I remain impressed with the diversity of thought in the opinion section of the San Francisco Chronicle. In addition to locally-based, nationally syndicated conservative stalwart Deborah Saunders, the Chron features two bi-weekly online op-ed columnists of conservative bent.

One is Jennifer Nelson (her latest column here; previous Rosenblog posts about her work here and here). Another was Adam Sparks (a column by whom was in fact the subject of my very first Rosenblog post nearly one year ago; here's another post of mine which links to a Sparks column).

Now it appears Sparks has been succeeded by the very able Cinnamon Stillwell, who earned her conservative credentials in the trenches at one of the most egregiously Left-biased institutions of higher learning in the country, San Francisco State University. In a recent Rosenblog post, I linked to her Chron column, on anti-conservative and anti-Jewish bias at SFSU.

Liberal ideologues never rest in SF. As in Seattle, they are digging their own graves deeper each and every day. Case in point: the San Francisco Board of Supervisors wants a fall public vote on whether to "outlaw" handguns in the city and county of San Francisco, as I noted in this post. Today, it so happens, Stillwell weighs in on the topic, with an excellent Chron column titled, "Gun Control, By Any Means Necessary."

San Francisco's Board of Supervisors is up to its old tricks again, trying to control violent crime by penalizing law-abiding citizens. In their infinite wisdom, the supervisors want to ban private citizens from owning handguns, while the very criminals they seek to undermine are free to purchase them on the black market.....they plan to put the misguided measure on the ballot in November, and, considering San Franciscans' propensity for supporting feel-good laws with little thought for the long-term consequences, it could very well pass.

....Little thought seems to have gone into the practical elements of this drastic ban, such as enforcement and possible ramifications....because there's no public gun registry for the City, let alone for California, how will San Francisco start its collection efforts?....At a time of crippling budget problems, the City could find itself in the awkward position of having to reimburse gun owners for their property.....San Francisco can ill afford such additional expenses.

According to the proposed ban, gun owners will be given 90 days to relinquish their handguns....Do the supervisors really imagine that gun owners will just start pouring into local law-enforcement offices and surrendering their handguns? And if they don't comply, how will the law be enforced exactly?

....what about the wisdom of leaving citizens defenseless? Although the media rarely report such incidents, countless crimes are prevented every year by legal gun owners standing up to criminals.....The reality is that criminals will continue to have access to illegal weaponry no matter how many restrictions politicians place on gun ownership. In fact, not only does gun control not stem crime, it may actually increase it. Such has been the case in both Australia and England, both of which instituted handgun bans, only to encounter skyrocketing crime as a result. Here in the United States, Washington, D.C. enacted a ban on handguns in 1976 (which is being repealed), only to become the murder capital of the country. Is San Francisco next?

....Whatever happens, San Francisco's position on the political fringes of the country will only be cemented by this attempted ban. If that's the legacy the Board of Supervisors want to impart, so be it. San Franciscans are awfully fond of threatening secession these days, but self-destruction would be a more apt description.

Dead on, Ms. Stillwell. Keep writing. And, uh, hey, why don't you start a blog?

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at January 17, 2005 04:10 PM

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