The Fall of the D.C. Handgun Ban

Washington City Paper reporter Jason Cherkis hits the street to gauge citizen reactions to 6/26/08 Supreme Court ruling.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• supreme
• court
• d.c.
• handgun
• ban
• washington
• city
• paper
• cherkis
• violence
• cheese

[replicators]

Well obviously the ban worked so well, with gun-related deaths plummeting into nonexistence during the all too brief run of the law.

Hahahaha... I can't believe I actually managed to write that without laughing out loud.

[bbkdl8]

At 3:50 you ask the 12 year old boys "how do you feel about the uh now being able to own a handgun?" They, of course, are surprised by the camera. You should be ashamed. However, as a supposed journalist, you should also know that, per the Gun Control Act of 1968, a US citizen must be at least 21 years of age to purchase a handgun from a licensed dealer. If the gun is purchased illegally, then of course, the rules do not apply. You should help educate these kids, not use them for a laugh.

[tyty1794]

nice video. I hate guns but I'll be getting one anyways , never know when when an uprising may start. Especially with all this militia talk.

[rightsman123]

This was not a bad "on the street" segment. Takes a lot of courage to walk up to strangers and ask them about such a controversial issue. I will say to some of you poster that we already have proven results that firearm ownership decreases crime. Look at the crime spike after bans in the UK and around the world. This is a unique case since most places that ban guns never get them back. Thank go we live in America.

[unregisteruser]

The take-away being, if the crime rate sees a fall, it will be a huge "I told you so" moment for the pro-gun rights folks. Anything else and it will be more of the same scwabbling on both sides.

You're right about the video - they were trying to be entertaining and found lunes.

[simoncowellscores]

Go ahead and spread more of the bullshit guys.

[sigmasquadleader]

I agree, but these reactions seem exaggerated, like they found the craziest people in the city, from both sides.

The crime rates will be swayed for both sides, one not accounting for economy, one blaming it on the economy.

[unregisteruser]

If nothing else, the lifted ban will provide a case study in the creative area crime statistics. It will be interesting to see which direction the end of the prohibition takes DC's crime rate. We should expect higher crimes under normal circumstances due to the declining economy. If it goes down or even remains flat, I'd say gun ownership advocates will have been proven correct.