RANT
San Francisco Voters Approve Handgun Ban
November 13, 2005
By LOUISE CHU, Associated Press Writer Wed Nov 9, 6:27 AM ET

SAN FRANCISCO - Voters approved ballot measures to ban handguns in San Francisco and urge the city’s public high schools and college campuses to keep out military recruiters.

The gun ban prohibits the manufacture and sale of all firearms and ammunition in the city, and makes it illegal for residents to keep handguns in their homes or businesses.

Although law enforcement, security guards and others who require weapons for work are exempt from the measure, current handgun owners would have to surrender their firearms by April.

The military recruitment initiative won with 60 percent in favor and 40 percent against.

The measure, dubbed “College Not Combat,” opposes the presence of military recruiters at public high schools and colleges. However, it would not ban the armed forces from seeking enlistees at city campuses, since that would put schools at risk of losing federal funding.

It encourages city officials and university administrators to exclude recruiters and create scholarships and training programs that would reduce the military’s appeal to young adults.

“We now have the moral weight of the city behind us, and it’s definitely a valuable asset to have in our corner,” said Bob Matthews, an activist for the proposition.

Only two other major U.S. cities — Washington and Chicago — have implemented such sweeping handgun bans.

Congratulations. You’re all fucked:

In 1976, Washington, D.C. enacted one of the most restrictive gun control laws in the nation. Since then, the city’s murder rate has risen 134 percent while the national murder rate has dropped 2 percent. (Dr. Gary Kleck, University of Florida using FBI Uniform Crime Statistics, 1997)

20% of U.S. homicides occur in four cities with just six percent of the population – New York, Chicago, Detroit, and Washington, D.C. – and each has a virtual prohibition on private handguns. (FBI Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) for 2000, p. 79, Table 5, “Index of Crime by State”)

Maryland claims to have the toughest gun control laws in the nation and ranks #1 in robberies and #4 in both violent crime and murder. (Ibid)

Paul Nancywood

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