Preventing law-abiding citizens from carrying firearms for self-defense does not end violent crime - it just makes victims more vulnerable! Society benefits from ordinary people who accept the responsibilities of firearm ownership - not from gun-control laws.
Here is why:
SELF-DEFENSE & CRIME
* In 1990, a convicted felon could expect to serve the following prison time:
1.8 years for murder, 60 days for rape, 23 days for robbery, 6.7 days for arson, and 6.4 days for aggravated assault.
According to a U.S. Justice Department survey in 17 states, of felony offenders placed on probation in 1986, 43% were re-arrested on other felony charges within 3 years of their release. (1)
* Passage of the Brady Law in 1994 has not been accompanied by a statistically significant decline in murder or robbery. It has been associated with significant increases in rape and aggravated assaults, presumably from the increased difficulty encountered by law-abiding citizens in obtaining firearms for self-defense. (2)
* In 1987, Florida's concealed-carry law went from "may-issue" to "shall-issue" (also known as "Right-To-Carry," or RTC). This meant that issuing authorities must provide a concealed-carry handgun license to all qualified applicants. Other states followed suit, and modeled their own RTC laws after Florida's.
On 4/7/98 (the latest date such figures were available),
Florida's Dept of Law Enforcement announced that the state's murder rate
had dropped, again, in 1997, just as it had in each of the 5 previous years.
The additional drop marked the lowest murder rate experienced by "Dodge
City East" since 1933. (3)
* In 1982, Kennesaw, GA (pop. 17,000) passed a law requiring heads of
households to keep at least one firearm in their home, exempting those with criminal records or religious objections.
Seven months after it took effect, the residential burglary rate dropped 89%, vs. 10.4% statewide. Since 1982, only 2 murders have occurred (1984 and 1989), both committed with knives. (4)
* Allowing citizens to carry concealed handguns reduces violent crime. The
reduction corresponds very closely to the number of concealed-handgun licenses issued. On average, murder rates in states banning concealed-carry are 127% higher than in states having the most liberal carry laws. A 1% increase in firearm ownership reduces violent crime by 4.1%. Large, densely populated urban areas benefit the most from concealed-carry laws. (5)
* Ordinary, law-abiding Americans use guns defensively 2.5 million times,
or more, each year. About 75% of these instances are with handguns. That
translates to rapes prevented, injuries avoided, medical costs saved, and
property protected. (6)
* Firearms provide the safest and most effective means of resisting violent
criminal attack. For robbery and assault, resistance by defenders armed with a gun leads to termination of the incident with the smallest chance of injury to the victim. In U.S. government studies, victims resisting robbery with a gun were injured 17.4% of the time. Those who did nothing at all were injured 24.7% of the time. Those who used non-violent resistance, like trying to run away, were injured 35.9% of the time. Those who resisted with a knife were injured 40.3% of the time.
For assault, injury rates were 12.1%, 27.3%, 25.5%, and 29.5%, respectively. While 17.4% of those who resisted robbery with a gun were injured overall, this includes victims who were first injured before they used their guns; less than 6% of robbery victims were injured after using a gun to resist. (7)
* Women who carry concealed handguns provide a greater margin of safety for other women. While murder rates decline when either more men or more women carry concealed handguns, the drop is even greater among women than among men. Rapists are particularly susceptible to the deterrence of a potentially armed woman. (5)
* Increased incidents of "road rage" from allowing more citizens to carry guns have not materialized. In the 31 states where it is currently legal for citizens to carry a concealed handgun, there have been no documented instances of such acts by armed law-abiding citizens. (2)
* Armed defenders lose their guns to an attacker less than 1% of the time. (7)
* The net value of private firearm ownership - the dollar savings from
defensive gun use, minus the costs of "gun-violence" - has been estimated
at up to $38.9 billion, annually. (8)
* So-called "assault weapons" are military look-alike
Semi-automatic firearms, and are exactly the same as guns which have been around for over 100 years -only their looks have changed. Semi-automatic firearms do not "spray" bullets, and are not machine guns - they require a separate pull of the trigger for each shot to be fired, just like a revolver - and are used in 3% or less of all firearm-related crimes. They are the most modern tools the law-abiding citizen can use for self-defense and protection of home and family. They are especially valuable for physically handicapped victims. (9)
* In 1856, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that local law-enforcement had no
duty to protect individuals, but only a general duty to enforce the laws. (10) In 1982, the U.S. Court of Appeals held that "there is no Constitutional right to be protected by the state against criminals or madmen. The Constitution does not require Federal or State government to provide services, even so elementary a service as maintaining law and order." (11)
* In Great Britain, handguns are outlawed, and possession of long guns is
severely restricted. Yet, despite strict gun control, as of 1995, rates for
robbery, assault, burglary, and motor vehicle theft in England and Wales
had surpassed those here in the States. On average, for all 4 crimes, English rates were double U.S. rates. (12)
