More Americans Being Killed In DC Than In Iraq

[WAGCEVP]

More Americans Being Killed In DC Than In Iraq
-- Ask your Senators to repeal DC's draconian gun ban

Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org

Tuesday, August 5, 2003


You haven't heard Dan Rather talk about this, nor can you expect to
hear it from Peter Jennings or Tom Brokaw. But more Americans were
murdered in our nation's capital during a recent three-month period
than were killed in Iraq during that same time.

Despite the obvious dangers to our U.S. military in that country,
the tragic loss of 52 U.S. soldiers in the ninety days following the
end of combat operations on May 1 is fewer than the 66 Americans
killed in Washington, D.C. during those months.

What is wrong with this picture?

What's wrong is that Americans have not been allowed to own or carry
firearms in this nation's capital since 1976, when the D.C. Council
passed one of the most draconian gun bans in the country.

There were some folks who were grandfathered in, although few of
them still live in the city. And even they must keep their long
guns unloaded and either disassembled or locked up. In essence, the
guns must be kept in a manner that is unusable for self-defense.

This has not only made mandatory victims of many citizens, it has
also made the city unsafe for countless visitors who come each year
to enjoy the national monuments and historic museums.

Frequently, the nation's capital is also the nation's leader in
crime. The city once again topped the charts last year, regaining
the dubious distinction as the nation's Murder Capital.

But Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) wants to change all that. He has
introduced S. 1414, the District of Columbia Personal Protection
Act. This bill would finally allow law-abiding citizens to possess
handguns and rifles in their homes and businesses, and would repeal
the registration requirements for firearms and ammunition.

Putting guns in the hands of decent citizens would send a message to
criminals that they no longer have a safe working environment in
Washington!

Can you imagine the consternation this would bring to Brady Bunch
headquarters? Zapping the D.C. gun ban would be a significant
reversal for them and further prove that gun control is not
inevitable.

Twenty-three Senators have sponsored S. 1414, including: Allard
(R-CO), Allen (R-VA), Bunning (R-KY), Burns (R-MT), Campbell (R-CO),
Chambliss (R-GA), Cornyn (R-TX), Craig (R-ID), Crapo (R-ID),
Domenici (R-NM), Enzi (R-WY), Graham (R-SC), Grassley (R-IA),
Hutchison (R-TX), Inhofe (R-OK), Lott (R-MS), Miller (D-GA), Nickles
(R-OK), Sessions (R-AL), Shelby (R-AL), Stevens (R-AK), Sununu
(R-NH), and Thomas (R-WY).


ACTION: If you have a Senator who is not on this list, please urge
him or her to cosponsor the Hatch bill, S. 1414. You can contact
your Senators by visiting the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center
at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm and sending them a
pre-written e-mail message. Or, you can cut-and-paste the text
below and fax it to your two Senators (fax numbers can be found at
the above URL in the Elected Officials section).

If your Senator has already cosponsored the bill, please be sure to
thank him or her.

Let's ruin the Brady Bunch's day by repealing a gun ban in their own
back yard.


------ Pre-written message ------

Dear Senator:

Our experiment with gun control has gone on long enough! Gun
control in the nation's capital has failed to keep criminals from
getting guns, and has done nothing to reduce the murder rate there.

To the contrary, Washington, D.C. was never the nation's leader in
crime until its notorious gun ban was passed in 1976. In eight of
the last nine years, Washington, D.C. has earned the dubious
distinction of being the nation's Murder Capital -- despite this
city having imposed some of the most draconian gun restrictions in
the country!

The gun ban in D.C. is ineffective and unconstitutional. For these
reasons, I would like you to cosponsor Senator Orrin Hatch's bill
to rectify this dreadful state of affairs. Please cosponsor
S. 1414, the District of Columbia Personal Protection Act.

Residents of, and visitors to, the District should not walk the
streets in fear. Sen. Hatch's bill would bring an end to the "safe
working environment" that criminals now enjoy and allow citizens to
once again own firearms in the capital of this great nation of ours.

Please let me know what you intend to do.

Sincerely,


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

 

[Standing Wolf]

Frequently, the nation's capital is also the nation's leader in crime. The city once again topped the charts last year, regaining the dubious distinction as the nation's Murder Capital.

This can't possibly be true: Washington, D.C. is leftist extremist so-called "gun control" heaven.

 

[SodaPop]

 

[telomerase]

And if we add up all the Americans killed by Drug Prohibition this year it would be many times the Iraq combat deaths. But I don't see how changing the name of the dictator in Iraq by using US troops will end Drug Prohibition? And to be fair, Drug Prohibition is much less likely to cause anyone to smuggle nuclear weapons into American cities (though it will make doing so far easier).

 

[Porter Rockwell]

Not Happy-

The title of the post and article disrespects our soldiers sacrifice!
D.C. vs Iraq death stats?
One has absolutely nothing to do with the other.

 

[Futo Inu]

Outstanding - I'm happy - both my Senatcritters are on the list - now if we could just get Orin to quit talking about ruining computers of those who download free music.

 

[M1911Owner]

Porter,

The connection is that the lib media is daily screaming about how American soldiers are still being killed in Iraq, about how we're in a quagmire in Iraq, how Bush has screwed up and mismanaged Iraq, etc., etc., etc. The comparison with D.C. just puts Iraq in perspective--more Americans are dying on the streets of D.C. than in Iraq--our troops are doing an outstanding job over there!

 

[telomerase]

>media is daily screaming about how American soldiers are still being killed in Iraq, about how we're in a quagmire in Iraq, how Bush has screwed up and mismanaged Iraq, etc., etc., etc. The comparison with D.C. just puts Iraq in perspective--more Americans are dying on the streets of D.C. than in Iraq--our troops are doing an outstanding job over there!

I don't think many people, even the most liberal, have said that the US troops are doing a bad job. The questions have been aimed at the Bush administration's statements about Iraq's "imminent nuclear threat" to the US, which even Bush's supporters admit was wildly overstated. Blind obedience is not a traditional American virtue... the US troops that murdered over two million defenseless people in Operation Keelhaul did an "outstanding job" too, but that doesn't mean there shouldn't be some discussion over exactly what that "job" was and whether they should have done it....

Back on topic, I have to give Hatch a lot of credit for the bill (and its very well-written title!) Let's hope this one gets voted on, at least.

 

[TheEgg]

the US troops that murdered over two million defenseless people in Operation Keelhaul did an "outstanding job" too

This a gross and insulting statement, not backed up by reality -- yes, many thousands of refugees were returned to their land of birth, often by force -- that is a far cry from US troops murdering 2 million defenseless people.

If you want to discuss the moral, legal, and political ramifications of the repatriation policy after WWII, fine, but this statement should be retracted.

 

[Partisan Ranger]

But fellahs, don't worry, I heard this morning on the local news that the good DC police commissioner Wiggum is out in the streets pleaing with the hoods to 'stop the violence'!

Yup. That'll do it. Problem solved.

 

[telomerase]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
the US troops that murdered over two million defenseless people in Operation Keelhaul did an "outstanding job" too
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


>This a gross and insulting statement, not backed up by reality -- yes, many thousands of refugees were returned to their land of birth, often by force

US soldiers put over two million defenseless people into sealed trains at gun and flamethrower point and guarded the trains that took them into the Gulag to die. Yes, Stalin's men did most of the direct killing, but many of these people were not going to the "land of their birth"; over 50,000 Italians who had never been to Russia were dragged off, among other groups. Yes, I am being gross and insulting, but it was a gross and insulting crime.... and people who pretend that their government's crimes don't exist will more easily commit fresh atrocities.

One good history of this episode is "The Secret Betrayal" by Nikolai Tolstoi, but any good history of WWII will have it. It is missing from US high school history texts, however.

 

[TheEgg]

Telomerase --

What you have presented here is, IMHO, a narrow and incomplete reading of what happened. You mention nothing about how many US soldiers, up to and including Eisenhower, revolted about this policy, and caused it to be modified. You mention nothing about the soldiers that deliberately lied and forged records to protect soviet citizens. Etc. Etc. Etc.

Using your own source, Tolstoi -- KITEZH: The Journal Of the Russian Cultural Heritage Society, Summer 1989, Vol. 6, No. 2 (22) --

In the British zone, as in the American-controlled territory, SMERSH operatives were allowed to roam freely and on frequent occasions they resorted to kidnapping and murder. Their blatant violence, combined with the obvious injustice and illegality of their actions, eventually led military commanders Eisenhower, Montgomery and Alexander to unilaterally issue [sic] orders outlawing forced repatriation. This placed the British and American governments in an awkward position. Individual soldiers refusing to carry out orders was embarrassing enough, but this amounted to a mass revolt at the highest level of command, and was futher complicated by the fact that if the unpleasant details of the Russian repatriation effort was made known to the public, there would certainly be a huge uproar.

.

But under strong pressure from the British Foreign Office, the U.S. State Department reluctantly agreed to pursue the policy. American resistance was sufficient only to severely limit [sic] the categories of repatriation candidates. Previously, mere Soviet citizenship, regardless of age, sex, career, or war record, meant mandatory repatriation, but now in late 1945, stipulations were made that only citizens who had actually lent aid and comfort or wore a German uniform were to be returned. The trouble was, almost all who fit [sic] had either been repatriated already or had escaped, often with the help of sympathetic Allied soldiers, including officers who provided them with false papers or simply look the other way at the right moment.

Things are often more complicated than a cursory reading would have one believe. Sweeping condemnations of an army or a country are often emotionally satisfying, but rarely lead to understanding. Were crimes committed by the allies in this matter? Probably -- but I try not to condemn all without trying to understand the people involved, the times, the pressures involved, and the complete record.

 

[TheEgg]

WAGCEVP

Sorry about the blatant thread hi-jack!

 

[ShaiVong]

The questions have been aimed at the Bush administration's statements about Iraq's "imminent nuclear threat" to the US, which even Bush's supporters admit was wildly overstated.

I don't believe I ever heard from Bush that Iraq was an 'imminent nuclear threat'. As I understood it, part of the motovation was so that Iraq DIDN'T become a 'imminent threat'.

Resolution was passed for war before the SOTU also, was it not?