Letters: 'A PROVOCATIVE THOUGHT EXPERIMENT ON GUNS' Philly.com Daily News H/T John R. Lott, Jr.

imported post

http://www.philly.com/dailynews/opinion/20080506_Letters__A_PROVOCATIVE_THOUGHT_EXPERIMENT_ON_GUNS.html

ABOUT 90 percent of the people shot in the city last year were African-American. While figures are unavailable, it is assumed by most that close to 100 percent of the perpetrators of these shootings were African-American.

Almost all the firearms used in these shootings were obtained, possessed and carried illegally by those who perpetrated the shootings. If, as is constantly claimed, we MUST DO SOMETHING to stop this violence, then why not ban African-American residents of the city from owning handguns?

The answer is that that is patently unfair and discriminatory. To judge an entire group as a problem and punish all members of that group, irrespective of their individual actions, is unconscionable.

Yet, it's deemed perfectly acceptable to discriminate against one particular group - gun owners.

Let's just tell the truth. The instant Mayor Nutter gets the right to pass gun laws for Philly, it will become a practical impossibility to own a handgun or any other weapon the city deems "inappropriate."

I've done nothing wrong, but my rights are to be removed step-by-step because others - entirely outside the law - are using guns feloniously. How is this any less outrageous a suggestion than that black people shouldn't be allowed to have guns?

J.F. Wolfington, Philadelphia

imported post

Eh, this is gonna come off badly for him as far as public perception...

I think a better comparison would be to ban black people. That would get across the point that the "we must do ANYTHING to stop violent crime" actually doesn't mean "anything", but only "anything" involving legal gun owners. It also points out how ridiculous it is to attribute criminality to an inanimate feature, like skin color or gun ownership. Even within entirely white communities there is a good deal of crime.

At any rate, the laws already on the books do a fair job of discriminating. Legislation against "junk guns" and requiring training to get LTCF's target socioeconomically disadvantaged minority groups, and may-issue carry permits allow anyone with a racist agenda to continue said agenda unchecked. In other words... gun control is this country is already effectively banning law-abiding black people from having guns.