Crime in D.C.? No way!

Seems that the crime rate in the Nation's Capital is spiking, and city officials are worried about tourism. That's ironic, since D.C., along with New York and Chicago, has some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation. Handguns have been banned in D.C. since 1976 except for ones that were grandfathered in, and long guns must be disassembled in your home. Not much help in stopping a home invader, but just call 911, and they'll be right over if they're not too busy. Hopefully they're not too busy. Well, who knows how long it'll be.

I grew up 5 minutes from Northeast D.C., and for those who are unfamiliar with it, some of the worst ghettos and crime-ridden neighborhoods in the country are there. The Monument area, along with Georgetown, etc., which is SW Washington, is actually not a very big part of the city. The poor neighborhoods vastly outnumber the wealthy ones. I know places where even the D.C. police won't go, so that the low income honest people who live there are on their own for self-defense. Now that the Bermuda-short clad, camera-wearing tourists in the Federal monument area are getting hit, however, attention is starting to be paid.

With all of the police forces that have jurisdiction there (U.S. Capitol Police, U.S. Park Police, Secret Service, D.C. Police, among others), as well as the military being there now in this "terrorist crisis", one would think that the crime rate would be very low. Yet it isn't. Again, it boils down to you being responsible for your own self-protection.

Attempts are being made to reverse these laws and allow the residents of D.C. to again be allowed to protect themselves, but these attempts are predictably hitting stiff resistance with the Mayor and City Council, who apparently enjoy lording absolute power over their peasants. Of course, people that are "in the club", liberal hypocrites such as Carl Rowan, who wrote many columns in favor of gun control, and then shot a teenager swimming in his pool, get a free pass. Typical of many intellectual types, they want the law to apply to you, but not to them.