Tucson, Arizona can be a rough town and one group is taking Vice President Joe Biden's advice by raising funds in an effort to provide residents in high crime areas with armed protection.

Tucson residents living in crime-ridden areas could soon receive free shotguns.



Operating on the premise an armed neighborhood is a safer neighborhood, a group led by former mayoral candidate Shaun McClusky is raising money to purchase shotguns and provide training for anyone who lives in a mid- to high-crime neighborhood and can pass a background check.



The project is part of a developing nationwide movement to see if more guns really do translate into less crime.



McClusky said he's bringing the program to Tucson because the City Council has failed to properly fund the Police Department, leaving many residents easy targets for criminals.



"We need to take back our city, and it needs to come back to the citizens and not the criminals," McClusky said. "Right now, the criminal element is winning."



Over the next couple of weeks, McClusky and others will begin spreading leaflets and posting fliers in Midvale Park, Pueblo Gardens and a yet-to-be-determined midtown neighborhood to induce residents to sign up for the program.



McClusky said the shotguns will be single-break-action guns that can hold only one shell. Pump-action shotguns have been considered, but that will depend on cost. For now, each gun will cost $205, which includes a box of ammunition. With the training and background checks included, McClusky estimates it will cost about $350 to $400 per person.

I lived in Tucson for four years. My friends next door had their house broken into three times within a year, the police failed to catch the repeat offenders. My friends on the west side of town had the same problem and while the rest of the country has seen an overall drop in violent crime over the past few years, Tucson has seen the opposite.