New Orleanians Strapping Up in Record Numbers

New Orleanians are arming themselves in record numbers as the crime wave here continues. I've never considered purchasing a gun myself until the murder rate exploded over the past year.

Comments

[christal]

please check this out & spread the word.
http://nolagreenproject.chipin.com/nola-green-project

[hannah]

i read a great article about this a few weeks ago in the los angeles times. interestingly, most reprints of the article left out what i considered most illuminating:

"In a measure of how dangerous New Orleans is becoming, guns are finding their way into criminal hands at an alarming rate. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' "time-to-crime" analysis of the interval between the legal sale of a gun and the time it is seized in a crime investigation is five years on average around the nation, said ATF spokesman Austin Banks. In New Orleans, time-to-crime is six months, he said."

not to jump on the conspiracy bandwagon, but who is deciding whose best interest here? isn't lowering the crime rate at the top of everyone's list? why isn't this information trumpeted from the rooftops in an effort to slow crime in new orleans? just how much money is being made by arms dealers in this country? enough to justify the lives lost every day in new orleans to gun crime? not to mention everyone else who is terrorized by living in unsafe conditions?

when the situation is desperate, informed consumers make better decisions. and clearly, a privatized arms race isn't the answer. buying a gun in new orleans is like paying to get robbed, and then shot.

[oscar]

We should go shooting some time when I get back in town!

[Jonah]

buying a gun in new orleans is like paying to get robbed, and then shot.

Nice turn of phrase. What is the alternative besides pressure on local law enforcement?

[hannah]

yeah, i don't envy your position. i got nothing. interesting timing for a 'gun control discussion' though, wouldn't you say?

have fun in GA.