over last year and the most since 1996. While nowhere near the totals of the 1980s and early 1990s, the city's current numbers contrasted sharply with those of the nation's other big cities.

New York, with more than twice the population of Los Angeles, reported 503 homicides as of mid-November, down about 12 percent from the same time last year. Chicago had 571 homicides through Nov. 21, down from 598 over the same period.

Los Angeles was not alone in driving the homicide numbers up. Long Beach, for example, recorded a 71.8 percent jump for the first nine months of 2002. Fueled in part by gang violence, Long Beach had 65 homicides by Dec. 6 - - more than in all of 2001.

San Francisco reported a 23.9 percent increase in homicides from January through November. However, all other violent crime categories were down, including rape, robbery and aggravated assault.

San Jose was on pace to top last year's homicide total, with 25 reported as of Dec. 18. Fresno had 40 homicides in the first 11 months of the year compared to 35 for the same period in 2001, but rapes were down 22 percent and aggravated assaults were down nearly 17 percent.

San Diego, however, reported an across-the-board decrease in crime totals for the first 10 months of the year. Homicides were down 19 percent in the period while rapes were down 6.9 percent and robberies were down 7.5 percent.

"We've had an incredible run down here in San Diego," police spokesman Dave Cohen said. "We've had a decade of pretty decent crime numbers given the size of our city and the fact that it continues to grow."

From 1996 to 2001, the rate of reported homicides decreased statewide by 30 percent, in part because of a good economy and a decline in the crack cocaine trade. But in the past few years, the trend started to reverse itself in many places.

After experiencing the largest-ever one-year drop in California history - - 14.9 percent in 1999 - - the state's major crime rate increased by 3.7 percent in 2001.

Experts have long linked downturns in the economy to crime waves. But the flare-up in gang violence in Los Angeles was attributed to turf wars over the drug trade and other factors.

According to police, gang members newly released from prison are using violence to reassert their positions.

The homicide statistics were translated back into faces at the 77th Street Station - - where a group of mothers decorated a Christmas tree with photographs of victims - - and into individual stories through the "Stop the Killin"' campaign by the anti-crime group Central Recovery & Development Project.

During the recent march, a police officer recounted details of the killing at each crime scene and members of the group gathered in prayer around a candle. Group director Ed Turley told them at the end of the night that their effort would pay off.

"The level of murder that was happening when we started this movement is not happening now," he said. "Soon enough everyone will be saying, 'Stop the killin' and the killing will stop."

Something else to keep in mind about New York City, The population is around 7Million , But on any given work day up to 14Million people are in the city, NYC is a much safer place than alot of places that are preceived as So called safe places In the USA.
My brother in law lived 35 years in NYC & was never robbed, He moved down to Florida to be safe, His shop & home were robbed more than once!