More guns = less crime. That’s the Lottian corollary. Not to mention the experience of law abiding gun owners from sea to shining sea. “As criminals have more reason to fear the citizenry, crime begins to drop as a result.” And there you have the common sense thinking that animates the activism of Kyle Coplen, founder of the Houston-based Armed Citizen Project. Much to the horror of civilian disarmers, Coplen intends to put the corollary work on a micro level . . .
foxnews.com reports:
To test his theory that guns will make people safer, Coplen also plans to arm an entire neighborhood in Houston that currently has a lot of crime, and use that as a case study to find out what happens to the crime rate after residents have been armed and trained.
That means he’ll give gratis guns to residents of low income, high crime neighborhoods, as long as they pass a NICS check and undergo firearms and gun law training. Let a thousand little sociological laboratories bloom. What’s not to like?
Once he’s done it in Houston, he’s aiming for infinity and beyond. Next up: Gabby Giffords’ old district in Tucson.
“We intend for this project to become national, and we will be arming communities all across the country. My goal, for the first year, is to train and arm 1,000 households,” he said.
Quick – you get three guesses as to who thinks this is a bad idea. Don’t worry you won’t need all three.
“Handing out guns in a high-crime neighborhood is like distributing cigarettes in a community with a high incidence of respiratory disease,” said Ladd Everitt, the Director of Communications for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.
Because law abiding poor people – those trapped in high crime neighborhoods without the economic means to vote with their feet – can’t be trusted to take advantage of armed self defense. No, they have to rely on the responsiveness of the local po-po to get there and provide protection for themselves and their families.
Here’s another corollary: anything that causes morning cable news show hosts to purse their lips in thinly disguised disapproval while simultaneously causing Ladd Everitt’s Underoos to torque tighter than a clam with lockjaw is probably a good idea.
