Guns, Crime and no data

[m3b]

Regarding their editorial below, shouldn't the LA Times be just as concerned that the current CA AG has not stemmed the flow of AWs into CA as intended with existing laws and via his responsiblity to update the AW list?

Letters/emails to the editor are in order. A thousand should be do-able and definitely get their attention. The LA Times "welcomes expressions of all views" in 150 words or less and should include your name, hometown and daytime telephone number. Emails should be sent to: letters@latimes.com

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http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/...ent-editorials

EDITORIAL - Guns, Crime and no data

Deadly, Intentional Ignorance on Guns
The Bush administration has blocked collecting data on gun sales and crime. Now Congress wants to go even further.

September 3, 2006

TWO YEARS AGO THIS MONTH, the federal ban on assault weapons expired. Since then, sales of such weapons have almost certainly increased, and the number of crimes in which they have been used has undoubtedly risen. Unfortunately, there's no way to know for sure. That's because the public and law enforcement agencies no longer have access to information they could routinely get just a few years ago.

A decade ago, the federal government was beginning to make some progress in making information about crime and guns more widely available. During the Clinton administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms started analyzing its vast database for the first time and in 2000 released its "Commerce in Firearms" report. This report — which was supposed to be issued annually — was full of information about gun sales as well as sales patterns of weapons used to commit crimes.

Armed with that information, federal and local law enforcement began cracking down on suspect dealers and shifting more resources to areas with disproportionally high levels of gun crimes. The federal government also began collecting information from 40 cities nationwide about their gun crimes and looking for helpful patterns in the data.

Today, such information is no longer available. In 2003, federal lawmakers slipped in a provision to an appropriations bill that bars the ATF from spending money to analyze its gun-crime database or making any data available to the public. The federal government also has stopped collecting cities' gun-crime data.

Congress is now intent on going a step further. This month, it's expected to vote on a package of bills that would make it harder to track other kinds of information. One would bar the federal government from releasing gun-crime data of any kind. Another would make it a felony for a law enforcement agency to share information about gun data with another jurisdiction. (This would make it a crime for a police officer in Los Angeles who wanted to pass along a tip about a gun crime to police in Long Beach.)

The gun industry says this kind of information has no value to the public at large and that law enforcement agencies could use it to harass dealers. That's nonsense. What they're probably worried about is that such information could show how to make gun-control laws more effective.

[PanzerAce]

Stuff like this just reminds me why I dont read alot of newspapers these days.

[TKo_Productions]

I sent a response. I don't expect them to publish it, or write back, but we'll see what happens.

[Librarian]

While you're asking the newspaper folks, ask them why California is not producing the data it requires, by law. If they're worried about the Feds, why not worry about CADOJ?

Penal Code 12039. The Attorney General shall provide the Legislature on or before April 15 of each year, commencing in 1998, a written report on the specific types of firearms used in the commission of crimes based upon information obtained from state and local crime laboratories. The report shall include all of the following information regarding crimes in which firearms were used:
(a) A description of the relative occurrence of firearms most frequently used in the commission of violent crimes, distinguishing whether the firearms used were handguns, rifles, shotguns, assault weapons, or other related types of weapons.
(b) A description of specific types of firearms that are used in homicides or street gang and drug trafficking crimes.
(c) The frequency with which stolen firearms were used in the commission of the crimes.
(d) The frequency with which fully automatic firearms were used in the commission of the crimes.
(e) Any trends of importance such as those involving specialized ammunition or firearms modifications, such as conversion to a fully automatic weapon, removal of serial number, shortening of barrel, or use of a suppressor.

[Cato]

Originally Posted by PanzerAce

Stuff like this just reminds me why I dont read alot of newspapers these days.

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Do they still make those things? I guess geriatric Hippies need something to read as they sip their coffee and enjoy the sunrise with their life partners.

You know what really grinds my gears? The LA Times hires half wits to sell me a subscription to that Pinko piece of garbage. You know, I try to be civil and tell the noob that the LA Times is too liberally biased. Julio on the other side is silent for a second and says..."we have DO have many liberal payment plans..we can even have the money taken out of your checking account automatically...now if I could just have your account number." Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!

[ghettoshecky]

Originally Posted by Cato

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Do they still make those things? I guess geriatric Hippies need something to read as they sip their coffee and enjoy the sunrise with their life partners.

You know what really grinds my gears? The LA Times hires half wits to sell me a subscription to that Pinko piece of garbage. You know, I try to be civil and tell the noob that the LA Times is too liberally biased. Julio on the other side is silent for a second and says..."we have DO have many liberal payment plans..we can even have the money taken out of your checking account automatically...now if I could just have your account number." Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!

lol thats why I changed my number and never gave it out since