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Cato Daily Dispatch for November 6, 2001

U.S. Tries To Strengthen Ties With India
Philly To Privatize Government Schools
Gun Sales Jump After September 11

U.S. Tries To Strengthen Ties With India

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld called yesterday for closer military ties with India and thanked senior Indian officials for their help in the war on terrorism, according to The Washington Post.

Speaking to reporters at the end of a five-country trip after meeting with Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes, Rumsfeld also expressed optimism that the war against Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia and accused terrorist Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network could be won relatively quickly.

In "India as a World Power: Changing Washington's Myopic Policy," Victor Gobarev warns that Washington's shortsighted policy has led India to pursue a Russia-India-China nexus aimed at preventing U.S. global domination. He writes that "a foreign policy and national security strategy based on Washington's willingness to accept India's world power status, including accepting New Delhi in the nuclear club, is the only realistic way for a breakthrough in U.S.-Indian ties."

In "India in the Balance," Ted Galen Carpenter makes recommendations for better U.S. relations with India.

Philly To Privatize Government Schools

The state of Pennsylvania intends to take control of Philadelphia's troubled public schools within a month, privatize the district's top jobs and place the daily operations of the city's worst schools in the hands of church, business and other community groups, according to The Washington Post.

Experts say the plan, approved under a state law, is the most radical reform effort ever tried in a large public school system. No other urban school system has seen such widespread privatization coupled with almost total state control, they said.

In "The New Trend In Education: For-Profit Schools," Carrie Lips, a former Cato Institute policy analyst, writes that "All children deserve an education marketplace as dynamic as the computer and biotech industries. The existing for-profit education marketplace provides a glimpse of what a thriving, competitive market for education might look like if the United States opened the education sector to competition." Lips analyzes the education marketplace in the Policy Analysis "Edupreneurs: A Survey of For-Profit Education."

Gun Sales Jump After September 11

Americans concerned about personal safety following the terror attacks of Sept. 11 are taking matters into their own hands, applying for permits to carry concealed weapons and buying guns in increasing numbers.

In Colorado last month, officials say they conducted more than triple the number of background checks for concealed-weapons permits than they did a year earlier. One sheriff even waived the $100 fee as a patriotic gesture and asked applicants to donate the money to the victims of the terrorist attacks instead.

The newfound interest in firearms is repeating itself across the country. In California and several other locales, officials report that gun sales rose 30 percent in the weeks following the terror attacks. In Texas, Washington, and Oklahoma the number of people filing for concealed-weapons permits has been about 25 percent above normal.

In "Fighting Back: Crime, Self-Defense, and the Right to Carry a Handgun," Jeffrey R. Snyder shows that crime-rates are reduced in states that adopt concealed-carry laws.

Last year, the Cato Institute hosted a book forum featuring legal scholar John R. Lott, Jr., author of "More Guns, Less Crime." The updated edition of his book presents the most comprehensive analysis ever done on crime statistics and right-to-carry laws. Video of the forum is available on the Cato Web site.

In "Invitation To Terror: This Plane Is A Gun-Free Zone," Senior Fellow in Constitutional Studies Robert Levy explains that law-enforcement officers can't be everywhere, but an armed, trained citizenry can be. That's why pilots, flight attendants and even trained passengers should be allowed to carry arms on board aircraft if they want to, he says.