Massive Daytona Beach Crime Wave Spurs Sales of Weapons and Ammunition
DAYTONA BEACH, FL - There is a bright spot in the fast decay of Daytona Beach, at least for some businesses.
The general state of depression and huge unemployment in this long-abused city was compounded by the global financial crisis. In the middle of all the despair that envelopes Daytona Beach, its unprecedented resulting crime wave became a bonanza for gun sales.
Buck Gun Rack, a local gun store has reported record sales as a result of the widespread fear that local residents have been subjected to.
During a recent interview, Forrest Buckwald, owner of Buck's Gun Rack in Daytona Beach, shows the guns people are buying as they worry about the local economy, increased unemployment and crime, and a possible ban on semiautomatic rifle sales.
Sales have almost doubled in the last few months...
First-Time gun buyers are literally pouring through the door everyday...
We are selling almost nothing in the sporting category like hunting and sport shooting... Mostly we are selling things for home defense...
A lot of retired people are very frightened...Forrest Buckwald
Gun Shop Owner
Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood attributes some increases in crime such as shoplifting and fraud, to the bad economy with "Robberies up a bit".
In all fairness to Chief Chitwood and the Daytona Beach Police Department, the roots of the crime wave lie in the massive unemployment, flight of businesses, lack of opportunities to local youths, and overall despair of the local population, caused by the widespread political corruption that has infected this formerly bustling beach city.
As it has long been known, Daytona's problems are not a local police matter; they are a Federal matter that requires urgent intervention.
"In the long run, families, neighborhoods, and jobs are the keys to reducing crime,"
author Samuel Walker in Sense and Nonsense About Crime and Drugs (1994)
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2 comments:
This drastic difference, which is only experienced in Daytona Beach, can only be attributed to the local crime and general state of despair that afflicts the city.
You don't see these trends even in corrupt Miami. Daytona Beach's problems are rooted in corruption and the subsequent breakdown of public trust.