Gun Control
Return to Common Sense
March 9, 2015
Section: Domestic
– Gun Control
“Crime is the
problem, guns are for crime deterrence; deter crime by enforcing existing laws,
not creating new superfluous laws.”
“To disarm the people (is) the best
and most effectual way to enslave them.” George Mason
Philosophy
(Background, Issues, Objectives):
Second amendment guarantees the right
of the people to keep and bear arms.
- “The right
of the people to bear Arms shall not be infringed.”
- Over 20,000
state and local gun laws on the books.
- Gun laws are
inconsistently enforced.
- Criminal rarely
obtain weapons through legal channels.
Stringent gun control has not achieved
desired results.
- States with
stringent gun control also have higher per capita rate of violent crime.
- 40 states allow
law-abiding citizens to get concealed-carry permits.
Studies on gun availability did not prove case for
gun control.
- Between 25 and
75 lives are saved by a gun for every one life lost to a gun.
- Despite
increasing numbers of guns, the fatal gun accidents have been falling
since 1903.
- Child firearm
fatalities are correlated with adult gun fatalities.
- Child firearm
accidental death rate is on long term decline.
- MSM cites any
crime involving a gun as breaking the law, which is frequently dis-proven.
“There
are large drops in overall violent crime, murder, rape, and aggravated assault
that begin right after the right-to-carry laws have gone into effect.
- From the time states passed right-to-carry
concealed handgun laws, the average murder rate dropped from 6.3 per
100,000 to 5.2 per 100,000 ten years later.
- Overall violent crime rates dropped from
475 crimes per 100,000 people to a range of 415-440 after the second full
year that concealed-carry laws were passed.
- Rapes dropped from 40.2 per 100,000 people
to 35.7 per 100,000 ten years later.
Thirteen states have experimented with a national universal
background check requirement.
- Six states require them for all private
party transfers of firearms: California, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New
Jersey, and Rhode Island.
- Six more states have, for many years,
required them for all handgun transfers: Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska,
New York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.
- At least one state, Missouri, used to
have such a requirement for private party handgun transfers, but repealed
it in 1997.
- The effectiveness of background checks was
measured against the impact on the murder rate.
o
When
nine different states, in many different years, in different regions, show a
neutral to perhaps slightly negative impact on murder rates.
o
Little impact suggests that background check laws are either
completely or at least largely irrelevant to the problem of murder.
Other countries have implemented gun control
measures with mixed results.
- European countries that outlawed guns has
an increase in violent crime.
o
In countries that implemented gun control, citizens
have been unable to defend themselves.
o
Great
Britain banned handguns in January 1997, but the number of deaths and injuries
from gun crime in England and Wales increased an incredible 340% in seven years
from 1998 to 2005.
o
An old adage says “With
guns, we are citizens. Without them, we are subjects.”
- Since 1998, Canada has spent $2.7 billion creating and running a
long-gun registry which has not delivered the desired benefits.
o
Gun control advocates claimed the registration was
a safety issue.
o
Handgun registration began in 1934.
o
There is no evidence that registration has been
important in solving a single homicide.
o
There is no evidence that registration had any
impact on reducing homicides.
o
Maintaining this registration database costs $100
million per year.
o
Legislation has been submitted in 2012 to end this
program and abandon the database.
Principles:
Crime is the problem; guns are for
crime deterrence.
- Predisposition
to violence is predictor of crime.
- Guns are one
form of weapon available for escalation.
Recommendations:
Streamline Licensing of gun owners with
common sense rules:
- Conduct
background investigation.
- Require gun
education prior to licenses.
Simplify registration of all guns.
- Register
“bullet fingerprint” for all new guns.
References:
“Gun Control: A Realistic Assessment” by Don
B. Kates, Jr. dated 1990 published by Pacific
Research Foundation at http://www.catb.org/esr/guns/gun-control.html
.
“Statistical
Malpractice – ‘Firearm Availability’ and Violence”
by Miguel A. Faria dated
“Self-Defense:
An Endangered Right” by Joyce Lee Malcolm dated March/April 2004
published by The Cato Institute at http://www.cato.org/pubs/policy_report/v26n2/cpr-26n2-1.pdf .
“Repeal
All Gun Laws. You Read Me Right” by John Longenecker
dated
“Repeal
All Gun Laws, Part IV: Motivation Influences Perception” by John Longenecker dated
“Concealed
Weapons in the Wilderness” by Steve Chapman dated
“Gun-Shy
Liberals” by Jonah Goldberg dated
“Pistol-packing
Florida Girls – Why Rapists and Robbers Ran from One Florida town”
by Joel Turtel dated April 6, 2007 published by
American Daily at http://www.americandaily.com/article/18283 .
“After
Virginia Tech, a Closer Look at Gun Stats” by John Lott, Jr. dated
“Gun reform
with NRA blessing” dated
“What
Free Americans Fear Most is Nearer Now” by John Longnecker
date
“Brady
Anti-CCW Campaign Continues” by Howard Nemerov
dated
“For
Non Gun Owners: D.C. vs. Heller and 2A in A Nutshell” by John Longenecker dated
“Our
Natural Rights Are Dying An Unnatural Death” by James T.
“Bitter,
Clingy Gun Owners of
“More
Guns Mean Less Crime” by David Alan Coia
dated May 29, 2010 published by Human Events at http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=37245
.
“More
Handguns, Less Crime – or More?” by Robert VerBruggen
dated June 21, 2010 published by The American Spectator at http://spectator.org/archives/2010/06/21/more-handguns-less-crime-or-mo
.
“Death
of a Long-Gun Registry” by John R. Lott and Gary Mauser
dated February 20, 2012 published by National Review Online at http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/291304/death-long-gun-registry-john-r-lott-jr
.
“Disarming
the Myths Promoted by the Gun Control Lobby” by Larry Bell dated
February 21, 2012 published by Forbes at http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybell/2012/02/21/disarming-the-myths-promoted-by-the-gun-control-lobby/
.
“Universal
Background Checks: Shouldn’t We Review the Statistics” by
Clayton E. Cramer dated May 20, 2013 published by PJ Media at http://pjmedia.com/blog/universal-background-checks-shouldnt-we-review-the-statistics/
.
“How to
Count the defensive Use of Guns” by Brian Doherty dated March 9, 2015
published by Reason at http://reason.com/blog/2015/03/09/how-to-count-the-defensive-use-of-guns
.
