After the Supreme Court struck down New York’s overreaching gun control law last year, New York City declared Times Square to be a “gun-free zone.” Shockingly, this did not prevent a man from being shot and killed there last Thursday.
“The shooting was the first since the creation of the expansive, signposted zone,”
according
to the New York Times, “and it immediately renewed questions about whether such a designation can truly protect the area.” According to the New York Times, the shooting “was a reminder that the Times Square area can be dangerous despite the increased police presence — and the gun-free label.”
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Yes, it is a sobering reminder that a sign telling criminals they aren’t allowed to bring guns into an area won’t actually prevent them from bringing a gun into the area. As it turns out, criminals habitually do not obey laws, let alone posted signs. Who could have possibly guessed?
The New York Times says that it is not clear how safe gun-free zone designations make people. It would be more accurate to claim that it is not clear just how unsafe they make people. The next shooting stopped by a gun-free zone designation will be the first. Gun-free zone signs actually make people in the area far more
vulnerable
. After all, most law-abiding citizens will abide by the law, voluntarily disarming themselves. Criminals, as we keep seeing with each shooting, will not. After all, shooting people is already illegal everywhere.
Times Square has seen some progress in addressing crime, but that comes from the increased police patrols, not signs that purport to establish a zone without guns. If the city and state focused more on putting violent criminals behind bars, residents and tourists would be much safer. But even if they chose to do nothing, it would be better than barring law-abiding citizens from protecting themselves while hoping that a sign makes gun-wielding criminals reevaluate their life choices.
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Democrats are slowly coming closer to realizing that their preferred criminal justice policies do more for criminals than they do for justice. But if we’re still at the point where they are shocked that gun-free zones do not prevent shootings, then that progress is going a lot slower than I had imagined. It’s not a great sign for the millions of people in places like New York City that must live under these laws, though perhaps it helps explain why people are leaving places like the Big Apple.
