May 12, 2000
Gun Control: Myths and Realities
by David Lampo
David Lampo is the publications director at the Cato Institute.
The number of well-publicized public shootings during the past few
years, especially the tragedy at Columbine High School, has re-
energized the gun control movement. As a show of strength, a
coalition of gun control groups has organized a "Million Mom
March" to be held in Washington, D.C. on Mother's Day,
an event designed to stir up emotions rather than promote rational
thought. And when one looks at the facts about gun control, it's
easy to see why the anti-gun lobby relies on emotion rather than
logic to make its case.
Think you know the facts about gun control? If your only source of
information is the mainstream media, what you think you know
may not be correct. Take the quiz below and test your knowledge.
1. Thousands of children die annually in gun accidents.
False. Gun accidents involving children are actually at record lows,
although you wouldn't know it from listening to the mainstream
media. In 1997, the last year for which data are available, only 142
children under 15 years of age died in gun accidents, and the total
number of gun-related deaths for this age group was 642. More
children die each year in accidents involving bikes, space
heaters or drownings. The often repeated claim that 12 children per
day die from gun violence includes "children" up to 20 years of age,
the great majority of whom are young adult males who die in gang-
related violence.
2. Gun shows are responsible for a large number of firearms falling
into the hands of criminals.
False. Contrary to President Clinton's claims, there is no "gun
show loophole." All commercial arms dealers at gun shows must
run background checks, and the only people exempt from them are
the small number of non-commercial sellers. According to the
U.S. Department of Justice, at most 2 percent of guns used by
criminals are purchased at gun shows, and most of those were
purchased legally by people who passed background checks.
3. The tragedy at Columbine High School a year ago illustrates the
deficiencies of current gun control laws.
False. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold violated close to 20 firearms
laws in amassing their cache of weapons (not to mention the law
against murder), so it seems rather dubious to argue that additional
laws might have prevented this tragedy. The two shotguns and rifle
used by Harris and Klebold were purchased by a girlfriend who
would have passed a background check, and the TEC-9 handgun
used by them was already illegal.
4. States that allow registered citizens to carry concealed weapons
have lower crime rates than those that don't.
True. The 31 states that have "shall issue" laws allowing private
citizens to carry concealed weapons have, on average, a 24
percent lower violent crime rate, a 19 percent lower murder rate and
a 39 percent lower robbery rate than states that forbid concealed
weapons. In fact, the nine states with the lowest violent crime rates
are all right-to-carry states. Remarkably, guns are used for self-
defense more than 2 million times a year, three to five times the
estimated number of violent crimes committed with guns.
5. Waiting periods lower crime rates.
False. Numerous studies have been conducted on the effects of
waiting periods, both before and after the federal Brady bill was
passed in 1993. Those studies consistently show that there is no
correlation between waiting periods and murder or robbery rates.
Florida State University professor Gary Kleck analyzed
data from every U.S. city with a population over 100,000 and found
that waiting periods had no statistically significant effect. Even
University of Maryland anti-gun researcher David McDowell found
that "waiting periods have no influence on either gun homicides or
gun suicides."
6. Lower murder rates in foreign countries prove that gun control
works.
False. This is one of the favorite arguments of gun control
proponents, and yet the facts show that there is simply no
correlation between gun control laws and murder or suicide rates
across a wide spectrum of nations and cultures. In Israel and
Switzerland, for example, a license to possess guns is available on
demand to every law-abiding adult, and guns are easily obtainable
in both nations. Both countries also allow widespread carrying of
concealed firearms, and yet, admits Dr. Arthur Kellerman, one of
the foremost medical advocates of gun control, Switzerland and
Israel "have rates of homicide that are low despite rates of home
firearm ownership that are at least as high as those in the United
States." A comparison of crime rates within Europe reveals no
correlation between access to guns and crime.
The basic premise of the gun control movement, that easy access
to guns causes higher crime, is contradicted by the facts, by
history and by reason. Let's hope more people are catching on.
--
Kathleen
No one can read our Constitution without
concluding that the people who wrote it
wanted their government severely limited;
the words "no" and "not" employed in restraint
of government power occur 24 times in the first
seven articles of the Constitution and 22 more
times in the Bill of Rights. - Edmund A. Opitz
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths,
misdirections
and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and
minor
effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said,
CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
<A HREF="http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
