In 1988, handguns killed 7 people in Great Britain 19 in Sweden 53 in
Switzerland 25 in Israel 13 in Australia 8 in Canada And 8,915 in the United
States The figures are shocking but what is the solution? Gun control is a
problem that our country has faced for many years. In the past this issue has
been placed on the back burner but the recent school, subway, and gang related
shootings have pushed it to the forefront of political and social issues. There
are basically three categories in the dispute for gun control. The extreme
"right" which thinks anyone should have access to any weapon or
ammunition. The extreme "left" who believe Government should have
ultimate control of all handguns in the United States, and that possession of
guns or ammunition should be illegal. In the middle are the
"moderates" who think that gun control including background checks,
training classes, and waiting periods would solve the problem. Gun control is an
issue that is surrounded by many myths and misunderstanding, with more than its
share of misinformation. In the following pages we will explore all sides of
this argument and offer up our own solution. BACKGROUND As mentioned in the
introduction, the gun control issue has not been in the media or political
spotlight until recently, approximately ten years ago. Before that time the idea
of gun control was on the minds of few people, but today it's a major issue.
Know it's impossible to pick up a newspaper or watch the evening news without
being bombarded with the details of another mass shooting, or another child that
was killed while playing with a gun. Unfortunately, there are many people who
take the easy way out when it comes to a solution, they choose gun control. They
make this decision without ever taking the time or effort to educate themselves
on the issue. In their minds choosing gun control means caring about children,
and wanting to stop the violence we have all become so accustomed to. We believe
that misunderstanding and misinformation are the two biggest culprits when it
comes to the argument over gun control. If every citizen were to educate
themselves the messages from the gun control advocates would fall on deaf ears.
MYTH vs. REALITY The following is a list of ten of the most widely
misunderstandings about crime, guns, and gun control. Myth #1: Guns cause crime.
There is no relationship between the number of guns and the amount of crime in
the United States. Between 1973 and 1992, the rate of gun ownership increased by
45% while the homicide rate during that period fell by nearly 10%. Myth #2: Gun
control laws reduce crime. Firearms have not been regulated in the United States
for most of the past thirty years. The number of firearms in private hands has
increased continuously by millions per year. Yet the rate of crime, violent
crime, and homicide have shown no significant correlation. Myth #3: Gun control
laws stop friends from killing friends. Most murderers and victims of homicide
have criminal records and they are likely to have other criminals as friends.
While it is true that in many cases of homicide the offender and victim know
each other, it is not true that these "friends killing friends" are
the plain ordinary folks often portrayed in the anti-gun propaganda. Myth #4:
Gun control laws keep criminals from obtaining guns. In surveys of prisoners,
only 7% of criminals' handguns were obtained from legitimate sources.
Three-fourths of the felons report that they would have no trouble obtaining a
gun when they were released. Myth #5: Required waiting periods would prevent
some of the most vicious crimes. The Brady Bill waiting period imposes waiting
periods on handguns, the least deadly type of firearm, while imposing no such
restriction on much more deadly weapons such as rifles or shotguns. While
handguns are preferred by criminals because of their portability and
concealability not every criminal who planned to use a handgun will abandon his
criminal plans when confronted by a waiting period. Myth #6: Guns don't work as
self-protection against criminals. Guns are about as valuable to civilians as
they are to police officers. As many as 65 lives are protected by guns for every
life lost to a gun. Every year potential victims kill between 2,000 and 3,000
criminals, and wound an additional 9,000 to 17,000. Private citizens mistakenly
kill innocent people only thirty times a year, compared to about 310 mistaken
killings by police. Criminals succeed in taking a gun away from an armed victim
less than 1% of the time. Myth #7: Guns aren't needed as self-protection.
Approximately 83% of the population will be victims in their lives, and there is
only one police officer for every 3,300 people. Myth #8: Gun control laws are
needed to prevent the purchase of Saturday Night Specials and "assault
weapons." Inexpensive handguns are involved in only 1% to 3% of violent
crimes; criminals generally prefer larger caliber and more expensive handguns.
In the past fifty years no civilian has ever used a legally owned machine gun in
a violent crime, and no UZI has ever been used to kill a police officer. Myth
#9: Gun control laws are especially needed to prevent gun accidents in the home.
Many people mistakenly conclude that children die frequently in gun accidents
and that sharp restrictions on gun ownership are necessary to address the
problem. There are accidents that occur in the home, but that number has fallen
dramatically. The death rate from firearm accidents is lower than that from
accidental drowning, inhalation, and digestion of foreign objects. Myth #10: Gun
ownership is not a constitutional right. The Second Amendment reflects the
founders' belief that armed citizens (called militias) were necessary precaution
against tyranny by our own government and its army. PRO GUN CONTROL Handgun
Control Inc. (HCI) is the leading organization that is lobbying for, and
introducing legislation on gun control to the Congress. It is organized and
chaired by Sarah Brady, the wife of gun violence victim and former White House
Press Secretary James Brady. She was the driving force behind the recently
adopted "Brady Bill" which made a mandatory waiting period for the
purchase of a handgun. She is know working on the "Children's Gun Violence
Protection Act", which will impose the following: 1. New safety standards
on the manufacture and importation of handguns, including a child resistance
standard, a safety lock, a magazine disconnect safety for pistols, a manual
safety, and drop test equipment. 2. Authorize the Consumer Products Safety
Commission to study, test, and evaluate various technologies and means of making
guns more child-resistant. 3. Prohibit the sale of an assault weapon to anyone
under the age of 18. 4. Increase the criminal penalties for selling a gun to a
juvenile. 5. Require gun storeowners to implement minimum safety and security
standards to prevent theft of firearms. 6. Require gun owners to store loaded
guns in a place that is reasonably inaccessible to children, or use a device to
lock the gun, and imposes criminal penalties for adults who leave firearms
available for illegal use by children. These may all sound like wonderful ideas
if this is all you know about the subject. However, one must ask the question,
are these new rules and regulations really going to serve their purpose? Or are
they only going to succeed in taking away more of our constitutional rights?
RECOMMENDATIONS Our recommendation would suggest that both parties should be
able to agree on common ground. It would not hurt all gun owners to submit to
background checks and waiting periods. This should not only include handguns,
but rifles as well. However, there is no reason that pro-gun control advocates
should continue their crusade to ban certain types of weapons and ammunition.
Stiff mandatory laws should be established and enforced for those who are
unwilling to obey these new regulations. The laws should be the same in all
states in order to do away with the senseless lawsuits being brought against the
gun manufacturers. CONCLUSION In our misinformed society, when we hear
politicians saying they are pro gun control we automatically translate that as
meaning they care about the children, it makes us feel good. That is what it is
all about, feeling good. Letting feelings run our lives and make the decisions
for us, instead of educating ourselves on the issues and then making informed
decisions. It has to do with choosing feelings over substance. The gun control
crowd has managed to hype up the crime in this country and pass all the blame on
the guns, forget the fact that someone has to pull the trigger. They tell
glamorous and violent stories of gruesome killings and accidental shootings, and
then promote gun control as the cure-all idea. While at the same time cast the
"right" as wanting to kill your children, put guns in our schools,
give guns to your children, and basically run all over the country shooting
people. While some basic gun legislation might be in order, what these people
are trying to do is throw the Second Amendment right out the window. Here is a
quote from the founder of HCI: "I'm convinced that we have to have Federal
Legislation to build on. We are going to have to take one step at a time, and
the first step is necessarily, given the political realities, going to be very
modest. Our ultimate goal, total control of handguns in the United States, is
going to take time. The first problem is to slow down the increasing number of
handguns being produced and sold in this country. The second problem is to get
handguns registered, and the final problem is to make the possession of all
handguns, and handgun ammunition illegal." This is really demented thinking
that shows what incrementalism can do once it gets started.