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Hi Lotus, I gather from your postings that you possibly feel that no one will harm you unless you harm them first and the Police will be there at the first sign of trouble. Unfortunately evil knows no bounds but needs to be dealt with. In the Tico Times Letters to the Editor April 13, 2007, Henry Kantrowitz of
Quebrada Ganado wrote:An Appeal to Arias:
Crack Down on Crime
Dear Tico Times:
This is an open letter to President Oscar Arias:I applaud your efforts to try to eliminate armies of the world and to promote peace. Costa Rica stands out as a great example of a country without an army. The problem is we don’t have a real police force in Costa Rica to keep any civility. This war is between the residents living in Costa Rica and the thieves here.
Here is a scenario of the police force in Tárcoles that is similar to what is occurring throughout the central Pacific and elsewhere in the country:We have been robbed three times in the past two months, each time the scenario worsened. The first time they broke in through the bars while we were out and stole our laptop and other items. The police arrived, asked for our names and what was stolen. They wrote down some of the information on a torn piece of paper. I asked the officer his name and he responded that that wasn’t necessary. I asked who was his boss and he told me he
was the boss. After several attempts he finally gave me his name.The next time, the thieves poisoned our
dog and broke into our small bodega while I was on the property, down by our creek. The police never came when called.The third time was the most horrific. I was out of town and my wife was alone. The thieves cut the outside phone line. They evidently had loosened the bars the night before. At 4 a.m. they stormed our
bedroom screaming. It was dark. My wife pushed one of them back, then they began to beat her with something like a baseball bat until she was almost out. After that they strangled her until they thought she was dead. They took her pulse several times. After they thought she was dead they sexually assaulted her. They then proceeded to steal many items. Afterward, the police came. Their procedure was: “What is your name?” They wrote it down, misspelled, and then left. They asked nothing else. We spoke to a couple from Argentina. They told us that the word in South America is, if you are a thief move to Costa Rica because you won’t get caught, and if you are you won’t be prosecuted. President Arias, it is time to get serious about the out-of-control crime problem in this country. No, we don’t want an army, but we do need a police department that serves the people and brings safety to all communities. We are residents and have been involved in conservation and living here for over 17 years. We have moved out of our own house and are now thinking about leaving and going back to the United States and spreading the word that Costa Rica is not a safe place to live or visit.
Henry Kantrowitz
Quebrada GanadoNo one should ever be subjected to this form of treatment or fear being treated in this manner. Obviously they got bolder each time because they knew they had a soft target. If they were to have known that there was a possibility of a firearm on the premises, I don’t believe any of this would have happened. It is not a matter of using a gun to change peoples attitudes, just the fear of the possibility that someone is armed has been found to be the greatest deterrent.
You mention some one soiling Bermuda Shorts from fear of being robbed. I am Bermudian, I live on the island, I wear Bermuda Shorts and robberies happen here on a regular basis. We are now up to about 2 gun murders a year and numerous other gun incidents. We have 60,000 people. We have very strict gun laws (no guns for anyone), only the criminals have guns. At lease the Police here are not very far away as opposed to a country like Costa Rica which have vast rural areas which the Police probably can’t find anyway. And there’s the distinct possibility of a language barrier if you are a foreign resident.
I would say that if you are prepared to live in rural Costa Rica, you should be prepared to protect yourself however you choose. Thankfully the Costarican government has trusted their citizenship to be responsible with gun ownership. The Swiss have very low gun incidents and it is mandatory to keep firearms there. It is all about using common sense and being responsible. Sorry for the long posting.
Whats your point? we should all arm ourselves. Will this really stop crime? No, crime will always be part of life I just don’t think putting a gun in everyones house is an answer. When ever anyone gets assaulted or murdered it is tragic and it happens to those with guns in there house and without. Just having a gun is not going to guarantee that you are safe, or prevent you from being a victim of a crime. This idea reminds me of the comedian whos idea for stopping hijackings was to hand out guns to everyone before getting on the plane(i’m sure some of you are scratching your heads,”hey this is a good idea!”). 2 gun deaths in Bermuda, pretty “good” statistic, if I could afford it and the surf was better maybe I would build a house there?
My ex wife was beaten and raped on a private beach in Malibu in front of Dick Clarks house, her father owns a home there. It was tragic and we did everything we could to have these people arrested the police never found them. A few days ago here in NYC a columbia student was raped and tortured for 19 hours…un-imaginable!! My heart goes out to Henry and his wife, but if they want to feel safe and escape a violent society maybe they should consider a place other than the U.S., but crime can and does happen everywhere…and in my humble opinion arming the citizenry is not the answer. You can look up the statistics and you will see for yourself strict gun control fewer deaths by gun shot. You may not have liked Bowling for Columbine but the movies does point this out. Perhaps if I did live out in the boondocks I would own a fire arm, but most of you gringos don’t. Goodluck, stay safe and try not to shoot anyone, my next post will be the statistics on gun deaths as related to gun availability. Now my beautiful girlfriend and I are going to venture into the bowels of Bedstuy brookly for some Senalgalese food…I hope everyone checks there gun at the door!I don’t get it. You said, “If you think about violence and worry about violence, then violence will be attracted to you.” Do you think the 32 victims at Virginia Tech thought and worried about violence, and by doing that, attracted the murderer to them?
There is lots of data available out there on gun use and the effects of gun control and owning a gun. I looked at data that was gathered from U.S. sources. Here are some published data:
49% of U.S. households own a gun
In the United States during 1997, there were 15,289 murders. Of these, 10,369 were committed with firearms.* In the United States during 1997, there were approximately 7,927,000 violent crimes. Of these, 691,000 were committed with firearms.
* As of 1992, for every 14 violent crimes (murder, rape, etc…) committed in the United States, one person is sentenced to prison.
In the early/mid 1990’s, criminals on parole or early release from prison committed about 5,000 murders, 17,000 rapes, and 200,000 robberies a year.
Americans use firearms to defend themselves from criminals at least 764,000 times a year. This figure is the lowest among a group of 9 nationwide surveys done by organizations including Gallup and the Los Angeles Times.As of 1998, 31 states have right-to-carry laws, and about half the U.S. population lives in these states
Florida adopted a right-to-carry law in 1987.Handgun homicide rates went down 41%(this data from the NRA).But-
According to 1994 FBI Uniform Crime Report data, Florida cities still rank high in terms of violent crime. In 1994, Tampa and Miami were the 4th and 5th most violent cities in America. Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Miami ranked 1, 2 and 3 respectively in the category of highest rates of property crime (which includes burglary, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft).
500 licenses have been revoked in Florida, and 309 of those revocations were for convictions of crimes committed by the licensee after issuance. 52 license holders have been convicted of crimes involving the use of their firearms.
About 660,000 firearms were handed in to the government in return for more than 400 million Australian dollars, financed by a one-time add-on to the income tax.And in 1998, the rate at which firearms were used in murder, attempted murder, assault, sexual assault and armed robbery went down. In that year, the last for which statistics are available, the number of murders involving a firearm declined to its lowest point in four years.
Remember the NRA ad about our Aussie friends;
Of course, the Australians have always had tougher gun laws than the U.S. – despite that country’s own frontier history and its cultural similarities to the United States. But in 1998, 54 Australians lost their lives to gun homicides, while in the States the number exceeded 13,000. The gun homicide rate in the U.S. is about 15 times that of Australia.Between implementation of the Brady Bill in March 1994 and year end 1997, there have been 242,000 background checks that have denied prospective purchasers permission to buy a handgun from licensed gun dealers. Out of these, 9 people have been convicted of illegal attempts to buy handguns.
In the early 1990’s, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms reported that 7% of armed career criminals obtain firearms from licensed gun shops.
The Brady Bill was implemented in February of 1994. In 1997, the number of violent crimes committed with firearms had fallen 25% since 1994, while the overall number of violent crimes had declined 14%.
About 6,000 children were caught with guns at school in 1997 and 1998. Out of these, 13 were prosecuted by the Clinton administration Justice Department
Q: Does law enforcement support the gun lobby’s efforts to make carrying concealed weapons easier?A: No, law enforcement across the country has consistently opposed these efforts. Obviously, if law enforcement believed that CCW laws would lessen crime, they would support them. Instead, under these laws, police officers must assume that everyone is carrying a firearm and willing to take the law into their own hands; every verbal confrontation, at a bar, in a restaurant, at a traffic stop, could become a potential gun battle.
After the Virginia Legislature voted to weaken their CCW law in March of 1995, police officers made it clear that they feel they are at greater risk. According to Col. David Franklin of the Fairfax County Police Department, “It certainly increases the hazards the officers are going to face in any kind of traffic stop.”
Importantly, police know the dangers associated with the use of firearms. They are trained extensively on the use and security of their service weapons, yet many are killed every year by guns. A recent FBI study showed that police officers who are killed in the line of duty rarely even fire a round at their assailant, and frequently the police officer’s own firearm is taken from him/her and used against him/her. An FBI study of 51 incidents where 54 police officers were killed found that 85% did not fire their weapon while 20% were killed with their own gun.
Gun homicides by teens and young adults rose sharply
beginning with the mid-1980’s and fell after the early 1990’s
Gun homicides by persons 18-24 years old declined after the peak in 1993 but have not returned to the levels seen prior to the mid 1980’s.The trend in nongun homicides shows little change, declining or fluctuating slightly for all age groups.
Gun homicides by adults 25 and older reflect a general downward trend, although they increased slightly in recent years.
The sharp increase in homicides in the late 1980’s and much of the subsequent decline is attributable to gun violence by juveniles and young adults. (BJS)
Homicides of teens and young adults are more likely to be committed with a gun than homicides of persons of other ages. (BJS)Approximately half of all robberies, about a quarter of all assaults, and roughly a twelfth of all rapes/sexual assaults involved an armed assailant.
From 1993 through 2001 blacks accounted for 46% of homicide victims and 54% of victims of firearm homicide but 12% of the U.S. population.
Estimates from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) indicate that between 1993 and 2001 approximately 26% of the average annual 8.9 million violent victimizations were committed by offenders armed with a weapon.(BJS)
In most cases victims defending themselves with firearms
were confronted by unarmed offenders or those armed with
weapons other than firearms. During the six-year period,
about one in three armed victims faced an armed offenderBJS estimated that more than 340,000 crimes annually
involved firearm thefts.The number of non-fatal crimes committed
with a handgun rose to a record level during 1992, the
Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
announced today. Handguns were used in an estimated 917,500
non-fatal crimes, almost 50 percent more than the average for
the previous five years. The Federal Bureau of Investigation
reported an additional 13,200 handgun homicides during the
same year, a 24 percent increase over the five-year average.An estimated 5,000 murderers who were serving time in a state
prison for committing a crime with a handgun had purchased their gun
in a store or gun shop despite having had a prior record.*(BJS-Bureau Of Justice Statistics)
Murder rate for Texas is 6.2 per 100,000
Murder rate for California is 6.9 per 100,0001,391,000 violent crimes committed in the U.S. in 2005 469 per 100,000
Violent crime has fallen 1992 was a record high of 757 per 100,000
I guess one can decide what all this means, definately the U.S. is a very violent society. Perhaps more guns does mean more violent gun related crime. Countries with few available guns have few gun related deaths i.e. Germany, Japan, England, Sweden, Bermuda…The good news is most of us will not be a victim of a violent crime(look those stats up yourself!). What do all these numbers mean to you?
I don’t know what to make of these stats. But here is an article by your Mayor Bloomberg. I think it’s smart and could be an action that swings in the right direction.
My point is, we have to take responsibility for our own well being and safety. Not expect others to do this for us. If it takes a gun, cricket bat or wet noodle, it’s your choice and mine. I prefer to not be a victim.
This kind RHETORIC decieves the simple minded and sad to say influences the youth among us in our schools…confused to do the right thing by the liberal left among us. If we could just talk…talk…talk…to them surely they would not kill, murder, rape, maim, destroy, steal, and laugh while they torture us!!! Tell that to the Jews, Poles, Kurds etc…Its that kind of thinking that will be the fall of any country and has been!
Why does the liberal left hate so much that which is right?…no sense of loyalty at all.
This is a very tough subject. I’m actually on the fence about this one. First and foremost, the law allows law abiding citizens to bear arms, then by all means you have every right to own a gun. But I think this ownership comes with huge responsibilities. You need training and practice in order to be a very responsible gun owner.
PLEASE, if you own a gun, make sure you take the time to try and practice firing in a shooting range. I think this helps prepare you when you actually have to squeeze that trigger.
The police are only permitted to fire upon imminent danger. They are definitely not allowed to use deadly force to prevent theft. There’s a huge distinction here, the price of a human life is not equivalent to that laptop computer we are trying to protect.
Boy this is getting like a Paragon thread! My last words: I am not against guns or gun ownership. My feelings are that simply by owning a gun people are not safer or that society is better for it. My belief is we don’t create a better world by just giving everyone the right to bear arms, and I think there is some statistical data here that indicates gun availability does’nt make us safer. Neither in the U.S. or Costa Rica do most live in areas so violent and out of control that you need a gun. But NRA types get crazy should you even whisper about gun control, most of them want to walk into a walmart show a I.D. and walk out with a gun. Things really are not so bad that you need a weapon today…this minute! I am for the strictest possible laws concerning guns and the ability to own one. Also having a gun for your protection may lull you into a false sense of security, my ex- inlaws are from Texas…they have guns, they are locked in gun safes, pistols may be under beds but locked up. In most cases of a break in you never saw them coming anyway. For the people on this thread talking about being a victim and fighting off the evildoers…the best offense is a strong defense. Protect yourself with security bars on the windows(good ones), motion detectors connected to lights, neigborhood patrols etc… a big dog kept in your house. It appears you need this in Costa Rica as you can not always be home guarding your house. This will be far more protective than a gun…be smart most of the crime outside of San Jose is petty theft, property theft, these theives are not brain surgeons. Some of you on this board want to shoot to kill someone who wants to steal your T.V. or car…I wont bother argueing with you, your mind is made up. Be smart and chances are you will greatly reduce your odds of being a victim.
pran…..is right. rarely do you see this clear-headed intelligence. buy a gun and the opposition will escalate.NO, i repeat, NO data shows that arming the populace will reduce violent crime. gun carriers are weak and the gun advertises their weakness. you think a gun is an easy answer, there is NO easy answers. dude, be tough and nobody will f*** with you. i’ve been around and i KNOW. ever been confronted with a situation that you FEEL needs a gun to protect you? most people would not know or be able to use it properly to be effective. we call ’em PUNKS.
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