Do Boston Globe Editors Read the Globe?

I'm only asking because just two days before printing today's pathetic anti-gun editorial, in which they said the following...

The underlying causes of gun violence in Boston are complex, and the solutions elusive. While authorities sort those out, it makes sense to attack the problem at the supply side.

[Translated: We got nothing! Guns are bad! More gun control!]

...they ran this story about what a "great" job the City's been doing taking care of the "demand" side.

Action is sought on repeat offenders

Boston police believe that a hard-core group of offenders who commit repeated gun and other crimes are driving much of the city's worrying surge in street violence.

In an extensive review of the records of 597 people arrested last year on charges of illegal possession of firearms, police officials found that nearly one-third had one or more prior arrests and that only 13 percent were in custody in mid-January as a result of their 2005 firearms charges.

This is clearly New Hampshire's fault, right, Mumbles?

"When people see that somebody commits a crime and the community knows that he commits the crime or believes that he did and that person's on the street and we're talking about very, very serious crimes ... the perception in the community is that the government, the police, the courts have not done their job," Police Superintendent Robert Dunford said in an interview yesterday.

I guess that depends on your definition of the word "done".

The study, obtained by the Globe, shows:

- Thirty percent of the 597 people arrested last year on charges of illegal gun possession had had at least one other firearm possession charge.

- Nearly 20 percent of those arrested in 2005 had been rearrested by mid-January of this year for firearm, violent crime, and drug offenses.

- The 597 had amassed an average of 22 criminal charges, including an average of six firearm-related charges, in their lifetime. One person had 39 firearm-related charges.

One suspect profiled in the study has been arrested on gun charges five times. He had amassed 41 adult criminal charges and had been released on bail after his fourth gun arrest in August. Police say the suspect was arrested in January on charges of shooting someone in December.

Yet, according to today's editorial, which reads more like a press release from Menino's office, the most sensible approach to take toward reducing gun crime in Boston consists of trampling on the rights of law-abiding gun owners in New Hampshire and Maine. Yeah, like that'll help.

With strong, competent, and responsible leadership like that, is it any wonder that people are moving out of the city at the unprecedented rate of one person every 53 minutes?

And, just because...