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New York City, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.
Crime is not Affected by Handgun Registration and Waiting Requirements
In the document ATF Crime Gun Trace Analysis Reports: The Illegal Youth Firearms Markets in 27 Communities, Department of the Treasury and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Feb. 1999, the ATF reports 27,951 firearm traces from Chicago, New York City and Washington, D.C. These three cities have virtually banned the ownership of all handguns.
That criminals are able to obtain guns despite such bans is well known, but to show how unlikely the people can depend on the police for their protection we refer to the March 16, 2000 Chicago Tribune article by Todd Lighty titled "Gang boss says he, cops were hand in glove." That article reports that police supplied a gang with guns and ammunition, and a corrupt cop took gang members to a local shooting range to improve their marksmanship. Such reports are not rare either. New York City police corruption has been reported by the New York Times (David Kocieniewski, "Detective Says That His Cover Was Blown by Corrupt Officer," New York Times, April 8, 1997, p. A20). That case involved drug gang and gun trafficking activity with corrupt cops providing protection for a gang.
That waiting periods are equally ineffective at reducing crime has been demonstrated by John Lott (see "Revisiting the Five-day Waiting Period," July 2, 1998, Intellectual Capital.Com Magazine, http://speakout.com/activism/opinions/). He reports that 85% of the National Association of Chiefs of Police believe the Brady Law waiting period and screens have been ineffective against crime. Additionally, he reports analyses of data from 3,054 counties in the U. S. That analysis shows the Brady "law had no significant impact on murder or robbery rates but was associated with a slight percentage increase in rapes and aggravated assaults." That is, the Brady law actually is responsible for slight increases in crime. His analyses report that waiting periods are counterproductive also with longer waiting periods associated with more crime than shorter ones.
The article "Homicide and Suicide Rates Associated with Implementation of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act," Jens Ludwig and Philip J. Cook, Vol. 284, No. 5 conclude that "our analyses provide no evidence that implementation of the Brady Act was associated with a reduction in homicide rates." (The American Medical Association traditionally takes a pro-gun control position and in fact endorsed the original Brady Bill.)
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