Panama Lifts Ban on Gun Imports amid Rising Crime Wave

PanAm Post

Public Safety Minister Rodolfo Aguilera said the country will follow in the footsteps of the United States and Switzerland, where the right to bear arms is believed to lead to fewer homicides.

“Everything seems to indicate that there is no direct correlation in the aphorism that says more guns mean more crime,” said Aguilera, who explained that relaxed gun laws have allowed the United States to reduce the homicide rate over the last 20 years.

Aguilera added that new regulations will include criminal and psychological background checks for future gun owners.

Probably very few of their homicides are poor unarmed average citizens. The folks getting killed are criminals, drug dealers and the like. So, arming the average citizens will have little effect to the good, but like in the US, more guns will be stolen and more will be sold to criminals.  Things will get worse, proving the age-old truth: guns do more harm than good.

How Many People Police Have Killed in Each State So Far This Year

Mic

Just three states (Rhode Island, South Dakota and Vermont) avoided any killings at all. Meanwhile, California reached a shocking 95 police killings, Texas clocked 64 and Florida was not far behind with 43. Arizona and Oklahoma are runners-up at 28 and 26, respectively.

Keep in mind the year is only halfway over. Even the 605 killings that Mapping Police Violence tracked through July 10 alone would make the U.S. an outlier among comparable democracies.

This doesn't happen in other developed countries: Policing in the U.S. is controlled largely at the state and local levels, meaning that training, equipment and use-of-force standards vary wildly. But compared to many other countries, American police enjoy relatively lax guidelines on when and how they can use lethal force.

According to the Washington Post, in Britain, Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand and Norway, most police tend not to carry firearms at all while on duty. German police are extensively trained to understand that drawing and firing their weapons is a very serious matter of last resort.

On the other hand, an Amnesty International analysis found laws regulating when and why police are allowed to kill someone in each of the 50 U.S. states fall far short of international standards. In a statement on Amnesty's website, executive director Steven W. Hawkins said, "The fact that absolutely no U.S. state laws conform to this standard is deeply disturbing and raises serious human rights concerns. Reform is needed and it is needed immediately. Lives are at stake."

Police Battle Spike In City Violence After Years Of Decline

Huffington Post

Police departments across the country that have spent years boasting about plummeting crime numbers are now scrambling to confront something many agencies have not seen in decades: more bloodshed.

Houston, St. Louis, New Orleans and Baltimore have all seen significant spikes in the number of homicides this year. The totals are up in other cities, too, including New York and Chicago.

"We're in scary territory," said Peter Scharf, a professor at Louisiana State University who tracks homicides in New Orleans.

In Los Angeles, the number of slayings dropped slightly, but the number of shooting victims jumped more than 18 percent. And in Milwaukee, a homicide on Wednesday put the total for the year at 84 — just two fewer than happened in all of 2014.

It's too soon to assess whether the surge in killing marks the start of a trend after years of declines. But concern is growing that the increase could reflect a confluence of recent shifts, including deepening distrust of police that leads people to settle disputes themselves, officers who are afraid of being second-guessed and court rulings that make it easier than ever to own a gun. Tighter budgets that result in cuts to law-enforcement agencies could also play a role.

Some of the explanations vary from city to city. In Baltimore, the April death of Freddie Gray, a black man who suffered a fatal spinal-cord injury while in police custody triggered rioting. After six officers were charged in Gray's death, the number of arrests plummeted — a drop that raised questions about whether angry or fearful officers were slowing down their activity on the streets.

Most Dangerous States in the United States in 2015

Examiner

The annual list of the most dangerous states in the United States has been released by Law Street, according to a Reboot Illinois piece on Tuesday. The list is compiled via Law Street’s Crime Team’s methodology which uses the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s four major violent crime categories in creating a standard measure of violent crimes-per-100,000 people among all cities reporting its crime data to the FBI that have at least 100,000 persons in its borders. Those four major violent crime categories are: murder, aggravated assault, robbery, and incidents of forcible rape.

This methodology, as utilized by Law Street’s Crime Team allows comparisons to be made from year-to-year as well as from city-to-city. The total number of violent crimes – murders, aggravated assaults, robberies, and forcible rapes – reported to the FBI is divided by the city’s population to arrive at a portioned ratio assigned to the state. This portioned ration is then multiplied by 100,000. The formula in its most basic form, according to Law Street, is as follows: Violent Crime Rate equals the total violent crime in a city divided by the population of the city times 100,000.

The Top 10 Most Dangerous States in the United States in 2015

1. Alaska
2. New Mexico
3. Nevada
4. Tennessee
5. Louisiana
6. South Carolina
7. Delaware
8. Maryland
9. Florida
10. Arkansas

Alaska has replaced Tennessee as the most dangerous state in the United States in 2015. Last year, Tennessee held the dubious title. Obviously, Alaska is one of the least densely populated places on the planet, let alone in the United States. Yet, according to the FBI statistics, it has a rate of 750 violent crimes per 100,000 people. Additionally, it is noted that all 50 states have been compared to make the list of the Most Dangerous States in the United States while not including the nation’s capital, Washington D.C. Washington D.C. was not ranked because its population density and status as a district make it incomparable to the 50 states. It is reported that Washington D.C.’s violent crime rate would be significantly higher than all the states. Of the nation’s capital, it was noted in the report that Washington D.C.’s violent crime rate is not unusual for its size.

Now, if guns really made us safer, why would these mainly gun-friendly states suffer from such high levels of violent crime.  That's not even to contend that more guns makes for more crime, that's simply to question where are all the defensive uses.

Another open carrier robbed!

"I like your gun...give it to me!"

Yeah, we know the entire progun argument is based on lies and half-truths, such as John Lott's obviously bullshit "More guns, Less crime" and the disproven Kleck DGU study.

Anyway, the perp wore flip flops.

More here.

It doesn't look like having a gun is the best method of self-defence...

Bobby Jindal Signs Gun Rights Bills into Law - Just What Louisiana Needs - More Guns in More Places

Local news reports

Gov. Bobby Jindal signed two bills into law Friday (May 23) that will expand gun rights for Louisiana residents after they received overwhelming support from the state Legislature. The new statutes will go into effect Aug. 1.

The more sweeping of the two gun rights measures will allow people with concealed handgun permits to carry their weapons into restaurants that serve alcohol, but make most of their money from food sales. 

Present law does not allow citizens to carry guns into establishments that serve alcohol. And while people with concealed handgun permits will be able to go into a restaurant serving alcohol soon, they still wouldn't be able to drink alcohol while packing heat.

The soon-to-be law also gives current and retired law enforcement officers as well as district attorneys and judges even more flexibility than the general public when it comes to concealed weapons. Those in law enforcement would be allowed to carry guns into bars, though they also couldn't drink while carrying a weapon.

The second bill signed by Jindal will expand the "stand your ground" law in Louisiana. Under current law, a person who kills an intruder coming into his car or house is given the benefit of the doubt and can use self-defense as a lawful reason for the killing. But the same self-defense argument could not be legally applied to situations where a person hurt, but didn't kill, the intruder.

Metairie Rep. Joe Lopinto, the sponsor of the legislation, said he wanted to close that loophole. People who end up harming -- but not killing -- an intruder or a carjacker should not be charged with murder if those who kill those people don't face those consequences, he said.