L.A. Considers "Ban" on Murders

In what has to be the dumbest City Council discussion in years, the "leaders" of the city of Los Angeles spent a ridiculous amount of time considering a proposal to "ban" murders and violence in Los Angeles for 40 hours this coming weekend:

The Los Angeles City Council dropped plans Tuesday for a symbolic moratorium on killing, deciding instead to use the upcoming anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination to promote peace.

Council members had been asked by a handful of activists to declare a 40-hour ban on murder and other violence, a concept one critic quickly derided as "silliness."

After a 45-minute debate, the council reworked its resolution, saying the city's opposition to homicides should last more than a single weekend.

"A moratorium on violence and killing is something we should support 365 days a year and every minute we live," said Councilman Richard Alarcon, who represents part of the San Fernando Valley.

The symbolic ban on homicides had been proposed by Los Angeles author and political commentator Earl Ofari Hutchinson, who had urged the city to make a bold statement about the recent increase in homicides.

"If this works, then the next logical thing is: If a city like Los Angeles can go 40 hours without one homicide, then why not 40 days?" said Hutchinson, president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable.

Others called the ban a hollow gesture, saying the council should focus on more substantive anti-crime proposals.

"I'm sure that the people who are doing the killing will hear that the council is calling for a moratorium and then cease and desist," said a sarcastic Joe Hicks, a former executive director of the city's Human Relations Commission. "It's more silliness from our wonderful City Council."

Councilman Tony Cardenas responded angrily, telling his colleagues that a murder moratorium is not silly at all.

"That's the kind of attitude that Martin Luther King had to step over and step across to get the job done," he said.

And how'd that work out for him?

Listening to some of the council members like Janice Hahn try and defend this idiocy was pretty entertaining. It's amazing that people that dense can get elected to public office, but Dems are all about symbolism over substance, so I guess a proposal like this would be quite attractive to their idealistic little minds. And I'm sure the murdering gang bangers got a real fright when it looked like this proposal would pass. What would they have done all weekend?

Just for the record, I believe the state already has a "ban" on murder and violence. It's part of the penal code and we have prisons full of people who violated the ban.