Gun News Daily

... when looking at the numbers, the way politicians look at them, there is definitely more of a causal relationship between rape and the Exotic, Erotic Ball than gun shows and crime in the area. Don't you think?

Some would say banning gun shows at the Cow Palace is the right thing to do considering the violent crime rate in the area is extraordinarily high. The Cow Palace resides on a plot of land shared by Daly City, San Francisco and directly adjacent to South San Francisco. As you will see, the crime rate is not what the anti-gun politicians would have you believe. And, it is also not the unregulated 'arms bazaar' that they want us to believe. And, if you're wondering about the 'Sex' part in the headlines, hang in there, it's coming.

You see, the gun show sales at the Cow Palace must comply with state and federal laws. Handgun sales require background checks. Purchasers must have proof of passing California's safety test. They must submit fingerprints. If completed successfully, they must wait 10 days before taking possession of their firearm, which must take place at the gun dealer's licensed location. All sales must be conducted through a federal and state licensed firearms dealer. Criminals don't make a visit to the Cow Palace to pick up a gun illegally and gun dealers aren't interested in risking loss of their business conducting an illegal sale. If anything, Cow Palace gun shows should be promoted as the most scrutinized gun sales location in the state.

Contrary to the media, the Cow Palace gun shows are highly regulated and flooded with plain clothed and uniformed law enforcement from local and federal law enforcement agencies. There have not been any recorded illegal sales either within the show itself or in the parking lot "out of the trunks of vehicles" as detractors like to erroneously point out.

The Cow Palace is regulated by a California state agency. The proponents of the ban say they have a right to eliminate sales on government property. And, the state legislature apparently feels the same way sending SB585 to the governor.

The question of course is: Can the state ban the legal sale of firearms on government property? Again, the gun ban proponents would say yes. We say, they can do anything they want right now. But that may change soon enough.

Several cases are in the works and we will find out by the end of the month whether the Supreme Court will accept a case to address the issue of incorporation of the Second Amendment. If and when the Second Amendment is incorporated the question will become: Can a state or local government ban the sale of firearms from government property where other legal products are sold? The answer must be no.

Gun control activists might make an argument that firearms can be sold at a dealer's store only, but if the government so chooses; it can ban the sale of firearms at a public venue on government property. That kind of law would be discriminatory by its very nature. The government cannot discriminate between legal products sold on government property simply because a group of politicians don't like guns, but has no problem with let's say home improvement products, or in the case of the Cow Palace, sex.

Yes, sex. It is ironic that the very people, who are opposed to legal firearm sales at the Cow Palace, allow the Exotic, Erotic Ball to take place annually at the Cow Palace. Now, we're not advocating that the Exotic, Erotic Ball be shut down. They probably have as much right to use the Cow Palace as a venue as well. But, for politicians to extol their disgust with perfectly legal firearm sales but say nothing about the less than virtuous Exotic, Erotic Ball is odd.

San Francisco's District Attorney says of the Cow Palace gun shows as reported by KGO radio:

"Residents living in the shadow of the Cow Palace already suffer enormous human and fiscal costs from the high rates of gun violence in their communities. Citizens should have the right to keep the sale of dangerous weapons from taking place in their backyards."

Meanwhile, residents don't mind living in the shadow of the Exotic, Erotic Ball to be held at the Cow Palace in October and advertised by the San Francisco Chronicle:

The event fills six acres of space, with 5 stages of live headline music, top DJs, erotic performers, exotic dancers, and wild circus sideshows, plus visually dazzling sets, fantasy themed halls, BDSM demos, fetish fashions, all sorts of sexy shenanigans, and the tantalizingly offbeat – which has ranged from the Penis Painter and Wall of Nipples to a Spiritual Oasis and Human Petting Zoo.

...the 30th Annual Ball will bring back The Blue Room, a couples-only room with extra-erotic activities and ambience.

Mmm, the Blue Room. Now, that sounds perfectly legal, doesn't it?

Daly City, where the Cow Palace resides recorded no murders in 2007 (the latest year available based on FBI crime statistics) and recorded a murder rate since 2000 of 1.93 per 100,000 residents. It doesn't seem likely that the Cow Palace gun shows cause any crime in Daly City. In fact, over the eight year period, the murder rate in Daly City is lower than most all European countries and in excess of 3 times lower than the U.S. average murder rate. If anything, Daly City is probably one of the safest cities with a population exceeding 100,000 in the United States.

However, during the same eight year period, Daly City experienced a reported rape level of 20.9 rapes per 100,000 residents.

Where is the outrage? It is ironic that a city with such a low homicide rate, but obviously has a problem with rape would ban a gun show, but allow the Exotic, Erotic Ball to take place without so much as a single complaint from politicians.

But detractors would say look at South San Francisco, which lies adjacent to the Cow Palace. As it turns out the murder rate in South San Francisco over the eight year period is even lower than Daly City. The rape rate is 18.5 per 100,000 residents.

Last but not least, the battle cry of the anti-gun crowd would be to look at the crime rates of San Francisco.

Well, low and behold we find an above average murder rate as compared to California and U.S. averages. Over the eight year period San Francisco averaged 9.3 murders per 100,000 residents. Now, why do you think Daly City and South San Francisco has a murder rate far below that of San Francisco despite being right smack in the middle of the Cow Palace gun shows? Even more interesting is why San Diego, where the same promoter puts on several gun shows a year, has less than half the murder rate of San Francisco? Could San Francisco's murder rate be caused by something else? It can't possibly be the gun shows, otherwise Daly City would be a killing field along with South San Francisco and San Diego.

San Francisco's rape rate over the eight year period was 20.6 rapes per 100,000 residents. It seems that all three cities experience a similar rate of rape. Again, where are the cries from politicians to end the Exotic, Erotic Ball? After all, there must be a connection between rape and the promotion of promiscuous sex, shouldn't there be? If a gun show causes crime, doesn't a sex show cause rape?

When one looks at the cities where the Cow Palace resides, the outrage of local politicians is less than honest. The reason is simple. This isn't about crime rates where the gun shows are held, this is about politicians that don't like guns and don't believe you have a right to purchase firearms. If Senator Mark Leno, the author of SB585, thought he could get away with it, he would ban the sale of firearms statewide. He is vehemently anti-gun. It appears that the majority of the California legislature is as well. But, it does appear that Senator Mark Leno and the legislature has no problem promoting sex at the same venue despite rape levels in their communities that are less than sterling.

We're not saying the Exotic, Erotic Ball causes rape in the local communities, but when looking at the numbers, the way politicians look at them, there is definitely more of a causal relationship between rape and the Exotic, Erotic Ball than gun shows and crime in the area. Don't you think?

There will come a day when banning gun shows on government property where other products are allowed to be sold will be successfully challenged in court with incorporation backing it up. And, when it is, there will be only one of two outcomes. All products must be banned, and if not, gun shows must be allowed equal access to the same venues.