Since 02-24-06
Take away the guns and only the criminals will have guns
Friday, February 24, 2006
The National Rifle Association pressed its case against San Francisco's voter-approved ban on firearm sales and handgun possession in court Thursday, arguing that the ordinance flouts state law by requiring law-abiding residents to surrender their pistols.
The city's lawyer countered that a local government is entitled to protect its residents from handgun violence.
The hearing ended without Superior Court Judge James Warren ruling on the validity of Proposition H, which was approved by 58 percent of the voters Nov. 8 and was challenged by the NRA, three other organizations and seven gun owners the next day.
Warren asked the city to delay enforcement until he rules, which could be as late as mid-June. Deputy City Attorney Wayne Snodgrass said city officials would probably accept some postponement.
Prop. H prohibits handgun possession by San Francisco residents and bans the sale, manufacture and distribution of firearms and ammunition within city limits. It exempts law enforcement officers and others who need guns for professional purposes.
Two other major U.S. cities, Chicago (see murder below) and Washington, D.C. (see murder & violent crime below), have outlawed handguns. Gun-rights advocates in Congress have been trying for years to scuttle Washington's ban. A constitutional challenge to a handgun ban in the Chicago suburb of Morton Grove, Ill., was rejected by a federal appeals court in 1982.
The suit against Prop. H contends that such local measures conflict with California law, which authorizes police agencies to issue handgun permits and prohibits gun possession by certain categories of people, including convicted felons and the mentally ill.
State laws are designed to "keep guns away from the bad guys while trying to give the good guys some means to protect themselves,'' Chuck Michel, a lawyer for the NRA and the other plaintiffs, told Warren.
Thursday, 1 Jan 2004
CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- Despite a sharp drop in homicides, Chicago has regained a title it didn't want: America's murder capital.
The city finished 2003 with 599 homicides, police said Thursday. That was down from 648 a year earlier and the first time since 1967 that the total dipped below 600.
Still, the nation's third-largest city outpaced all others for the second time in three years. New York, with about three times the population, ended the year with 596 homicides. Los Angeles, which had the most murders in 2002 at 658, wound up 2003 with an estimated total just under 500.
Chicago's new police superintendent, Philip J. Cline, joined colleagues elsewhere in blaming homicides largely on a volatile mix of gangs, guns and drugs.
But officials pointed to a new system established in June, partly inspired by New York's computerized crime analysis unit, that contributed to an 18 percent drop in Chicago murders in the second half of 2003 compared with a year earlier.
In New York, the unofficial murder tally of 596 compared with 584 in 2002. That was a 2 percent jump but still made 2003 the city's second straight year below 600 -- dramatically less than the 2,245 homicides recorded in 1990.
St. Louis logged its lowest murder total in more than four decades, a showing that police credited to aggressive efforts to track down violent offenders.
Police said there were 69 killings in the Gateway City in 2003, matching the total of 1962. The number was a 39 percent decrease from the 2002 total of 113.
| Year | Population | Index | Violent Crime | Murder |
| 1960 | 763,956 | 20,725 | 4,230 | 81 |
| 1961 | 763,956 | 21,584 | 4,491 | 88 |
| 1962 | 784,000 | 22,208 | 4,750 | 91 |
| 1963 | 798,000 | 25,584 | 4,740 | 95 |
| 1964 | 808,000 | 30,334 | 5,112 | 132 |
| 1965 | 803,000 | 33,885 | 5,804 | 148 |
| 1966 | 808,000 | 39,937 | 7,155 | 141 |
| 1967 | 809,000 | 53,886 | 9,252 | 178 |
| 1968 | 809,000 | 63,653 | 12,180 | 195 |
| 1969 | 798,000 | 83,040 | 17,038 | 287 |
| 1970 | 756,510 | 82,334 | 16,846 | 221 |
| 1971 | 741,000 | 70,516 | 16,084 | 275 |
| 1972 | 748,000 | 58,832 | 12,607 | 245 |
| 1973 | 746,000 | 58,921 | 11,626 | 268 |
| 1974 | 723,000 | 54,644 | 11,590 | 277 |
| 1975 | 716,000 | 55,157 | 12,704 | 235 |
| 1976 | 702,000 | 49,726 | 10,399 | 188 |
| 1977 | 690,000 | 49,821 | 9,843 | 192 |
| 1978 | 674,000 | 50,950 | 9,515 | 189 |
| 1979 | 656,000 | 56,430 | 10,553 | 180 |
| 1980 | 635,233 | 63,668 | 12,772 | 200 |
| 1981 | 636,000 | 67,910 | 14,468 | 223 |
| 1982 | 631,000 | 65,692 | 13,397 | 194 |
| 1983 | 623,000 | 57,776 | 11,933 | 183 |
| 1984 | 623,000 | 53,524 | 10,725 | 175 |
| 1985 | 626,000 | 50,075 | 10,171 | 147 |
| 1986 | 626,000 | 52,204 | 9,423 | 194 |
| 1987 | 622,000 | 52,569 | 10,016 | 225 |
| 1988 | 620,000 | 61,471 | 11,914 | 369 |
| 1989 | 604,000 | 62,172 | 12,937 | 434 |
| 1990 | 606,900 | 65,389 | 14,919 | 472 |
| 1991 | 598,000 | 64,393 | 14,671 | 482 |
| 1992 | 589,000 | 67,187 | 16,685 | 443 |
| 1993 | 578,000 | 67,979 | 16,888 | 454 |
| 1994 | 570,000 | 63,186 | 15,177 | 399 |
| 1995 | 554,000 | 67,441 | 14,744 | 360 |
| 1996 | 543,000 | 64,599 | 13,411 | 397 |
| 1997 | 529,000 | 52,049 | 10,708 | 301 |
| 1998 | 523,000 | 46,210 | 8,988 | 260 |
| 1999 | 519,000 | 41,868 | 8,448 | 241 |
| 2000 | 572,059 | 41,626 | 8,626 | 239 |