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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.
MYTHS & FACTS ABOUT RIGHT-TO-CARRY
Part II- continued ** See FW #13 for Part I
MYTH #4: Gun control laws, not right-to-carry laws, will reduced
crime.
FACT: There are more than 40,000 federal, state and local gun control
laws, but crime has not decreased as a result. Examples: The District
of Columbia, which has banned all guns, is the murder capital of the
world, on a per capita basis. [Quote by Sen. Phil Gramm (R-TX), The
Washington Times, National Weekly Edition, April 10-16, 1995, pg 7]
In 1975 & 1990, California increased its waiting period on various guns
and outlawed “assault weapons,” and yet since 1975, the state’s annual
homicide rate has averaged 34% higher than the rest of the country.
Although Maryland has imposed waiting periods and banned specific types
of guns, its homicide rate is 46% higher than the rest of the country.
[FBI Uniform Crime Reports]
FACT: The federal Gun Control Act of 1968 imposed unprecedented
restrictions relating to firearms, nationwide. However, the national
homicide rate has risen every year since 1968. [FBI Uniform Crime
Reports]
FACT: Restrictive carry laws have been on the books for decades, but
have never reduced crime. In fact, crime didn’t begin declining
nationally until 1992, when states began cracking down on criminals.
[Fact Sheet, NRA Institute for Legislative Action, 2/3/99]
FACT: Anti-gun researcher David McDowell has observed that “waiting
periods have no influence on either gun homicides or gun suicides.”
[“Preventative Effects of Firearm Regulations on Injury Mortality,”
American Society of Criminology, 1993]
FACT: Gun control laws are virtually useless in keeping firearms out of
the hands of criminals and crazies determined to kill someone. [The New
American, “Gun Report,” 1/19/98] ]
FACT: Gun control laws penalize law-abiding citizens, who become
sitting ducks for the criminal who will always find a way to obtain a
gun.
MYTH #5: Citizens are not capable of handling firearms, thus leading
to increased accidental deaths and/or suicides.
FACT: ”The proliferation of gun ownership -- a 50 percent increase in
the last decade – increased neither the rate of accidental gun deaths,
nor the rate of suicide.” [Richard Nadler, “Concealed Carry Myths,
K.C. Jones, 2/99, pg 5-6].
FACT: ”In a country with more than a quarter of a billion people, you
can find isolated examples of almost anything. But the handful of
accidental deaths from guns are far outweighed by the reduced murder
rate with increased gun ownership.” [Thomas Sowell, “Guns deter
crime, but what will deter liberals?, Conservative Chronicle,
7/8/98] ]
FACT: There has been no rise in accidental shootings in counties with
right-to-carry laws. [Investor’s Business Daily, “No Smoking Gun With
Concealed Weapons Laws, 1/8/98]
FACT: ”While more states were adopting concealed-carry laws, the number
of accidental shooting deaths dropped from 1,416 in 1990 to 1,134 in
1996 (the latest figures available).” [Kit Wager, “Battle Over Guns,”
The Kansas City Star, 3/7/99]
.
MYTH #6: Citizens do not need to carry concealed weapons for
self-defense.
FACT: The courts have ruled that the police are under no obligation to
provide protection to individual citizens. In Warren v. District of
Columbia (444A.2d 1, 1981) the courts ruled that “official police
personnel and the government employing them are not generally liable to
victims of criminal acts for failure to provide adequate police
protection.” In Bowers v. DeVito (686 F.2d 616, 1982), the courts ruled
that “[T]here is no constitutional right to be protected by the state
against being murdered by criminals or madmen.”
FACT: The right to self-protection has been recognized for centuries.
In Beard v. United States (158 U.S. 550, 1895), the Court concluded
that when a person was attacked, he “was entitled to stand his ground
and meet any attack made upon him with a deadly weapon, in such a way
and with such force” as need to prevent “great bodily injury or death.”
FACT: Citizens are ultimately responsible for their own defense – a
deputy or police officer can’t be there every time they are needed.
FACT: Criminals commit 10 million violent and 30 million property
crimes a year. “Carrying a handgun allows millions to effectively
provide for their own protection. Putting unarmed citizens at the mercy
of armed and violent criminals was never a good idea.” [National Center
for Policy Analysis – Brief Analysis 246. Morgan Reynolds, Director of
the NCPA Criminal Justice Center, and H. Sterline Burnett, Policy
Analyst with the NCPA, 1997]
FACT: A 1986 study for the U.S. Department of Justice found that 34% of
felons had been “scared off, shot at, wounded or captured by an armed
victim,” and 40% of felons have not committed particular crimes for fear
their potential victims were armed. [James D. Wright & Peter H. Rossi,
Armed and Considered Dangerous: A Survey of Felons and Their Firearms,
Aldine de Gruyter, 199l]
FACT: Carrying a gun does make a citizen safer. Victims use handguns
an estimated 1.9 million times each year in self-defense against an
attack by another person. [Survey conducted by Florida State University
criminologist Gary Kleck]
MYTH #7: Right-to-Carry laws will increase the number of guns on the
streets.
FACT: Citizens want the right to defend themselves and their families,
but most citizens do not rush out to obtain a permit to carry a
concealed weapon.
FACT: ”The law is so relatively strict compared to other states that
Missouri won’t issue many,” said John R. Lott, law professor, University
of Chicago.[Columbia Missourian, 2/7/00]
FACT: In right-to-carry states, only 2 percent of the population
actually have a permit to carry a concealed weapon. [Columbia
Missourian, 2/7/99]
MYTH #8: Right-to-Carry laws will put guns in our schools, churches and
government buildings.
FACT : School age children are not old enough to possess guns and
the “shall-issue” permit system DOES NOT CHANGE state prohibitions
against taking guns on school property, churches or government
buildings. In addition, permits do not allow individuals to carry
firearms onto any business or property when a prohibition has been
posted. [Missourians Against Crime - MAC, 1999]
DON’T FORGET TO VOTE – APRIL 6, 1999
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