Baltimore, MD cops focus on gun crimes more than drugs.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/20 ... lent-crime" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The above link is to a 4 page Christian Science Monitor article on the policies of
the Baltimore, Maryland (aka Bodymore, Murderland) PD. Their new leaders have
decided that they will downplay the war on drugs and make illegal guns their top
priority.

They have seized 5,000 illegal weapons, which = 10% of all the legal firearms sold
in the state of Maryland. Balto has a population of 600,000.

There are 5 pix available for scrolling at the top of the article. Notice the large number
of police evidence number tents on the street in 1 of them - it looks like a serious semi-auto
was being sprayed.

The NRA supports this effort, but the story also covers MAIG (Mayors Against Illegal Guns),
which sounds like crime control, but MAIG's policies just strangle legal gunowners with more
restrictions.

SIA

[casingpoint]

LOL, A population of 637,000 people with 235 murders in 2008, 234 murders in 2009 and Baltimore has thinks it has a problem???

This is a problem. Sixty-nine drug related murders in a single day, 20,000 murders since 2001 and escalating:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100112/ap_ ... war_mexico" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[psijac]

Baltimore has had a decrease in murders, not because they were less shooting occurring but because medical technology advanced so that more shooting victims could be saved. Baltimore is very close to D.C. now that it is legal to own guns and certain factions are lawyering up to bring concealed carry to the table, crime will probably decrease further. I think the Baltimore police are trying to create a correlation between their actions and the decreased in crime that will occur naturally when the Citizens of D.C. are allowed to rearm.

[ELB]

LOL, A population of 637,000 people with 235 murders in 2008, 234 murders in 2009 and Baltimore has thinks it has a problem???

This is a problem. Sixty-nine drug related murders in a single day, 20,000 murders since 2001 and escalating:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100112/ap_ ... war_mexico" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I read a couple articles the other day comparing El Paso and Juarez. IIRC, last year El Paso had 600K population and 12 murders. Juarez had population of 1.5M and over 2500 murders. Juarez had 25 murders in the first four days of the new year, including dismemberments and eyegougings. So yeah Baltimore is kind of lagging behind. But look at poor El Paso! 'Bout the same size city as Baltimore in one of those gun-clinging states, versus, say one of those states with "common sense gun control" like Maryland, it would be murder city. Who'da thunk it?

The mayor of Juarez of course blamed the US for a) importing all those guns, and b) (and this is really comical) deporting Mexican citizens who were illegally in the US back to Mexico! Apparently when the system actually deports a Mexican national, it takes them to the border (e.g. Juarez) and drops them off. Juarez got 7,000 of them last year, and the mayor of Juarez says they're responsible for crime going up in his city. The solution the mayor has in mind is for the US to ship them to Mexico City instead. I suggest he rent some busses and ship them onto Mexico City himself.

[wheelgun1958]

The NRA supports this effort

No surprise there.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

The NRA supports this effort

No surprise there.

You appear to disapprove of the NRA supporting LEO's arresting
people who use their guns for evil.

This seems rational to me. These people who shoot each other in the
street over drug deals are the kind of people who need arresting.

They are the opposite of the law abiding forum members who would
only use their firearms for target practice or protecting their family.

The NRA works every day to preserve our 2A rights.
I for one feel thankful that they are on the case.

SIA

[The Annoyed Man]

The NRA supports this effort

No surprise there.

The reason that the NRA holds the moral high ground when it comes to gun safety education is that it supports and promotes the Eddie the Eagle program. The "loyal" opposition offers nothing but further loss of gun rights.

For the NRA to continue to hold the moral high ground when it comes to the illegal use of guns, then it needs to also be supportive of efforts that focus on interdiction of the illegal use of guns. That is the logical flip side of promoting that guns are not the issue, but rather the illegal use of them is the problem. If the NRA were to speak out against such an interdiction, then gun grabbers would have a an argument for the NRA being a rogue organization.

The issue isn't NRA support. The issue is whether or not the interdiction efforts will focus on criminals, or on the law-abiding. If it is to focus on criminals, then the NRA's support is well placed. If the focus turns out to be harassment of the law abiding, then the NRA can always withdraw its support and then draw national attention to the abuse of power.

Frankly, the NRA is the premier organization out there protecting your gun rights. I wish you could explain further why you think they aren't. Otherwise, your response is difficult to understand.

There are 5 pix available for scrolling at the top of the article. Notice the large number
of police evidence number tents on the street in 1 of them - it looks like a serious semi-auto
was being sprayed.

That particular picture was taken in Philadelphia, not Baltimore. The one before it, of the abandoned Mac 10 on the ground, was taken in Times Square NYC. Methinks the Christian Science Monitor needed a little bit of drama in their article, because the only link between the three cities in regard to a gun control effort is that Mayor Sheila Dixon of Baltimore and Mayor Frances Tkach of Philadelphia are both members in good standing of New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's "Mayors Against Illegal Guns" organization - a thinly veiled group of gun grabbers. I wouldn't characterize the CSM's editorial stance as friendly to the RKBA, so what is being reported, and what is actually going on are not necessarily the same thing. Thus, their coverage of the NRA's support of this initiative may not be entirely honest either.

[joe817]

Good analysis TAM! Thanks.

[marksiwel]

I have issue with this
"This law enforcement philosophy is born of the growing acknowledgment that millions of dollars and arrests have done little to slow urban America's drug trade, and that a fresh strategy is needed to further reduce violence in the country's toughest cities. From new gunshot-detection cameras in New Haven, Conn., to a gun-offender registry in Baltimore; from a Sacramento, Calif., law requiring gun dealers to notify police about people who buy bullets to a proposal approved by the Los Angeles City Council that would let landlords evict tenants convicted of gun crimes, city police departments and governments are putting new emphasis on fighting illegal guns."

Yeah hows that "Gunshot Detection" Camera working? Gotten alot of arrests?
Gun offender Registry in Baltimore, I'm sure thats helping reduce the crime rate.
They have to report Ammo purchases to the cops? I'm sure thats solved tons of crimes
Evicting people for gun crimes, but Regular Stabbing Murder is fine right?

"In Maryland, for instance, Baltimore city representatives have pushed the state legislature to pass tougher gun penalties. In Massachusetts, proponents have asked for tougher sentencing laws and the ability to hold gun offenders without bail. Mayors Against Illegal Guns has lobbied for changes to federal law, asking the Obama administration to allow the ATF to release to local officials more gun trace data. It has also supported legislation to block people on terrorism watch lists from purchasing guns and has pushed for an end to so-called gun-show loopholes, in which unlicensed firearms sellers can sidestep background-check requirements."

Yeah just let More and More people have access to sensitive information, its not like they would release that information like we;ve seen time and time again.
As for the Terrorism watch list? Just like the 1 Million strong No Fly List. You can get on it because your name sounds like some one elses, or if you are Ted Kennedy.

"still, as baltimore shows, this change can be significant. Since Bealefeld took the commissioner job two years ago, with the explicit goal of targeting gun crimes, homicide numbers in the city have dropped to record lows. The 234 murders in the city in 2008 was the lowest annual total in two decades; by Dec. 29, 2009, the city had 235, indicating a sustained trend rather than – as usually happens in Baltimore – a one-year dip."
Yeah, Crimes down all over, Correlation does not imply causation example, "As ice cream sales increase, the rate of drowning deaths increases sharply.
Therefore, ice cream causes drowning."

"Boston, for instance, which put a gun buy-back program into effect in 2006 after a spike in gun violence, has seen a decrease in nonfatal shootings – 323 in 2006, 273 in 2007, 274 in 2008, and just 191 as of Dec. 13, 2009. In New York, after years of refocused enforcement, police are finding fewer illegal guns on the street – 7,059 in 2006 and 5,913 in 2007, for example. "I am just so convinced, and so animated, about this notion of going after gun violence," Bealefeld says. "Because we've been debating about the efficacy of drug enforcement, and whether we should legalize drugs, or what we should do about drugs, blah blah blah blah blah drugs forever. You can't get five people to agree on it. But I could get 500, I could get 5,000, I could get 500,000 to agree that one guy with a gun constitutes a danger to them. I can." •"
Yeah this is all just nonsense. Feel Good nonsense for nonsense Politicians.

[casingpoint]

The guy with the gun, with the baggy pants and no belt? With the Glock jammed down there? He's going to saunter off very quietly. He's been arrested before; he knows what cops do.…

Ain't that illegal profiling? And what do those Balmer cops do when they see all that young butt hanging out of those baggy pants?

(Photo taken in Atlanta, GA.)