Jefferson Review

Special thanks to Gun Owners of America for providing the main source of information contained in this report.

Gun control measures do not lower crime rates or protect citizens: an armed populace lowers crime and protects citizens against arbitrary state abuse. Nonetheless, anti-gun advocates lobby for stricter gun control measures, maintaining that firearm ownership must be restricted in order to lower crime rates.

A closer look at gun control measures reveals their ineffective and contrary impact upon crime:

First, waiting periods leave law abiding citizens defenseless against the threat of imminent danger. For example, women and children have been domestically murdered while waiting on hand gun clearance ¹.

Second, background checks invoke arbitrary abuse. According to the Justice Department, systems that require criminal checks prior to firearms purchase create potential for automated tracking of purchasers ².

Third, gun registration does not prevent criminals from getting guns; nor does it result in dangerous criminal incarceration. Rather, it denies firearms to law abiding citizens and historically leads to gun confiscation, preceding genocide. Instant check systems have prevented 400,000 persons from buying guns, and only one criminal was prosecuted within a three year period ³. Furthermore, New York City and California conducted gun confiscations after registration ⁴. Moreover, genocide occurred in Nazi Germany, the former Soviet Union, and China following gun registration and confiscation ⁵.

Fourth, an “assault” weapons ban is deceptive and ineffective. Semi-auto rifles, for example, are falsely labeled as “assault rifles” because they look like fully automatics ⁶. Next, semi-autos are not the choice weapon for criminals: a person is 67 times more likely to be stabbed or beaten to death than to be murdered by an “assault rifle” ⁷. Finally, only 2% to 3% of crimes are attributed to high capacity semi-auto rifles ⁸.

Therefore, the solution to lowering crime rates and protecting citizens from genocide is an adequately, individually armed populace:

First, localities that promote an armed citizenry have reduced crime rates. Vermont is a state with no gun permits and no waiting period; yet, it has been one of the top five safest states, ten years consecutively, ⁹. Also, Kennesaw, Georgia passed a law requiring firearms in households; accordingly, their burglary rate dropped by 89% ¹⁰.

Second, guns save more lives than are taken. Guns are used 2.5 million times a year (6,850 times a day), for self defense ¹¹. By contrast, gun deaths by suicide and accidents total 17,362 per year. In 2002, gun Homicides (including children), totaled 10,801 ¹².

Nonetheless, gun control advocates claim stricter measures will reduce crime, homicides, and accidental gun related deaths among children:

Accidental gun deaths among children have declined 50% in twenty-five years, in spite of the increase in gun stocks and population ¹³. In 2002, eighty-four children were killed accidentally by firearms; whereas, 2,591 children were killed in motor-vehicle accidents ¹⁴. Furthermore, forty-five students died from football injuries (during a three year period), compared to twenty-two that were gun related homicides ¹⁵.

In conclusion, while gun related accidental deaths and homicides are a tragedy, the evidence reveals that gun control measures fail to lower crime rates and protect citizens; rather, gun control measures endanger more lives.

"..it does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds.."

1. Re: Bonnie Elmasri and sons were murdered by an irate husband while waiting for a 48 hour gun clearance. Congressional Record (May 8, 1991), at H 2859, H 2862.

2. 1989 Justice Department report. Bureau of Justice Assistant, Grant Manager’s Memorandum, Pt.1: Project Summery (September 30, 1994), Project Number: 94-DD-CX-0166.

3. Scully, “Supremacist’s shooting spree could spur gun control moves,” The Washington Times (July 8, 1999).

4. New York City: following gun registration, on August 16, 1991, Mayor David Dinkins signed local law 78 which banned the possession and sale of certain firearms. California: Following gun registration, in 1989, began confiscating firearms. (Gun Owners of America. Gun Control Fact Sheet (2004), pg. 12).

5. Gun Owner of America. Gun Control Fact Sheet (2004), pg. 13. Original Source: (1) Kople, David. “Trust the People”: The Case Against Gun Control,” [Cato Institute] Policy Analysis 109 (July 11, 1988):25. (2) Simkin, Jay, Zelman Aaron and Rice, Alan Lethal Laws: “Gun Control” is the Key to Genocied. Milwaukee: Jews For the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, 1994.

6. U.S. Department of Defense defines real assault weapons as being capable of “Selective-fire”: Meaning they can be fired in fully auto as well as semi-auto. Defense Intelligence Agency, Small Arms Identification and Operation Guide – Eurasian Communist Countries . Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.1988. Pg.105, cited in Kopel, Guns: Who Should Have Them? Pg.162.

7. FBI. Crime in the United States. 1994. Pg.18

8. Figures reported to Congress in 1990 by over1000 police officers: Congressional Record, September 13,1990: E 2826, citing [Police Advertisement], Roll Call, September 3, 1990.

9. O’Leary Morgan, Kathleen; Morgan, Scott; and Neil Quinto. Ranking of States In Most Dangerous/Safest State Awards 1999 to 2003. Morgan Quinton Press.

10. Kleck, Garry. Social Problems: Crime Control Through the Private Use of Armed Force. February 1988. Pg.15.

11. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. Northwest University School of Law. Fall 1995. Pg. 164.

12. Statistics from 2000. Gun Owners of America. Gun Control Fact Sheet (2004): Firearms Statistics. Original Source: National Safety Council, Injury Facts: 2003 Edition. Pg. 10, 19-20, 129.

13. National Safety Counsel. Injury Facts: 2000 Edition. Pg.18.

14. Gun Owners of America. Gun Control Fact Sheet (2004): Firearms Statistics.

15. Mueller, Fredrick. Annual Servey for Football Injury Research: 1931-2001. National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research. 2002.

	Jefferson Review
	"Your Liberty is Our Interest"	December 26, 2005
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