Guns don’t stop crime; in Rapid City, guns seem to invite more crime:
In the last year alone, 124 guns were stolen from vehicles in Rapid City.
“We came to find out that that number compared to the population is disproportionate in a negative way compared to other similar sized cities across the United States,” Brendyn Medina, Rapid City Police Dept., said [Sydney Thorson, “Rapid City Sees over 500 Stolen Guns from Vehicles in the Last 5 Years,” KELO-TV, updated 2023.03.25].
All of these crimes are happening because some people are thieving scumbags. But most of these crimes wouldn’t happen if gun owners handled their guns responsibly:
The Rapid City Police Department reported that nearly 70 percent of the guns stolen from vehicles in the last 5 years showed no sign of forced entry.
That is why the police and the City of Rapid City urge everyone to never leave guns in the car unattended and always lock your doors.
…“Responsibility as a firearm owner starts with maintaining 24/7 accountability of that firearm and when you are leaving that firearm in a vehicle, much less an unlocked vehicle and you walk away from it, that is not 24/7 accountability for that gun,” Medina said [Thorson, 2023.03.25].
Rights come with responsibilities. If your gun is not in your hand or otherwise secured on your person, it should be locked up. If a lazy thief can get your gun without picking a lock, so can your child, or someone else’s child. Treat your guns the way we should treat Trumpists and other dangerous things: lock ’em up!
Is it a coincidence that these incidents are happening more in RC and SF after our brilliant legislature and governor passed open carry laws? I think not.
Meanwhile, I sat in on the hearing for House Bill 1213, and here came the NRA, talking about how this law would unfairly inhibit protecting one’s family and would lead to all sorts of (unnamed) OTHER restrictions on guns, and then came a guy from Spearfish, who said he read this bill and the one on red flag laws and he was there to tell them that the government was coming for South Dakotans guns, and by God both of them got shot down. Almost unanimously. It was enough to make a goat gag and Jesus weep.
In 2020 the Rapid City Police Department took their complaints to the public because it was overwhelmed with crimes of opportunity driven by meth and gambling. Even the extreme white wing of the South Dakota Republican Party has called video lootery a “scourge.” Fact is: the South Dakota Republican Party thrives on violence and Rapid City’s law enforcement industry is run by a bunch of racists.
I have often wondered how many of these thefts were involved in insurance fraud?
You pay me for the gun.
I leave it in my unlocked car.
You take it with no problem.
I make a claim and collect from my insurance company.
speaking of the GOP and their ammosexual relationship with guns and the NRA…….
https://twitter.com/namwella1961/status/1640414716173402115/photo/1
More responsible gun ownership and people should be charged with serious crimes for leaving guns around. Or maybe guns should be allowed guns for self protection. Would not be surprised to see magats trend in that direction.
More in the field of guns, today in Tennessee an apparent deranged 28 y/0 transwoman shot and killed 3 nine year old schoolkids and three adults. She was toting 2 assault rifles and a handgun.
Well, for sure I won’t make any gestures to people who cut me off while driving in Rapid City.
NRA A+ Plus rated SD Congressmen Thune, Rounds, Johnson–together with
Gov. Noem and complicit SD legislators–proudly facilitate America’s gun carnage.
Another school shooting today–six more students and teachers killed in Tennessee.
This brings US 2023 mass shootings to date up to 123–and it’s only March.
Other nations address their gun carnage problems with effective gun control laws–but not the U.S.
3/27/2023 VOX
America’s unique, enduring gun problem, explained.
The factors that lead to tragedies like Covenant School are deeply ingrained in US politics, culture, and law.
By Nicole Narea, Li Zhou, and Ian Millhiser Updated Mar 27, 2023, 4:15pm EDT
https://www.vox.com/23142734/covenant-school-nashville-mass-shootings
e platypus: 99+% of mass murderers in the US are white cis men. I’m wondering why you didn’t include that important nuance in your comment.
Joe, that stat never came up. Usually, when that stat is mentioned I always hear what about N******S killing each other in Chimpcongo. Never fails.(a different blog than DFP)
Mr. Barth and Mr. Anderson have excellent points. We are awash in weapons and in seriously unbalanced people.
Sickest country in the world for gun violence, right next to Venezuela.
Republicans want to ban books, but love movies, t.v. shows, video games, and graphic novels with lots of violence, and stretch those rape scences out for copycats to follow. Look at all the Marvel and cowboy movies that idolize a man AND woman with guns. Muscles, boobs, and buttocks all with guns.
It’s not a country for women and children to feel safe, especially those of color and in poverty. Violence is a now a way of life and over 30% of the people in this country are dealing with PTSD from violent acts to them or family.
In most civilized countries, they have a victim’s fund to help those same people, however in this country, victims tend to get the blame, especially in rape incidences.
Sick
Since when does open carry mean, “Leave your gun lying out in the open in an unlocked car”?
Eve, it sounds like the only people coming for your guns are the hoodlums on the street in Rapid City, and they could be stopped pretty easily if people would just store their guns properly.
Jeff, does insurance fraud happen with lots of personal possessions? Would guns be uniquely profitable objects of insurance fraud?