Washington Post; Half of D.C. residents want a return to citywide gun ban, poll finds

The Washington Post conducted a poll of the residents of the District of Columbia in regards to the current state of gun ownership, or, rather, the lack thereof, in the District. Their poll says that 51% of the people polled want the gun ban to return and 47% oppose that. However, the margin of error in their poll is +/-4% meaning that the difference is statistically insignificant, but you wouldn’t think that from the article.

With a solid half in support of a total gun ban, the poll’s findings will probably embolden D.C. politicians and gun-control advocates, who are fighting to keep intact lesser firearm restrictions that gun-rights advocates are contesting in federal courts.

Yeah, well, there’s a solid half in the other direction, too. Besides, this is a good example of why there is a Bill of Rights. Those amendments were added to the Constitution in order to protect a minority of citizens from the tyranny of majority, you know, even though there’s not a majority supporting a gun ban in DC, anyway. If the majority wanted Congress to establish a national religion, or if a majority wanted to muzzle the press, they can’t, because of the Bill of Rights. The same goes for gun ownership.

To their credit, the Post did interview some rational people for their article;

“Isn’t that in the…the 2nd Amendment, no they shouldn’t ban guns,” said Idriis Bilaal, 88, who spent two decades in the Army and lives in an area of D.C. north of Capitol Hill where robberies have been on the rise. “Guns don’t kill nobody, they just lay there. A man should be able to own a gun if he wants to. It doesn’t mean he has to use it wrongly.”

“This is America, you’ve always had a right to own a gun, and I think you should,” said a poll respondent who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is among the few who have gone through the process to legally register a gun in the District and considers that decision a private one.

A retiree who lives in a neighborhood north of Capitol Hill, the respondent said he obviously disagrees with a ban.

“You should have some protection, I’m 70 and that’s the way it used to be. Why shouldn’t you when all those criminals have guns? They don’t care about a ban on guns.”

But, they interviewed some irrational people, too;

Pearley Harmon, 76, a retired engineer who lives in Takoma Park, said he thinks that gun violence has increased since the Supreme Court struck down the city’s ban on handguns, and, if it were possible, he would like to see the ban restored.

For the record, none of the crimes committed with firearms in the District since the total ban was lifted were committed with a registered firearm or by a registered gun owner. So, restoring the ban would have no impact on crime in the District. There have been 144 murders committed with firearms this year, the were 91 at this time last year. But you know, gun registration was allowed last year, too. Since the gun ban was enacted in 1974, the Metro PD confiscated about 2,000 illegal guns every year in spite of the law. Criminals don’t care about laws, apparently.

My question to those folks who want the ban restored is “What part of “shall not be infringed” do you not understand?”

Category: Guns