Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Washington, DC Declares "Crime Emergency"

Yesterday, Washington, DC, our nation's capital (and also our nation's murder capital for many years), proclaimed a "crime emergency" in the city after 13 murders in the first 11 days of this month. This was enough to make my head spin.

Where have these Keystone Cops been for the last 30 years? Did they miss the once-annual headlines proclaiming the city the nation's murder capital while onetime Mayor for Life (and current City Council member) Marion Barry was taking crack of the streets one rock at a time? Barry, as you may recall, is the genius who once said that Washington, DC is a relatively safe town, "except for all the killings."

Washington, DC is a city where you or I cannot legally own a gun even in our own homes and the only means of security is iron bars over the windows and a prayer that should something happen, the 911 call will be answered before the guy who just kicked open the front door gets upstairs.

I suggest that the latest individuals to realize that there's a crime problem in our nation's capital consider importing Virginia's gun and crime laws. They may surprise themselves at what they could do with a nice old wooden chair for the criminals and legal gun ownership for law-abiding citizens who now face the same chances as a sitting duck when a burglar enters at night or a mugger appears from the shadows.