About once or twice a year Jim Wigderson and I find an opening to take a pot shot at one another. Today Jim links to me and adds his post:
Remember the old joke that a conservative is a liberal that's been mugged? Paul Soglin reports some of his thoughts on his bike ride Sunday,
...The Sunday Wisconsin State Journal has an article about the significant increase in hand guns in Madison. I spent a good part of the ride mulling over what it will take to convince city leaders that crime and poverty are of major proportions.
Whether or not the city leaders have figured it out, it's clear the residents have. Thank goodness they still have the 2nd Amendment to make the choice to defend themselves. (emphasis added).
Too bad Jim shot first and, it appears never bothered to read the article or ask questions. You see, the residents who choose to arm themselves are not the kind of people who ought to have firearms:
Gun-seizure cases by Madison police have climbed nearly a third over the past five years, as officers increasingly find deadly weapons while investigating incidents ranging from traffic stops and domestic disputes to robberies...
....Police records obtained by the Wisconsin State Journal showed a total of 489 weapons and ammunition caches seized across the city from 2002-06, about half of them handguns. Police also confiscated at least 92 shotguns and 113 rifles.
Cases in which guns and/or ammunition were taken rose from 47 in 2002 to 61 in 2006, with a high of 72 in 2005. The rise in the past two years has been fueled largely by gang and drug problems in Allied Drive and other troubled neighborhoods on the West Side.
In some cases, the guns were seized because they were used to commit crimes, including weapons offenses, robberies or homicides. Many other times, officers found illegal guns while investigating something else - such as a traffic crash, a family dispute or a drug crime.
Many were seized by the Dane County Narcotics and Gang Task Force, led by Madison police Lt. Sandy Theune, in searches of the homes or vehicles of drug suspects.
Because many drug dealers are assumed to carry guns - and because it's illegal for anyone with a felony conviction to have one - the task force routinely seeks permission in its search warrants to take both drugs and illegal guns.
"We're looking for guns and we are seizing them as we can," Theune said. "It does seem like we are seeing a lot of guns. It's a pretty consistent thing." (emphasis added)
Wigderson supports a real nice collection of thugs pursuing their Second Amendment rights.