I doubt the people committing crimes in D.C. are reading the SCOTUS blog.
Ry Jones
January 15, 2011
[This was during a discussion of the falling crime rate in D.C.
I was skeptical that very much of the decline could be attributed to the Heller decision since so few people actually have been able to legally obtain firearms in D.C. since the decision. Ry was supporting my skepticism from a different angle.–Joe]
I’m not so sure.
Ry’s right…criminals probably don’t spend much time reading scotusblog or any of the more reasonable outlets regarding guns and gun rights.
So…where do they get what news they do get? From the MSM.
And what was the MSM saying about Heller and the lifting of the ban in DC? That it would mean people would be carrying guns everywhere and DC would turn into Dodge City. I seriously doubt that criminals spent much time looking deeper into the issue and probably took away exactly what the MSM was trying to cause: Fear.
I firmly believe that most criminals are cowards at heart. If even a percentage of them bought into the fear being fomented by the media over the issue and decided that DC might be becoming hazardous to their health in their chosen line of work, you don’t think that could have had an impact?
It really doesn’t matter that Heller has, to date, had no practical impact on the number of people lawfully owning and carrying guns in DC, it’s all perception, and the perception that the media was portraying was that this would result in everyone being strapped. It may be an indirect impact and helped along by the vitriol in the media, but I think Heller definitely had an impact on DC’s crime rate.
Someone else pointed out somewhere that Heller didn’t just affect handguns: it’s now legal to have your rifle assembled and ready to use; thus, there are a lot of people who can be ready to defend their lives with rifles.
But that claim is something else that needs to be verified, and I’m not sure if I trust it as an explanation either. I think Sailorcurt might be right, though, that MSM coverage may have scared criminals.
Or it could be random fluctuations in crime. With statistics, it’s hard to tell for sure!
OTOH, Prince Georges Co., Md., just across the D.C. line, experienced 13 homicides in the first 13 days of the new year.
The people that reside in S.E. D.C.-where the crime and drug activity is centered- don’t even pay attention to the news. They can’t be bothered with being educated or informed. The only thing they know is the score of the football (or basketball) game, and what’s on BET tonight. Oh, and democrats is good, republicans is evil, and guns is bad. No matter what. I work with a number of these people. The intelligent, thinking ones left D.C. years ago. I mentioned the Giffords shooting at work on Mon. 1/10, two days after it happened. Out of the 7 people that I directly work with, not one had heard of it.