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Guns Don't Kill People, People Kill People

"The New York Times, reporting from post-Katrina New Orleans, has discovered the root cause of crime:"

The bullets and the drugs and the fear are gone now, swept away by
Hurricane Katrina, along with the dealers and gangs and most of the
people.

There has not been a single killing in this violence-prone
neighborhood, or anywhere else in New Orleans, since the chaos that immediately
followed Hurricane Katrina subsided. New Orleans, the nation's most dangerous
city, has suddenly become perhaps its safest, and what had easily been the
country's murder capital now has a murder rate of exactly zero. Although several
people were believed to have been killed in the disorder that followed the
floods for several days, the last killing officially recorded by the police was
on Aug. 27, two days before the hurricane hit. A bar owner was found shot to
death that day in his establishment on Magazine Street.

And when the city was finally evacuated, the criminals left, too.

Since then some 60,000 to 80,000 residents have returned, a fraction of
the city's previous population of 450,000. What is remarkable to criminologists,
though, is how few criminals seem to be among them.

"Just as we've always suspected, the cause of crime is . . . criminals!"

Okay, let's do the math. This is New Orleans so figure on a 5% criminal population. If 60,000 have so far returned, that's 3000 criminals. Criminals of all sorts from bad-check writers to stickup men to mayors. It would seem that these 3000 would have the pick of the litter regarding stuff to steal, rape or kill, but what's left is either well protected...big business owned or operated...or especially wary. And of the 3000 only 10 percent of THEM would be hardened felons, but maybe, just maybe the felons found it easier to start anew someplace else.

Then there's the drug trade that stimulates a heck of a lot of crime and my guess is that too many customers remain elsewhere for that to have kickedin again with any kind of big bang.

And the tourists, where are all the tourists? On high ground of course, awaiting normalcy, so no tourists also means no bad guys.

Bottom line is the fact that crooks only go where there is stuff to crook. New Orleans remains destitute and where's the future in being a self respecting criminal living in a place where there's nothing to steal.

This has criminologists puzzled? New Orleans criminologists or real ones? Maybe the real ones were the dudes that deserted. Now Vegas and Dallas have alla the Columbos.

Could be.