While trying to tell the world who owns a gun, the White Plains, NY, Journal News inadvertently informed all area would-be home invaders which homes are not protected by guns [image].
Just to be fair, the newspaper also published an interactive map of all of their unarmed employees who would like to personally reason with anyone who might be tempted to commit a crime. Oh, wait. That was done by a blogger who thought it was poetic justice.
Meanwhile, the newspaper plans to publish more information regarding armed homeowners so that the criminals can avoid those places as well.
Homeowners who do not have guns are requested to call 911 if a criminal invades their home. A person with a gun will eventually respond... hopefully before the homeowner is harmed to some degree.
The gun control debate has shifted over the last 20 years. Back then it was common to hear that it is in everyone’s best interests if the government made guns go away. The legislative agenda of anti-gun groups was much more radical and overt. Activists pointed to Britain, Australia, and Canada as models of gun control policy.
In 1997 Britain banned handguns, and between 1998 and 2003 gun crimes doubled. According the British Home Office, between 1997 and 2001 homicides increased by 19% and violent crime increased by 26%, while in the U.S. those same crimes fell by 12%. Between 2000 and 2001, robbery increased by 28% in Britain but only 4% in the U.S. Domestic burglary increased by 7% in Britain, but only 3% in the U.S.
In 1996 Australia enacted sweeping gun control laws. In the six years following, violent crime rates rose by 32%. Canada isn’t faring well under its stringent gun control laws. Today Canada’s violent crime rate is more than double that of the U.S. [source]..