CULTURE & POLICY (from "The Patriot Post")

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CULTURE & POLICY
Around the Nation: Guns, Crime and Prison Population
According to new data released by the FBI, violent crime in America continued its downward trend in 2008, proving once again that criminals -- not more guns -- are the problem. While murder, manslaughter and rape have all been on the decline since an all-time high in the early '90s, killings dropped 3.9 percent between 2007 and 2008 alone, even with millions of guns purchased during that time -- especially those scary "assault rifles" that give liberals such heartburn. "These are rates we haven't seen since the 1960's, even though the change from year to year has been rather small," said Alfred Blumstein, a criminal justice professor at Carnegie-Mellon University.

Of course, despite the drop in crime (or the fact that none of these crimes even require a gun), liberals continue to push for stricter gun control laws in the interests of our "safety," and the Leftmedia (expectantly) points out that crime usually rises during recessions and that the bulk of this data was gathered before the height of the economic crisis.

While government is trying to deprive us of our Second Amendment rights, courts are advancing the rights of criminals. When presented with a class-action suit brought by California inmates, a three-judge district court panel found that prison overcrowding is robbing them of their constitutional rights and decided to free 46,000 criminals in order to make incarceration more comfortable. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for a stay on the ruling, arguing that the safety of Californians would be at risk if the prisoners are released, but the Supremes refused.

So, if the Left has its way, we should all turn in our firearms and pray that Big Brother will protect us from the thousands of newly released criminals prowling the streets. Another attempt to pay lip service to the Constitution while trampling it.