Post by Woody Williams on Mar 24, 2007 7:46:45 GMT -5
Big Easy arms itself as homicide capital
Post-Katrina citizens fear for safety
March 24, 2007
BY MARY FOSTER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW ORLEANS -- Sixty-four-year-old Vivian Westerman rode out Hurricane Katrina in her 19th-Century house. So terrible was the experience that she wanted two things before the 2006 season: A backup power source and a gun.
"I got a 6,000-watt generator and the cutest little Smith & Wesson, snub-nose .38 you ever saw," she boasted. "I've never been more confident."
People across New Orleans are arming themselves -- not only against the possibility of another storm bringing anarchy but against the violence that engulfed the metropolitan area in the 19 months since Katrina, making New Orleans the nation's homicide capital.
The number of permits issued to carry concealed weapons is running twice as high as it was before Katrina -- this, in a city with only about half its pre-storm population of around 450,000. Attendance at firearms classes and hours logged at shooting ranges also are up, according to the gun industry.
In New Orleans, the number of concealed-carry permits issued jumped from 432 in 2003-04 to 832 in 2005-06. In Jefferson Parish, 522 permits were issued in 2003-04, and 1,362 in 2005-06.
"People are in fear of their lives. They're looking for ways to feel safe again," said Mike Roniger, manager of Gretna Gunworks in Jefferson Parish.
Citizens, the tourism industry, police and politicians have been alarmed by the wave of killings in New Orleans, with 162 in 2006 and 37 so far this year. A Tulane University study put the city's 2006 homicide rate at 96 slayings per 100,000 people, the highest in the nation.
National Guardsmen and state police are patrolling the streets of New Orleans. In neighboring Jefferson Parish, which posted a record 66 homicides in 2006, the sheriff sent armored vehicles to protect high-crime neighborhoods.
In New Orleans, police have accused the district attorney of failing to prosecute many suspects. Prosecutors have accused the police of not bringing solid cases.
Some people are losing faith in the system to protect them.
Kevin Cato, a 41-year-old contractor, bought a .45-caliber handgun for protection when he is working in some of the city's still-deserted areas. "But it's not much safer at home," Cato said. "The police chased a guy through my yard one time with their guns out."
Just how many guns are out there is anybody's guess. Gun buyers in Louisiana are not required to register their weapon or obtain a concealed-carry permit if they keep the gun in their house or car.
In New Orleans, guns are finding their way into criminal hands at an alarming rate. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' time-to-crime analysis of the interval between the legal sale of a gun and the time it is seized in a crime investigation is five years on average around the nation, said ATF spokesman Austin Banks.
In New Orleans, it is six months, he said.
While many buy guns for protection, only two defensive killings of criminals by civilians took place in New Orleans in 2006, according to police. No charges were filed.
Westerman, an artist who lives in the city's Algiers neighborhood, is prepared to use deadly force. "I'm a marksman now. I know what I'm doing," she said. "The girl next door is a crack shot."
www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070324/NEWS07/703240362/1001/NEWS
Post-Katrina citizens fear for safety
March 24, 2007
BY MARY FOSTER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW ORLEANS -- Sixty-four-year-old Vivian Westerman rode out Hurricane Katrina in her 19th-Century house. So terrible was the experience that she wanted two things before the 2006 season: A backup power source and a gun.
"I got a 6,000-watt generator and the cutest little Smith & Wesson, snub-nose .38 you ever saw," she boasted. "I've never been more confident."
People across New Orleans are arming themselves -- not only against the possibility of another storm bringing anarchy but against the violence that engulfed the metropolitan area in the 19 months since Katrina, making New Orleans the nation's homicide capital.
The number of permits issued to carry concealed weapons is running twice as high as it was before Katrina -- this, in a city with only about half its pre-storm population of around 450,000. Attendance at firearms classes and hours logged at shooting ranges also are up, according to the gun industry.
In New Orleans, the number of concealed-carry permits issued jumped from 432 in 2003-04 to 832 in 2005-06. In Jefferson Parish, 522 permits were issued in 2003-04, and 1,362 in 2005-06.
"People are in fear of their lives. They're looking for ways to feel safe again," said Mike Roniger, manager of Gretna Gunworks in Jefferson Parish.
Citizens, the tourism industry, police and politicians have been alarmed by the wave of killings in New Orleans, with 162 in 2006 and 37 so far this year. A Tulane University study put the city's 2006 homicide rate at 96 slayings per 100,000 people, the highest in the nation.
National Guardsmen and state police are patrolling the streets of New Orleans. In neighboring Jefferson Parish, which posted a record 66 homicides in 2006, the sheriff sent armored vehicles to protect high-crime neighborhoods.
In New Orleans, police have accused the district attorney of failing to prosecute many suspects. Prosecutors have accused the police of not bringing solid cases.
Some people are losing faith in the system to protect them.
Kevin Cato, a 41-year-old contractor, bought a .45-caliber handgun for protection when he is working in some of the city's still-deserted areas. "But it's not much safer at home," Cato said. "The police chased a guy through my yard one time with their guns out."
Just how many guns are out there is anybody's guess. Gun buyers in Louisiana are not required to register their weapon or obtain a concealed-carry permit if they keep the gun in their house or car.
In New Orleans, guns are finding their way into criminal hands at an alarming rate. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' time-to-crime analysis of the interval between the legal sale of a gun and the time it is seized in a crime investigation is five years on average around the nation, said ATF spokesman Austin Banks.
In New Orleans, it is six months, he said.
While many buy guns for protection, only two defensive killings of criminals by civilians took place in New Orleans in 2006, according to police. No charges were filed.
Westerman, an artist who lives in the city's Algiers neighborhood, is prepared to use deadly force. "I'm a marksman now. I know what I'm doing," she said. "The girl next door is a crack shot."
www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070324/NEWS07/703240362/1001/NEWS
