I lived in a very dangerous part of Chicago for 12 years (Roosevelt Rd. and Damen Ave.). My observations are that if a homeowner is armed there is less likelyhood of a violent crime being committed. The unspoken assumption about guns and the poor is that the poor cannot be trusted with guns. Once your poor you are an instant criminal. The overwhelming (95%+) of the residents where I lived were law abidding citizens, just poor. If they had the ability to defend themselves there would have been alot less crime. Rising ammo prices constrict that ability. Oh, yeah – even without the ability to own firearms, Chicago lead big cities in the number of murders (We’re number 1 !!!!!!) with 668 in 2001. Police solve crimes after they happen, they very, very rarely prevent them. Got that from the police officers in my Naval Reserve unit. It wasn’t Mr. Bennett’s opinion that was nonsensical Mr. King. It was yours.

Richard Cook

Something else, Mr. King might want to explore WHY cops are not going into poor minority areas. Every time they make a bust there self appointed “leaders” scream racism and politicians back off from enforcing the laws so stringently in some areas. If your a cop it keeps your blood pressure down if you are reading the news in your squad car under a nice big tree.

What a nonsensical conclusion. If anything is an attack on the working poor it is the fact that policing in their neighbourhoods is so bad. You solve this problem by improving the policing, thus reducing the need for private weaponry.