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Forty-three states have right-to-carry laws which give their citizens
the right-to-carry a concealed weapon for self-protection. Only seven
states, Missouri, Kansas, New Mexico, Nebraska, Illinois, Ohio and
Wisconsin, deny their citizens the right-to-carry a concealed weapon.
On April 6, 1999, Missouri voters will become the first citizens in the
nation to vote, by public referendum, on the right-to-carry a concealed
weapon. Right-to-carry laws in the other 43 states were passed by state
legislatures and none, thus far, have been repealed.
BACKGROUND ON RIGHT-TO-CARRY IN MISSOURI: For six years, concealed
carry supporters in Missouri tried, unsuccessfully, to get the Missouri
General Assembly to pass a right-to-carry law. Unable to overcome the
opposition of Governor Carnahan, the 89th General Assembly, in 1998,
bypassed the governor and passed HB 1891 – which set up a state-wide
referendum to allow Missouri voters to decide whether to legalize the
carrying of concealed firearms in Missouri for the first time since
1875. HB 1891 will appear as Proposition B on the April 6, 1999
ballot. If Proposition B is approved by a majority of voters on April
6th, Missouri will become the 32nd state with a “shall-issue”
right-to-carry law.
PROPOSITION B STATES: “Shall sheriffs, or in the case of St. Louis
County, the chief of police, be required to issue permits to carry
concealed firearms to citizens who apply if various statutory
requirements are satisfied?”
IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS:
1) “Shall-issue” laws: The sheriff “shall-issue” a permit if a
person meets the requirements, such as background/fingerprint checks,
completion of firearm safety course, etc. 31 states have “shall-issue”
laws.
2) “Discretionary-issue” laws: Law enforcement authorities use their
“discretion” to decide whether an applicant receives a permit -- there
are few or no objective criteria for issuing permits. 12 states have
“discretionary-issue” laws.
3) “Non-issue” laws: Citizens are denied the right-to-carry. 7
states are in this category.
MYTHS & FACTS ABOUT RIGHT-TO-CARRY
MYTH #1: If Proposition B Passes, there will be more guns in the
home, jeopardizing our families and children.
FACT: Bicycles, space heaters, swimming pools and cigarette lighters
each kill more children under 15 than are killed annually by gun
accidents (200 in 1996), indicating that most of the approximately 80
million Americans who own 200 to 240 million guns must be quite safe.
[George Will, Conservative Chronicle , 2/3/99]
FACT: Accidental firearm deaths rank last as a cause of accidental
deaths in the United States, even counting adults. The death rate per
100,000 population from firearms during 1996 (the latest year data was
available) was 0.5, while the accidental death rate for automobiles was
16.3. [1998 World Almanac & Book of Facts]
FACT: Firearms are used far more often to stop crimes than to commit
them. The incidents of family members
being mistaken for criminals and killed constitute less than 2% of fatal
firearms accidents, or about one for every 90,000 defensive gun uses.
[Essays on Firearms and Violence by Don B. Kates, Jr., & Gary Kleck.
(San Franciso:Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy, 1995) p.
208]
MYTH #2: If Proposition B passes, violent crimes will soar.
FACT: In a landmark study, Prof. John R. Lott, Jr., and David B.
Mustard, of the Univ. of Chicago, found that “allowing citizens to carry
concealed weapons deters violent crimes …” On average, right-to-carry
states have a 13% lower total violent crime rate, a 3% lower homicide
rate, a 26% lower robbery rate, and a 7% lower aggravated assault rate,
compared to other states and the District of Columbia. The nine states
with the lowest violent crime rates are all right-to-carry states.
[Data: Crime in the United States 1996, FBI Uniform Crime Reports]
FACT: For each additional year that a concealed handgun law is in
effect, the murder rate declines by 3%, rape by 2% and robberies by over
2%. [John R. Lott, Jr., More Guns, Less Crime]
FACT: Right-to-Carry laws deter crime because criminals can’t tell which
of their victims are armed, thereby increasing the criminal’s risk of
doing business. The possibility that a person has a concealed weapon
tilts the odds against the criminal and in favor of the victim.
FACT: “Many factors influence crime, with arrests and conviction rates
being the most important. However, nondiscretionary concealed-handgun
laws are also important and they are the most cost-effective means of
reducing crime.” [john R. Lott, Jr., More Guns, Less Crime]
FACT: “Crime is a people problem, not a hardware problem. It is the
human being you should fear, not some inanimate object. Human beings
were committing murder long before the invention of the firearm.”
[Charley Reese, “Laws won’t alter human behavior,” Conservative
Chronicles, 9/10/97]
MYTH #3: If Proposition B passes, there will be bloodshed in the
streets.
FACT: The law-abiding citizen is not suddenly turned into a
psychopathic killer when he obtains a permit to carry a concealed
weapon. In fact, right-to-carry permit holders are much more
law-abiding than the rest of the public. For example: In Floridia,
only 0.02% of licenses issued (107 of 540,025) have been revoked due to
firearm crimes. [Dept of State, Div of Licensing] In Texas, only
0.4% of carry permits issued (718 out of 915,630) have been revoked for
any reason. [Dallas Morning News, 6/11/96]
FACT: “From the available evidence, the experience of states that
have enacted shall-issue licensing systems demonstrates that: (a) almost
no one with a criminal history applies for a permit; and (b) permit
holders do not become embroiled in arguments or traffic disputes leading
to gun battles or take the law into their own hands.” [Fighting Back:
Crime, Self-Defense, and the Right to Carry a Handgun, Jeffrey R.
Snyder, New York attorney, 1997 Cato Institute in-depth report.]
Kansas City Mayoral &
City Council Elections
March 30, 1999
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