Sacramento County California...less cops means more guns...

[spin]

Gun sales in Sacramento County have grown more than in any other populous county in California since November, according to the state attorney general's office.

From November 2008 to May 2009, gun dealers in Sacramento County sold nearly 5,000 more guns than they did in the same period last year, an increase of 40 percent, statistics from the state Bureau of Firearms show.

***snip***

Sacramento County gun owners, advocates and store owners largely attribute the boom to fear.

Initially, they said, buyers were concerned that the Obama administration would support further gun controls. More recently, Sacramento County Sheriff John McGinness announced layoffs of 202 sworn deputies and 40 non-sworn personnel because of budget cuts to his department – further spurring local gun sales.

"I've noticed a tremendous change," said Ron Herbertson, 47, a Sacramento insurance specialist and gun owner. "I was just in a gun store today – you can't find ammunition, and guns are flying off the shelves. It's hard for them to keep them in stock."
http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/2020626.html

[Taverner]

1. No surprise here

Especially since even with cops on the streets, Sacramento can be a dangerous place...

[cabluedem]

2. Whats better is the cops are checking who is buying ammo & getting search warrents for people on ...

the DOJ gun ban list. Yippee!

[damntexdem]

3. What a deadly brew.

Reminds me of a Terminator film, for some reason.

[spin]

4. Or perhaps a Mad Max. film (n/t)

[X_Digger]

5. Another choice quote..

Some experts suggest a correlation exists between increased gun sales and violent crimes.

Sgt. Norm Leong, Sacramento Police Department spokesman, said that he hasn't seen that. "I review all the dailies (daily crime reports), and I don't really see an upswing of gun violence. We've pretty much had a steady decline of all our crime," he said.

Sacramento County sheriff's spokesman Tim Curran agreed.

"We don't have a specific category for gun violence statistics, but violent crime is down," Curran said. "All assaults with a deadly weapon are down this year."

It would be interesting to correlate changes in gun sales with changes in crime rates- a quick google didn't turn up any interesting results.