Seattle Crime Examiner

Pit bull ban debate: still going strong, 6 months later

By Seattle Crime Blog editor & publisher Rob La Gatta

It feels good to be back in the blogosphere...and it looks like I haven't missed much over the past few weeks. Why, over at SLOG, Dan Savage and his band of cronies are still debating an issue that should have been laid to rest months ago: the foolish, overreaching, never-gonna-happen ban on pit bull ownership.

In his post today, Dan - who seems to rely on sob stories about dead children to prove his point - makes a hasty statement:

A breed ban is a blunt instrument, and it’s imperfect—just like a handgun ban. But I support the latter for the same reasons I support the former.

But here's the problem: handgun bans aren't just "imperfect"; they're completely ineffective. If this prohibitionist had been paying attention to the political climate over the past few months, he'd know that handgun bans have been a hot news item as the U.S. Supreme Court makes up its mind on District of Columbia v. Heller.

A March article from the AP offered some (un)surprising statistics on the effectiveness of Washington D.C.'s handgun ban, which took hold in the mid-1970s and is the center issue in District of Columbia v. Heller:

Since the [D.C. handgun ban] was passed, more than 8,400 people have been slain in the district, many killed by handguns. Nearly 80 percent of the 181 murders in 2007 were committed with guns.

When it comes to bearing arms, there are two kinds of Americans: those who view handguns as a last resort tool of defense, and the more knee-jerk crowd that sees them primarily as a means of committing violence. The latter seem unwilling to accept that guns aren't bad, even when the statistics prove otherwise.

I digress. The point I'm trying to make is that "banning" anything - drugs, alcohol, guns, dogs - is at its core a lazy way of solving problems that simply does not work. We've seen it in the past with Prohibition, and we're seeing it today with the War on Drugs and the D.C. handgun laws.

Though perhaps enticing to individuals unwilling to take the extra steps toward only penalizing those who've done something wrong, make no mistake: a breed ban is a clunky approach advocated by busybodies uninterested in supporting more effective methods. Instead of calling for an all-out ban, Dan Savage should do the responsible thing: focus his efforts on punishing people who have violent dogs. What breed those dogs happen to come from is utterly inconsequential.
Topics: Animals

Slain sheriff's deputy killed after trying to help

Anne Jackson, the 40-year-old Skagit County Seriff's Deputy who was killed by Isaac Zamora during his murderous rampage earlier this week, was apparently responding to Zamora's actions out of sympathy for his family.As police begin to piece together... Read More
Topics: Murder , Isaac Zamora , Anne Jackson , Shooting Spree

$5 million bail for Skagit County killer

The man police believe was responsible for a killing spree that left six dead and two injured in Skagit County is being held on $5 million bail.Isaac Zamora, the mentally-ill suspect, apparently said nothing as he was arraigned in court today.Zamora's... Read More
Topics: Murder , Isaac Zamora , Skagit County , Shooting Spre

Skagit shooting a showcase in true terror

A mentally ill "known-criminal" has apparently carried out a murderous shooting spree in Skagit County, killing six people, including a Skagit County Sheriff's Deputy, and injured two more.Isaac Zamora of Alger appears to have walked through... Read More
Topics: Murder , Isaac Zamora , Skagit County , Shooting Spre

Time served for Folklife shooter

  The man police say brought a loaded gun to the Folklife Festival at Seattle Center and accidentallly shot two people will serve no further jailtime.Clinton Chad Grainger, 22, pled guilty to two counts of third-degree assault and was... Read More
Topics: folk-life shooting , concealed weapons , gun ban

Child killer rightfully sentenced to death

  True psycho Joseph Edward Duncan III has been sentenced to death by an Idaho jury.It's not Seattle news, but its northwest and I have to write about a truly sick man like Duncan.  Duncan kidnapped a pair of children after murdering the... Read More
Topics: Murder , Joseph Edward Duncan III , Death Sentence

City Councilman Richard McIver: A study in stupidity

  It's hard to say what happened to Richard McIver.  Just a few months ago, he seemed to be a respectable member of the City Council. Then there was the incident with the wife, then the fines for awarding no-bid contracts, and now the... Read More
Topics: City of Seattle , Richard McIver

Let me call you back: I have to arrest a guy for talking on his phone

  The state has made it so that you can't talk on your phone while driving.  Pretty much unless you are currently on fire and your cars breaks have gone out while you hit speeds over 100 mph on a direct course with an orphanage and you... Read More
Topics: Commentary , Bizarre , Washington Law , Traffic , Seattle Crime , cell-phone law

Judge says no way to release of Paroline murder video

  A King County judge has decided that releasing the video that allegedly shows Brian Keith Brown delivering a fatal punch to James Paroline, puts too many people at risk due to the volatile feelings surrounding the case.The July 9 video was... Read More
Topics: Murder , Justice System , Washington Law , James Paroline , Seattle Crime , Brian Keith Brown

Weed as a profitable crop

  There was a time when weed busts consisted of federal agents swarming someone's suburban home to find 300 plants in their basement.  It was the ultimate "getting the drugs out of our neighborhood" moment.Well, lately, it seems... Read More
Topics: Commentary , Drugs , Washington Law , Seattle Crime