Heller raises Hell

It took over 30 years, but the citizens of D.C. managed to avoid being murdered in their happy joyful gun-free city just long enough to get their day in court.

Washington D.C. has done America a great public service, not specifically because of this ruling, but because their failed attempt at controlling gun violence is now the best possible evidence against handgun bans: a case study.

A few things have to be acknowledged to make this legitimate. There is not, and never will be, a causal relationship between gun restrictions and murder rates. Nor is there even a direct correlation. A negative correlation could be achieved if a significant number of guns were taken off the streets, but at this point in American history (those two words are enough) there are enough guns on the street to keep a black market alive forever. D.C's policy tried to exploit this correlation but was defeated by that little exception. As a result, the number of murders more than doubled, while their population continued to shrink. In the 1990s, D.C. officially earned the highest murder rate in the country.

So how do criminals keep their guns? The same way they buy crack - they break the damn law. People (especially those who are either too old or too high-class to remember what is practical for the average person) tend to vote for bullshit ideas that are designed to make them feel good. Politicians like Adrian Fenty know that. An effective plan would entail too high a cost and result in too much police power (you can go ahead and repeal the 2nd amendment at that point).