GUN TRUTHS

Gun control, in fact, increases crime!

Law-abiding citizens
use firearms to stop crimes
about 2.5 million times every year
-- or about 6,850 times a day.

Dr. Gary Kleck, 1995. Professor at School of Criminology and
Criminal Justice at Florida State University
 

_____
 
 

In 1979, the Carter Justice Department found
that of more than 32,000 attempted rapes,
32% were actually committed.

But when a woman was armed with a gun
or knife, only 3% of the attempted rapes
were actually successful.

U.S. Department of Justice, Law Enforcement Assistance Administration,
Rape Victimization in 26 American Cities, 1979, p. 31.
 

_____
 
 

In 1996, a comprehensive national study,
determined that violent crime fell after states
made it legal to carry concealed firearms.

    The results of the study showed:

- States which passed concealed carry laws
  reduced their murder rate by 8.5%, rapes by 5%,
  aggravated assaults by 7% and robbery by 3%. (1)

- If those states not having concealed carry laws
  had adopted such laws in 1992, then approximately
  1,570 murders, 4,177 rapes, 60,000 aggravated assaults
  and over 11,000 robberies would have been avoided yearly. (2)
 
 

1 One of the authors of the University of Chicago study reported on the study's findings in
  John R. Lott, Jr., "More Guns, Less Violent Crime," The Wall Street Journal. August 28, 1996.

2 John R. Lott, Jr. and David B. Mustard, "Crime, Deterrence, and Right-to-Carry Concealed
Handguns," University of Chicago. August 15, 1996.
 

_____

Justice Department study:

-  3/5 of felons polled agreed that "a criminal is not going to
   mess around with a victim he knows is armed with a gun."

-  74% of felons polled agreed that "one reason burglars avoid
    houses when people are at home is that they fear being shot
    during the crime."

-  57% of felons polled agreed that "criminals are more worried
   about meeting an armed victim than they are about running
   into the police."
 

U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, "The Armed Criminal in America:
A Survey of Incarcerated Felons," Research Report, July 1985. P 27.
 

_____
 
 

About 99.8% of firearms and more
than 99.6% of handguns will not be
used to commit violent crimes in any given year.
 

 FBI data on gun related crimes and
survey research on gun ownership
 

_____
 
 

"In the U.S., those states with the highest gun ownership
rates have the lowest violent crime rates, and states with
the largest increase in gun ownership have had the
biggest relative drops in violent crime.

In spite of frequent advice to behave passively, by far the
safest action when one is confronted by a criminal is to have a gun."
 

John R. Lott Jr.  Professor at the University of Chicago School of Law.
Author of More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws.
 

_____
 
 

In 92% of the time that a firearm is used
by citizens to stop crime, merely brandishing
the gun or firing a warning shot is
enough to scare off the attacker.
 

Gary Kleck and Marc Gertz, "Armed Resistance to Crime:
The Prevalence and Nature of Self-Defense With a Gun,"
The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology,
Northwestern University School of Law, [1] Fall 1995. p. 185
 

_____
 
 

In 1976, both Georgia and Wisconsin tried two different
approaches to fighting crime:

Georgia enacted legislation making it easier for citizens
to carry guns for self-defense, while Wisconsin passed
a law requiring a 48 hour waiting period before the
purchase of a handgun.

Results:

Georgia's law served as a deterrent to criminals
and helped drop its homicide rate by 21 percent.

Wisconsin's murder rate, however, rose 33%
during the same period.

The comparison period between Georgia and Wisconsin is for the years 1976 to 1993.
The enactment of the national Brady waiting period in 1994 ended the ability to extend,
beyond 1993, any comparison of waiting periods and concealed carry laws in states
such as Georgia and Wisconsin. Compare FBI, "Crime in the United States," 1977.
pp. 45, 53; and FBI, 1994. pp.70, 78.
 

_____
 
 

In the ten years following the 1997 passage of Florida's concealed carry law,
there were 478,248 people who received permits to carry firearms. (1)

FBI reports show that the homicide rate in Florida, which
in 1987 was much higher than the national average,
fell 39% during that 10 year period.

The Florida rate is now far below the national average. (2)
 

1 Memo by Sandra B. Mortham, Secretary of State,
Florida Department of State, Concealed Weapons/Firearms
License Statistical Report (10/1/87-12/31/97).

2 Compare Federal Bureau of Investigation, "Crime in theUnited States,"
Uniform Crime Reports, 1988.  PP. 7, 53and FBI, 1998. PP.15, 77.
 

_____
 
 

In 1976, Washington, D.C., enacted
a virtual ban on handguns.

By 1991, D.C.ís homicide had tripled,
while the U.S. rate rose 12%.
 

 Federal Bureau of Investigation
 

_____
 

Gun control?
     ìIt's the best thing you can do for crooks and gangsters.
     I want you to have nothing.  If I'm a bad guy, I'm always
     gonna have a gun.î

Safety locks?
     ìYou will pull the trigger with a lock on, and I'll pull the
     trigger.  We'll see who wins.î

-- Mafia informant Sammy "the Bull" Gravano --
 

_____
 
 

Citizens shoot and kill at least twice as many criminals
as police do every year - 1,527 to 6061.  (1)

"Only 2% of civilian shootings involved an innocent
person mistakenly identified as a criminal.  The
"error rate" for the police, however, was 11%, more
than five times as high." (2)
 

1 Kleck, Point Blank. Guns and Violence in America.
1991. PP. 111-116, 148.

2 Newsweek. George F. Will, "Are We a Nation of
Cowards'?," November 15, 1993. P. 93.
 

_____
 
 

Waiting periods threaten the safety of people in imminent danger:

- Bonnie Elmasri inquired about getting a gun to protect herself
  from a husband who had repeatedly threatened to kill her. She
  was told there was a 48 hour waiting period to buy a handgun.
  But unfortunately, Bonnie was never able to pick up a gun. She
  and her two sons were killed the next day by an abusive husband
  of whom the police were well aware. (1)

- Marine Cpl. Rayna Ross bought a gun (in a non-waiting period
  state) and used it to kill an attacker in self-defense two days later. (2)
  Had a 5 day waiting period been in effect, Ms. Ross would have
  been defenseless against the man who was stalking her.

- USA Today reported that many of the people rushing to gun stores
  during the 1992 riots were "lifelong gun control advocates, running to buy
  an item they thought they'd never need."  Ironically, they were outraged
  to discover they had to wait 15 days to buy a gun for self-defense. (3)
 

1 Congressional Record, May 8, 1991.  pp. H 2859, H 2862.
2 W all Street Journal, March 1994. P. A10.
3 Jonathan T. Lovitt, "Survival for the armed," USA Today, May 4, 1992.

_____
 
 

Background checks do not disarm the violent criminal population:

- A Justice Department survey of felons showed that
  93% of handgun predators had obtained their
  most recent guns "off-the-record". (1)

- Press reports show that the few criminals who get
  their guns from retail outlets can easily get fake IDs
  or use surrogate buyers, known as "straw purchasers,"
  to buy their guns. (2)
 

1 Department of Justice, "Survey of Incarcerated Felons," p. 36.

2 Pierre Thomas, "In the Line of Fire: The 'Straw Purchase' Scam," The Washington
   Post, 18 August 1991; and Thomas, "VA Driver's License is Loophole for Guns: Fake
   Addresses Used in No-Wait Sales," The Washington Post, January 20, 1992.