San Francisco = England & D.C.?
22 December 2004 - San Francisco Chronicle

So San Francisco wants to go the way of Washington, D.C. and England in the complete and total ban of private handgun ownership. There are two things San Francisco residents should be aware of before they go to the voting booth next year.

Number 1: In 2001 when the murder rate in gun-free zone Washington, D.C. was 43.7 per 100K (that’s directly out of the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports – I wonder where the AP got that 9.4 number), the murder rate just across the river in Arlington, VA (where handgun ownership is legal and concealed-carry permits are available to law-abiding citizens) was a paltry by comparison 2.1 per 100K.

Number 2: The percentage of home burglaries in England (where all firearm ownership is illegal nationwide) that are “hot” – as in “home invasion”, with the residents at home – is 53%, while the percentage of “hot” burglaries in the U.S. is 13%.

Those two statistics put together should convince any honest person that the availability of handgun ownership contributes to keep citizens safe – whether they choose to own a gun or not. After all, if criminals don’t know who’s armed and who’s not, it makes their decision of whom to attack a lot tougher. Imagine how easy it is for them to choose which house to rob when there’s a “gun-free zone” sign at the city limits.