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Thursday, May 4, 2006
Gun Control: Blaming the state
Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and police Chief Gil Kerlikowske appear to be trying to shift the responsibility for a spate of killings in the city to the Legislature. "When it comes to preventing gun violence," the mayor said Tuesday, "Seattle's hands are tied."
As we warned in the wake of the massacre on Capitol Hill, the attempt to answer the question "why?" might lead to simplistic solutions.
The mayor asks the state to pass laws that prevent firearms from getting into the hands of criminals. But state and federal laws already prohibit the possession, purchase or sale of firearms for felons, people with a history of mental illness or facing allegations of domestic violence. All commercial sales of firearms require a background check for such disqualifiers.
What else could the state do? An outright assault weapons ban is unfair and unenforceable. Manufacturers supply trigger locks with their firearms and the locks are widely available at no cost.
Better tracing and sharing of information among law enforcement on guns used in crimes makes sense. And it's not unreasonable to require that all firearms purchases at gun shows be subject to background checks.
Seattle residents are justified in fearing violence and wanting to be safer from it in their homes and on the streets.
But we'll have more success reducing violence by eliminating its motives, not some of the weapons it employs.
Tell us what's on your mind.
 | |
| Could we, should we, ban all firearms in Seattle? | |
 11.3%We could and we should. |
10.0% We should but we couldn't. |
| 78.8% We shouldn't because we couldn't. |
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| Total Votes: 532 | |
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