Laying the blame on others

Members of the Million Mom March and CeasefireNJ will hold a rally in Trenton on Saturday, the third anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The antigun advocates' mission: to point out that while New Jersey has some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation, shooting deaths in its major cities surged last year.

No mention of whether the people who are dead were unarmed victims or other gangbangers on the street doing shootouts. My guess is that it would be a mix of both, not that it would matter to the million moms and ceasefire, because 'self-defense' obviously isn't in their dictionary.

Activists say many of the weapons come here from out of state, including from across the Delaware River in Pennsylvania. The rally will end with a march across the "Trenton Makes, The World Takes" bridge to Morrisville, Pa.
"We think that it's entirely appropriate that this rally and march will be across a bridge between Pennsylvania and New Jersey, because it's across such bridges that guns come into our state that devastate our communities," said Bryan Miller, director of CeasefireNJ. "It's an easy trip across the river."

So making it harder to buy a handgun in Pennsylvania has forced criminals, who aren't obeying the gun laws anyway, to go out of state to get their instruments of violence. Thats what happens when you ignore the root causes of violence and instead try to cut off access to the tools that they use. All you've done is make it easier for the criminals to victimize the law abiding citizen.

A related bill by Assemblyman Richard Merkt, R-Randolph, cites ATF figures from 1992 to 1998 indicating that 80 percent of guns confiscated in crimes in the Garden State had been smuggled in from other states.

Prosecutors in Camden County said of the 252 guns used in crimes there in 2003-2004 that could be traced to their original point of sale, 36 percent came from Pennsylvania. About 14 percent came from the Garden State, with the balance coming from the Carolinas, Florida, Virginia and Georgia.

"The federal government has abdicated its responsibility in guns coming up through the border," Gusciora said Thursday. "New Jersey should at least track to find out which states these guns are coming from."

so now we're going to add the federal government to your list of bodies for New Jersey's failure to stop gun crime? I'm not one to usually go for the liberal/conservative aspect of stories, but this one certainly looks like it's straight out of the liberal handbook of blame laying.

Andrew Arulanandam, a spokesman with the National Rifle Association, said while he hasn't seen Gusciora's legislation, efforts to focus on legal gun purchases are misplaced.

"A vast majority of firearms used in crime are obtained in the black market," Arulanandam said. "The key is to strictly prosecute anyone who breaks the law, especially firearms law. If there's anyone involved in illegal gun trade, prosecute them."

While not a huge fan of the NRA myself, at least this guy has it right. Too bad the anti-gun folks don't want to hear something like that. I guess that makes too much sense for them to comprehend.

But Attorney General Zulima Farber's office says tracing gun origins is an important public policy effort. To that end, in an interview earlier this week Farber said state police have begun an initiative in Irvington and Camden to intensify investigations at crime scenes where a gun has been used.

Tracing gun origins is only an important policy effort if you are still trying to find ways to be able to sue the manufacturer and dealer for your incompetence at stopping the criminal. This is what governments at all levels do when they can't get unethical legislation passed, they try to regulate and legislate a business out of the market.