gun control myth busting

I went south for a weekend of visiting with friends, helping to put on one rifle match and shooting in another. I’m back home cleaning out my mailbox and posting some here. This first article is the same old stuff, but it is so well assembled that it needs a fresh airing. I post the text below, but encourage you to use the link to the original article as he puts a lot of supporting links in there along with a good headline poster. – Ted

Destroying the gun control Myth

The gun control lobby is using the argument that the easy availability of guns is the cause of most if not all of gun crime, but that is a myth. Only .02% of all handguns are used in violent criminal acts in the United States. And in reality, the number is lower since this figure includes criminals who are shot in self defense. (1500-2800 out of 13,200)

Another myth is that states with tough gun laws have the lowest gun violence rates. Let’s take California as an example. They have the highest gun violence rate in America, but they also have the toughest gun laws on the books. New Jersey is second in gun violence as well as in tough gun laws.Massachusetts ranks third in both categories and New York ranks fourth in both.

Connecticut ranks fifth in both categories and Hawaii is sixth, Maryland 7th, Rhode Island 8th, and Illinois is ninth. Pennsylvania 10th in both categories.

The top 10 in gun violence are also the top 10 in gun violence and not only that but rank exactly the same place in gun violence as they rank with tough gun laws. Coincidence? The charts are HERE and HERE.

What about states with the laxest gun laws? (Rating of states not in top 10 in laxest laws)

1) Alaska, Utah and Arizona tie at 0% 4) Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, Oklahoma tied with 2% 9) Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, and West Virginia tied at 4%

And the states with the lowest rate of gun violence?

Alaska, Arizona, Florida (5), Idaho, Kentucky, Montana, New Mexico, Texas (6), Utah and Wyoming.(8)

Is this a coincidence too? No. Let me give you the best example I know. Kennesaw, Ga. There is a city ordnance that requires every family to posess a gun, passed in 1982. Since that time crime has dropped an incredible 89% compared to a 10% drop statewide.

Professors James Wright and Peter Rossi conducted a study sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice. They questioned 1800 convicted felons in prison across the country. Here is a summary of what they found:

•81% agreed the “smart criminal” will try to find out if a potential victim is armed.
• 74% felt that burglars avoided occupied dwellings for fear of being shot.
• 80% of “handgun predators” had encountered armed citizens.
• 40% did not commit a specific crime for fear that the victim was armed.
• 34% of “handgun predators” were scared off or shot at by armed victims.
• 57% felt that the typical criminal feared being shot by citizens more than he feared being shot by police.

When you past the rhetoric on both sides, 2 plus 2 still equals 4. The death penalty may not be a deterrent (but it does do away with repeat offenders) but the fear of getting shot, apparently is.

One of the biggest arguments the gun control lobby cites is that the Second Amendment only applied to a militia. Let’s see some quotes by our Founding Fathers and the authors of our Bill of Rights:

“I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people…. To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them…. ” –George Mason

“[The Constitution preserves] the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation…[where] the government s are afraid to trust the people with arms.” –James Madison

Well said, gentlemen.