The Department of Housing and Urban Development has reported that residents of public housing are more than twice as likely to be affected by gun violence as the population nationwide. You might think this is an indictment of public housing, but, no, it's part of HUD's branching out into gun control. In December, President Clinton expressed his interest in having HUD sue gun makers to force them to make safer products. Since then, the administration has used the threat of a federal lawsuit to bully gun manufacturers into settling the 30 suits brought against them by municipalities across the country.
It's no surprise, then, that HUD's report, "In the Crossfire: The Impact of Gun Violence on Public Housing Communities," reads like an outline for a future trial brief. Stressing the department's "unique responsibility to ensure that residents of areas assisted by Federal housing funds live in decent and safe neighborhoods," the report concludes "that public housing residents are suffering greatly from the effects of firearm-related crimes and in numbers out of proportion to their overall representation in society as a whole."
Like a trial lawyer angling for astronomical punitive damages, HUD explains that "the damage imposed by gun violence goes beyond the lives lost and injuries inflicted. . . . Often, children exposed to gun violence present symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder similar to those observed in children exposed to war and major disasters."
But there's a problem at the very root of the HUD argument. Crime rates are higher in the inner cities where most public-housing projects are located. A better measure would compare crime rates in public housing with private housing in similarly poor neighborhoods. And guess what? HUD did just such an analysis, although it wasn't touted by the media or in HUD's press release. Inside the report we find that "the rate of violence victimization for persons receiving housing assistance is not significantly different from those persons residing in rental housing with similar income backgrounds."
No surprise really: Rather than seriously talk about the link between violence and poverty, the Clinton administration has created a stalking-horse to destroy a disfavored industry through litigation.