The gun control lobby claims that the solution to San Francisco's murder problem is banning guns. They claim that the availability and proliferation of handguns is the root cause of murder. (It must be those evil mind control rays that guns emit.)

But Charlie Goodyear of the San Francisco Chronicle sees it differently. He says the root of the problem is lax enforcement.

Statistics compiled by San Francisco police for the committee show that in 74 of the 94 homicides recorded through Monday afternoon in 2005, no arrest has been made and the cases remain open and under investigation.

Police have made arrests in eight cases that resulted in prosecutions, the data show. In four other cases, the district attorney's office decided not to prosecute due to evidentiary shortcomings, authorities said.

The eight remaining cases are deemed closed due to deaths of suspects, among other reasons, according to the data.

So the problem is not one of too many guns, but in the lax investigation and prosecution of laws against murder. So why do police and the district attorney's office have so much trouble prosecuting crime? Apparently it's because there aren't enough guns.

Part of the explanation, police said, for the low rate of arrests and prosecutions is the reluctance of witnesses to provide testimony given their exposure to retribution.

It's tough California gun laws that expose people to retribution. A crime victim in California has to wait 10 days before he can buy a gun for self defense. That's about 9 days longer than the cops will hold the criminal after his arrest.

If a man is victimized in Virginia, he can buy a gun and take it home that day. In gun control havens like California, there's permitting, registration, waiting periods, price controls, and any number of other barriers to self defense.

If a Californian wants a handgun for self defense the barriers are even worse. Not only is there the "cooling off" period, but buyers must also get a handgun license and undergo safety training. And they'd better not be on a budget. Cheap handguns are illegal in California.

And with all those hoops to jump through, is it any wonder that people are reluctant to point the finger at an assailant?