MURDER SPIKE: NYPD'S NEEDS

"In the '80s, the crack-cocaine explosion spread from other parts of the country to New York, triggering the drug wars. Something similar could be in the offing now - for murder rates rose in many US cities last year. This year's early numbers show murder rising in Los Angeles and Chicago - the country's second- and third-largest cities. This may be the harbinger of a national trend.

Another area of concern is the pending US Supreme Court ruling on Washington, DC's gun-control law. One reason New York is much safer today than in 1990 is that firearm murders have fallen from the neighborhood of 1,500 a year to the 300 range. And key to that has been enhanced NYPD enforcement of the Sullivan Law (forbidding unlicensed persons to possess a handgun), which has deterred criminals from carrying their weapons.

But a federal appeals court last year struck down DC's gun-control law on the grounds that it violated the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. If the Supreme Court affirms that ruling, statutes like New York's Sullivan Law will likely face court challenges. And any undercutting of the NYPD's authority to arrest gunmen will inevitably lead to a rise in shootings."

Thomas A. Reppetto, a criminologist, has authored five books on police and crime, including "NYPD: A City and its Police."

See what we're up against?

Big cities across the country...EVERY big city we have...spawn the same mindset. This gentleman considers himself a criminologist yet doesn't know the difference between a criminal and a law abiding member of society.

The Sullivan Act dates back to 1911, and has never deterred criminals from killing people. It simply makes carrying certain weapons a felony, and changing or eliminating it altogether for a law that allows non-criminals to exercise their rights wouldn't prevent the police from still arresting those who would use such weapons in a criminal act.

No one in their right mind would argue that street gangs should be permitted to drive around in Abrams tanks, but thats the same old saw that anti's use whenever they want to scare people into believing that draconian gun laws "work".

Blood running in the streets, Dodge-City all over again, and of course, the children, the children. Tired old saws that do nothing to stop criminal violence.

Should NY's Sullivan Act be declared unconstitutional, NY will then do what other city's have done and that's to establish licensing procedures for the ownership and carrying of firearms and other weapons. All you need NOW is a lot of money and good connections, but any change allowing the little people to defend themselves would STILL mean that crooks would be unable to legally possess guns.

"Criminologist" my ass. This tool is just another anti-gunner barking for the liberal carnival of vanities. The drop in enough police officers to man the streets is partly to do with the spike in murders in NYC, and that means NY will have to suck it up once again and begin to hire more real cops. Until then, the skyrocketing murder rate will be used to scare the sheeple into believing that guns are evil and no one besides government officials should own one.