Shaun McClusky, teabagger provocateur

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Teabaggers never tire of being provocateurs assholes. Especially the gun worshiper/fetishist type.

The Arizona Daily Star reported today that all around pain in the ass Shaun McClusky, a teabagger provocateur asshole, wants to arm residents of Tucson living in "crime-ridden areas" with shotguns to test the NRA theory that "an armed society is a safe society" (hint: the USA is the Most Heavily Armed Nation in the World — with 90 guns for every 100 citizens and some 270 million of the world’s 875 million known weapons — so how's that theory workin' out for ya?)

McCluskey's teabagger racist stereotyping is self-evident from his identification of the South-side neigborhoods of Midvale Park and Pueblo Gardens as "crime-ridden areas," along with a "midtown neighborhood" to be named later. Anyone familiar with Tucson crime statistics knows that the highest crime rate is not on Tucson's South-side. Just check out the Tucson-Area Crime Map, this version at the Arizona Daily Star (hint: it is the area West of Campbell Avenue and North of Speedway Blvd., to the Freeway on the West and River Road on the North).

The Daily Star reports, Ex-Tucson mayoral hopeful plans free shotguns for high-crime areas:

Tucson residents living in crime-ridden areas could soon receive free shotguns.

Operating
on the premise an armed neighborhood is a safer neighborhood, a group
led by former mayoral candidate Shaun McClusky is raising money to
purchase shotguns and provide training for anyone who lives in a mid- to
high-crime neighborhood and can pass a background check.

The project is part of a developing nationwide movement to see if more guns really do translate into less crime.

* * *

McClusky's effort is part of a larger project based in Houston.

The
Armed Citizens Project was created recently by a master's student at
the University of Houston as a way to measure whether more guns result
in less crime. The plan is to have diverse cities across the nation
implement the program in specific neighborhoods and then track those
neighborhoods to see if crime is reduced.

When McClusky learned of the project, he thought it was an "absolutely wonderful" idea and would be perfect for Tucson.

* * *

McClusky
said he's bringing the program to Tucson because the City Council has
failed to properly fund the Police Department, leaving many residents
easy targets for criminals.

"We need to take back our city, and it
needs to come back to the citizens and not the criminals," McClusky
said. "Right now, the criminal element is winning."

Uh-huh. Tucson area crime has actually been trending downward in almost every crime statistic category for the past several years. Here's the Crime Trend Graphs (1997-2011)(all in one file) from the Tucson Police Department at cms3.tucsonaz.gov/police/stats. Count (210 kb) (.pdf).

Over the next couple of weeks, McClusky and others will begin spreading
leaflets and posting fliers in Midvale Park, Pueblo Gardens and a
yet-to-be-determined midtown neighborhood to induce residents to sign up
for the program.

* * *

So far, contributors have committed about $12,000 even though
McClusky just started soliciting donations. He said he's not prepared to
say how many shotguns will be provided.

* * *

Midvale Neighborhood Association President Joe Miller said Midvale Neighborhood is a safe community that isn't riddled with crime and there isn't a need for such drastic measures.

Councilwoman Regina Romero echoed Miller's sentiments and said McClusky is "stereotyping" south-side residents.

Councilman Steve Kozachik said he doesn't understand the logic behind the move.

"To
suggest that giving away … loaded shotguns in high-crime areas will
make anybody safer is pure idiocy," Kozachik said. "This is coming from a
purported leader in the local Republican Party, the same group who last
year auctioned off a Glock and a rifle as fundraisers. Now they're
giving them away in our community? They're totally out of touch with the
values of this city."

Get a clue, geniuses. Tucson has a high rate of poverty due to low wage jobs, and the vast majority of crime is related to drug users trying to support their drug habit — larceny, theft, burglary and property crime. Instead of being provocateurs for the NRA, why not put your money to a productive purpose like reducing poverty or drug rehabilitation?

Oh, that's right, because that doesn't create a conflict, the thing that the media villagers most love to report, especially during sweeps month for television and radio ratings, and that doesn't get you the attention you so badly seek. You're pathetic, McClusky.

The NRA fantasy that "an armed society is a safe society" is refuted by the evidence.

Travis Pratt, professor of criminology and criminal justice at
Arizona State University, said so far, no studies have shown guns
decrease crime. In fact, he said, it's just the opposite.

"There
is no credible evidence at all that providing a high-crime area with the
instruments to facilitate more crime is going to have any net social
benefits," Pratt said.

Isolated incidents where a gun prevents a
crime would occur, he said, but they would be offset by having more guns
in circulation.

However, he said it's unlikely the program would
produce a spike in gun violence, since the guns involved would be
shotguns that have limited appeal to criminals, Pratt said, it's
unlikely there would be a sharp spike in gun violence as well.

* * *

"At best it's a symbolic act that's unlikely produce any crime reducing benefits," Pratt said.

"These
kind of rhetorical devices get thrown a lot and they're politically
popular here in Arizona," he said, but they are little more than "a
dangerous political stunt."

A political stunt is all that this teabagger provocateur asshole is interested in. Sadly, the local media villagers will give him the attention he seeks. Pathetic.