Gun Facts

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Arm yourself with the facts about gun control!
The author granted permission to copy his book on the forum, his book can also be purchased in English or Spanish here: http://www.gunfacts.info/

Gun Facts - Your Guide to Debunking Gun Control Myths

(Publication Date May 1, 2012)

INTRODUCTION:  Gun Facts is a free e-book that debunks common myths about gun control.  It is intended as a reference guide for journalists, activists, politicians, and other people interested in restoring honesty to the debate about guns, crime, and the 2nd Amendment.

Gun Facts has 112 pages of information.  Divided into chapters based on gun control topics (assault weapons, ballistic finger printing, firearm availability, etc.), finding information is quick and easy.

Each chapter lists common gun control myths, then lists a number of documented and cited facts (with nearly 500 detailed footnotes).  Thus when a neighbor, editor or politician repeats some sound bite about firearm control policy, you can quickly find that myth then rebuke with real information.
 
 
Gun control myths debunked in Gun Facts include (but are in no way limited to)

 - Gun Shows
 - Assault Weapons
 - Sniping Rifles - Sniper Rifles
 - Handguns For Women Handgun Sales
 - Violence and Violent Crime
 - 2nd Amendment Issue
 - "Pocket Rockets" and "Saturday Night Specials"
 - Concealed Carry and Concealed Weapons Permits
 - Licensing and Registration
 - Firearm Deaths (Homicide, Accidents)
 - Social Costs of Guns
 - Children and Guns
 - Automatic Weapons
 - 50 Caliber Rifles
 - Microstamping
 - Ballistic Fingerprinting
 - Assault Weapons Ban
 - Crime Gun Traces
 - International Gun Ownership and Crime
 - Gun Dealers
 - Gun Control Statistics
 - Deadly Force Encounters
 - Guns, Crime, Criminology and Crime Prevention (Self Defense)
 - Firearm Availability
 - Guns and Police (Law Enforcement/LEO)

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Table of Contents
(Publication Date May 1, 2012)

Introduction...v
Acknowledgements...vi
Guns in other countries...1
Myth: Countries with strict gun control have less crime..................................................................1
Myth: Britain has strict gun control and a low crime rate................................................................3
Myth: Gun control in Australia is curbing crime.............................................................................6
Myth: Japan has strict gun control and a less violent society...........................................................7
Myth: Gun bans elsewhere work.................................................................................................7
Myth: The United States has the highest violence rate because of lax gun control..............................7
Myth: The United States is the source of 90% of drug syndicate guns in Mexico................................7
Myth: Mexico seizes 2,000 guns a day from the United States........................................................8
Myth: Thousands of guns go into Mexico from the U.S. every day...................................................8
Concealed carry laws and weapons.............................................................................................9
Myth: Concealed carry laws increase crime..................................................................................9
Myth: Concealed carry permit holders shoot police......................................................................10
Myth: People with concealed weapons permits will commit crimes.................................................11
Myth: Concealed guns in bars will cause violence........................................................................12
Myth: Texas CCW holders are arrested 66% more often..............................................................12
Myth: CCWs will lead to mass public shootings...........................................................................13
Myth: People do not need concealable weapons..........................................................................13
Myth: Police and prosecutors are against concealed carrying by citizens.........................................14
Licensing and registration...15
Myth: Other countries register guns to fight crime......................................................................15
Myth: Gun registration works...................................................................................................15
Myth: Gun registration will help police find suspects....................................................................17
Myth: Registration does not lead to confiscation..........................................................................17
Myth: Licensing will keep bad people from obtaining or using guns................................................17
Myth: Guns from the U.S. create crime in other countries............................................................18
Crime and guns...19
Myth: Guns are not a good deterrent to crime............................................................................19
Myth: Private guns are used to commit violent crimes.................................................................20
Myth: High capacity, semi-automatics are preferred by criminals..................................................21
Myth: Banning “Saturday Night Specials” reduces crime...............................................................21
Myth: Criminals prefer "Saturday Night Specials"........................................................................21
Myth: Gun shows are supermarkets for criminals........................................................................22
Myth: 25-50% of the vendors at most gun shows are “unlicensed dealers”.....................................22
Myth: Regulation of gun shows would reduce “straw sales”...........................................................23
Myth: Prison isn't the answer to crime control.............................................................................23
Myth: Waiting periods prevent rash crimes and reduce violent crime rates......................................24
Myth: Gun makers are selling plastic guns that slip through metal detectors...................................24
Myth: Machine guns are favored by criminals..............................................................................24
The availability of guns...27
Myth: The availability of guns causes crime................................................................................27
Myth: Gun availability is what is causing school shootings............................................................29
Myth: Gun ownership is linked to higher homicide rates...............................................................29
Myth: Handguns are 43 times more likely to kill a family member than a criminal............................29
Accidental deaths...31
Myth: Accidental gun fatalities are a serious problem...................................................................31
Myth: Handguns are unsafe and cause accidents.........................................................................32
Myth: Innocent bystanders are often killed by guns.....................................................................32
Myth: Citizens are too incompetent to use guns for protection......................................................32
Myth: Gun accidents are flooding emergency rooms....................................................................33
Myth: "Junk" guns are dangerous and should be banned..............................................................33
Myth: Guns should be made to conform to product liability laws....................................................33
Children and guns...34
Myth: 13 children are killed each day by guns.............................................................................34
Myth: School yard shootings are an epidemic.............................................................................35
Myth: Trigger locks will keep children from accidentally shooting themselves..................................35
Myth: Guns in America spark youth violence..............................................................................36
Myth: More than 1,300 children commit suicide with guns............................................................37
Myth: Stricter gun control laws could have prevented the Columbine massacre...............................37
Myth: Children should be kept away from guns for their own safety..............................................38
Myth: More children are hurt with guns than by any other means.................................................38
Myth: If it saves the life of one child, it is worth it.......................................................................39
Guns and crime prevention...41
Myth: Private ownership of guns is not effective in preventing crime.............................................41
Myth: Only police should have guns..........................................................................................42
Myth: You are more likely to be injured or killed using a gun for self-defense.................................42
Myth: Guns are not effective in preventing crime against women..................................................43
Government, gun laws, and social costs....................................................................................45
Myth: Gun control reduces crime..............................................................................................45
Myth: Guns should be registered and licensed like cars...............................................................46
Myth: The Brady Bill caused a decrease in gun homicides............................................................47
Myth: Gun laws are being enforced..........................................................................................47
Myth: Federal gun crime prosecutions increased 25%.................................................................49
Myth: The social cost of gun violence is enormous......................................................................49
Myth: The social cost of gun violence is $20-100 billion...............................................................49
Myth: Gun “buy back” programs get guns off the streets.............................................................50
Myth: Closing down “kitchen table” gun dealers will reduce guns on the street...............................50
Myth: Only the government should have guns............................................................................51
Myth: “Safe storage” laws protect people...................................................................................51
Myth: Local background checks reduce gun suicides....................................................................51
Police and guns...53
Myth: Police favor gun control..................................................................................................53
Myth: Police are our protection - people don't need guns.............................................................53
Myth: The supply of guns is a danger to law enforcement............................................................54
Myth: “Cop Killer” bullets need to be banned.............................................................................54
Myth: Teflon bullets are designed to penetrate police bullet-proof vests........................................54
Ballistic “fingerprinting”...55
Myth: Every firearm leaves a unique "fingerprint" that can pinpoint the firearm used......................55
Myth: A database of ballistic profiles will allow police to trace gun crimes......................................56
Myth: Ballistic imaging is used in Maryland and New York and solves many crimes.........................56
Myth: A ballistic database is inexpensive to create/maintain........................................................57
Myth: Police want a ballistic database.......................................................................................57
Microstamping...58
Myth: Independent testing by forensic technologists shows the technology is reliable......................58
Myth: Filing the firing pin will make the gun inoperable...............................................................58
Myth: The cost per firearm will be cheap...................................................................................58
Myth: The numbers will let police find the gun’s owner and help solve crimes.................................59
Assault Weapons...60
Myth: Assault weapons are a serious problem in the U.S.............................................................60
Myth: Every 48 hours, an assault rifle is traced to crime in Maryland.............................................61
Myth: One out of five police officers killed are killed with assault weapons.....................................62
Myth: Assault weapons are favored by criminals.........................................................................62
Myth: Assault weapons can be easily converted to machine guns..................................................63
Myth: Assault weapons are used in 16% of homicides.................................................................63
Myth: The 1994 (former) Federal Assault Weapons Ban was effective............................................63
Myth: Nobody needs an assault weapon....................................................................................64
.50-Caliber rifles...65
Myth: .50-calibers are the favorite weapon of terrorists...............................................................65
Myth: American gun makers sold .50-calibers to terrorists...........................................................65
Myth: .50-caliber shooters are terrorists in training.....................................................................65
Myth: The Founding Fathers would have had no use for a .50-caliber rifle......................................65
Myth: .50-calibers are capable of piercing airline fuel tanks from a mile away.................................66
Myth: .50-caliber bullets can penetrate concrete bunkers.............................................................66
Myth: .50-caliber bullets can pierce light armor at 4 miles............................................................66
Myth: .50-caliber rifles can knock a helicopter from the sky..........................................................66
Myth: .50-caliber guns are for snipers.......................................................................................66
Assorted myths...68
Myth: 30,000 people are killed with guns every year...................................................................68
Myth: The Brady Campaign has a good ranking system of state gun control laws............................68
Myth: 1,000 people die each day from guns...............................................................................68
Myth: High capacity guns lead to more deadly shootings..............................................................69
Myth: The “powerful gun industry” stops all gun control legislation................................................69
Myth: Access to guns increases the risk of suicide.......................................................................70
Myth: individuals who commit suicide are more likely to have had access to guns...........................70
Myth: The only purpose for a gun is to kill people.......................................................................70
Gun owners and public opinion.................................................................................................71
Myth: Gun owners are a tiny minority........................................................................................71
Myth: People do not believe that the 2nd Amendment is an individual right....................................71
Myth: Most Americans favor gun control....................................................................................71
Myth: More and more Americans support stricter gun control........................................................73
Myth: People want to ban handguns..........................................................................................72
Myth: People oppose concealed carry........................................................................................73
Myth: Most people think guns in the home are dangerous............................................................74
Myth: People want local government to ban guns........................................................................74
Gun Control Proponents...75
Politicians...75
Anti-freedom political activists..................................................................................................77
The media...80
The media in general...80
The American government...80
Gun Control Opponents...82
The Second Amendment...87
Myth: The Supreme Court ruled the Second Amendment is not an individual right...........................87
Myth: The Second Amendment is a collective right, not an individual right......................................87
Myth: The "militia" clause is to arm the National Guard................................................................88
Myth: U.S. v. Cruikshank denied an individual right to bear arms...................................................90
Myth: U.S. v. Miller said that the Second Amendment is not an individual right................................90
Summary of various court decisions concerning gun rights............................................................91
Thoughts on gun confiscation...94
Serious questions to ask yourself...............................................................................................94
Miscellaneous statistics...95
Miscellaneous information...95
British crime statistics...95
Origin of the 2nd Amendment...................................................................................................96

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INTRODUCTION
“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie: deliberate, continued, and dishonest; but the myth: persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.”
-- John F. Kennedy

Purpose
The goal of Gun Facts is to provide a quick reference guide for civil libertarians on gun control issues. Use Gun Facts when composing arguments for debates, writing letters to editors, emailing to your representatives, and sending statements to the media.

The problem Gun Facts addresses is the lack of intellectual honesty by gun control advocates. Over many decades they have presented “information” to the media and the public that is at best inaccurate and at worst fraudulent. Gun Facts is dedicated to debunking gun control myths and providing citable evidence.

Common gun control myths are listed in the pages that follow. For each myth, one or more facts are presented to refute the gun control claim and the source of the information is fully cited.

Copyright and free usage information
This work is the copyrighted property of Guy Smith. All rights are reserved unless noted below.

PDF: The PDF version of this document may be freely distributed providing the document is not altered and that the source is always cited. "Reasonable use" laws apply, which basically means you can use small sections of Gun Facts without my prior consent. Written excerpts may be distributed as long as the URL 'www.GunFacts.info' is identified as the location where the full document may be obtained.

Printings: You are also allowed to print this document for your personal reference and/or for distribution without fee (i.e., you can’t charge money for copies of Gun Facts). This means if you want to print copies for the media, elected officials, gun shows, friends, etc. – you are free to do so. Any distribution in any format must include the entire work.

Questions, corrections and suggestions
If you need to communicate with the author, send e-mail to guy@GunFacts.info. Your corrections, comments, additions and suggestions are welcomed and encouraged. When providing new information, please cite the original reference in detail – publication, title, author, date, etc. This is essential.
Sources

All sources cited in this work are accurate to the best of my research. I use the most recent data I can easily find. If any more recent data is available (even if it weakens my arguments), I welcome receiving the same.

Gun Facts Version 6.1 Page v
Copyright 2012, Guy Smith www.GunFacts.info All Rights Reserved

____________________________________________


Contributions
I accept non-tax-exempt donations to pay for the software, hardware, paper and ink used in composing, editing and distributing Gun Facts. If you would like to help, drop by http://www.PayPal.com and send your donations to guy@GunFacts.info.

Printed copies
A printed copy of the current version of Gun Facts can be acquired online at Amazon.com.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My sincere thanks go out to the following individuals or groups for their contributions to Gun Facts:

Jim Archer: Long ago Jim provided the domain www.GunFacts.info, so people can more easily find this work.

Skeff: For handling a bunch of IT work and building the online core of the Gun Facts community.

To over a dozen people who volunteered to proofread this version of Gun Facts and thus obscured my own inabilities. Due to a change in procedures, I could not capture their names as I normally do, so thanks incognito.

Pete McKay/McKayDesign: For the very professional front cover design.

Muchas gracias: Thank you Claudia, Gonzalo, Renzo, Pablo, Cecilia, Malcolm and Ignacio for the first translation of Gun Facts into Spanish.

The Research Volunteers: Over 600 people have registered to help in researching topics and specific items. I cannot list every volunteer, so I thank you collectively.

Jason G.: For originally recommending the myth/fact approach, which has proven to be absolutely the right way to present this information.

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GUNS IN OTHER COUNTRIES

Myth: Countries with strict gun control have less crime

Fact: In America, we can demonstrate that private ownership of guns reduces crime, but from country to country there is no correlation between gun availability and the violent crime rate. Consider this:

Or, to use detailed data, we can contrast the per capita homicide rate with the per capita gun ownership rate between different industrialized countries (see graph below). Contrasting the data shows zero correlation between the availability of guns and the overall homicide rate.

Fact: Countries with the strictest gun-control laws also tended to have the highest homicide rates.1

Fact: According to the U.N., as of 2005, Scotland was the most violent country in the developed world, with people three times more likely to be assaulted than in America. Violent crime there has doubled over the last 20 years. 3% of Scots had been victims of assault compared with 1.2% in America.2

Fact: “... the major surveys completed in the past 20 years or more provides no evidence of any relationship between the total number of legally held firearms in society and the rate of armed crime. Nor is there a relationship between the severity of controls imposed in various countries or the mass of bureaucracy involved with many control systems with the apparent ease of access to firearms by criminals and terrorists.”3

1 Violence, Guns and Drugs: A Cross-Country Analysis, Jeffery A. Miron, Department of Economics, Boston University, University of Chicago Press Journal of Law & Economics, October 2001.
2 Scotland tops list of world's most violent countries, The Times, September 19, 2005
3 Minutes of Evidence, Colin Greenwood, Select Committee on Northern Ireland Affairs, January 29, 2003.

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Fact: Switzerland has relatively lenient gun control for Europe4, and has the third-lowest homicide rate of the top nine major European countries, and the same per capita rate as England and Wales.5

Fact: Indeed, the Swiss basically have a military rifle in nearly every closest. “Everybody who has served in the army is allowed to keep their personal weapon, even after the end of their military service.”6

Fact: “We don’t have as many guns [in Brazil] as the United States, but we use them more.”7 Brazil has mandatory licensing, registration, and maximum personal ownership quotas. It now bans any new sales to private citizens. Their homicide rate is almost three (3) times higher than the U.S.8

Fact: In Canada around 1920, before there was any form of gun control, their homicide rate was 7% of the U.S rate. By 1986, and after significant gun control legislation, Canada’s homicide rate was 35% of the U.S. rate – a significant increase. 9 In 2003, Canada had a violent crime rate more than double that of the U.S. (963 vs. 475 per 100,000).10


4 In Switzerland, handguns are obtainable once a person obtains a simple police permit which is valid for six months. Federal law over weapons, weapon accessories and ammunition (weapon law, WG), Federal Assembly of the Swiss Confederation, May 2007 - http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/sr/5/514.54.de.pdf

5 Carol Kalish, International Crime Rates, Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report (Washington: Department of Justice, May 1988). 1984 data for Switzerland, and the 1983 data for England and Wales.

6 Army rifles remain racked at home, Swiss Defense Ministry statement, May 15, 2004, http://www.swissinfo.org .

7 Chocolates for guns? Brazil targets gun violence, Rubem César Fernandes, executive secretary of Viva Rio, a nongovernmental agency that studies urban crime, Christian Science Monitor, August 10, 1999

8 Homicide trends in the United States, U.S. data: Bureau of Justice Statistics, September, 2004. Brazil data: Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 2005.

9 Targeting Guns, Gary Kleck, Aldine Transaction, 1997, at 360.
10 Juristat: Crime Statistics in Canada, 2004 and FBI Uniform Crime Statistics online.

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Fact: Many of the countries with the strictest gun control have the highest rates of violent crime. Australia and England, which have virtually banned gun ownership, have the highest rates of robbery, sexual assault, and assault with force of the top 17 industrialized countries.11

Fact: The crime rate is 66% higher in four Canadian Prairie Provinces than in the northern US states across the border.12

Fact: Strict controls over existing arms failed in Finland. Despite needs-based licensing, storage laws and transportation restrictions,13 Finland experienced a multiple killing school shooting in 2007.14


Myth: Britain has strict gun control and a low crime rate

Fact: Since gun banning has escalated in the UK, the rate of crime – especially violent crime – has risen.

Fact: Ironically, firearm use in crimes in the UK has doubled in the decade since handguns were banned.15

Fact: Britan has the highest rate of violent crime in Europe, more so than the United States or even South Africa. They also have the second highest over all crime rate in the European Union. In 2008, Britan had a violent crime rate nearly five times higher than the United states (446 vs. 2034 pre 100,000 population).16


11 Criminal Victimization in Seventeen Industrialized Countries, Dutch Ministry of Justice, 2001.

12 A Comparison of Violent and Firearm Crime Rates in the Canadian Prairie Provinces and Four U.S. Border States, 1961-2003, Parliamentary Research Branch of the Library of Parliament, March 7, 2005.

13 National Report by Finland, United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs.

14 Pekka-Eric Auvinen shooting in Tuusula, Finland on November 8, 2007.

15 Weapons sell for just £50 as suspects and victims grow ever younger, The Times, August 24, 2007.

16 The most violent country in Europe: Britain is also worse than South Africa and U.S., Daily Mail, July 3, 2009, citing a joint report of the European Commission and United Nations.

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Fact: 67% of British residents surveyed believed that “As a result of gun and knife crime [rising], the area I live in is not as safe as it was five years ago.”17

Fact: U.K. street robberies soared 28% in 2001. Violent crime was up 11%, murders up 4%, and rapes are up 14%.18U.K. Violent Crime and Firearm Ownership200250300350400450500550198819891990199119921993199419951996199719981999Violent Crimes per 100,000 PopulationFirearm Act of 1988Firearm Act of 1997Source: CRIMINAL STATISTICS England and Wales 2000, British Home Office

Fact: This trend continues in the U.K in 2004 with a 10% increase in street crime, 8% increase in muggings, and a 22% increase in robberies.

Fact: In 1919, before they had any gun control, the U.K. had a homicide rate that was 8% of the U.S. rate. By 1986, and after enacting significant gun control, the rate was 9% – practically unchanged.19

Fact: “... [There is] nothing in the statistics for England and Wales to suggest that either the stricter controls on handguns prior to 1997 or the ban imposed since have controlled access to such firearms by criminals.”20

Fact: Comparing crime rates between America and Britain is fundamentally flawed. In America, a gun crime is recorded as a gun crime. In Britain, a crime is only recorded when there is a final disposition (a conviction). All unsolved gun crimes in Britain are not reported as gun crimes, grossly undercounting the amount of gun crime there.21 To make matters worse, British law enforcement has been exposed for falsifying criminal reports to create falsely lower crime figures, in part to preserve tourism.22


17 YouGov survey of 2,156 residents in Sept 2007.

18 British Home Office, reported by BBC news, July 12, 2002.

19 Targeting Guns, Gary Kleck, Aldine Transaction, 1997, at 359.

20 Minutes of Evidence, Colin Greenwood, Select Committee on Northern Ireland Affairs, January 29, 2003.

21 Fear in Britain, Gallant, Hills, Kopel, Independence Institute, July 18, 2000.

22 Crime Figures a Sham, Say Police, Daily Telegraph, April 1, 1996.

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Fact: An ongoing parliamentary inquiry in Britain into the growing number of black market weapons has concluded that there are more than three million illegally held firearms in circulation – double the number believed to have been held 10 years ago – and that criminals are more willing than ever to use them. One in three criminals under the age of 25 possesses or has access to a firearm. 23

Fact: Handgun homicides in England and Wales reached an all-time high in 2000, years after a virtual ban on private handgun ownership. More than 3,000 crimes involving handguns were recorded in 1999-2000, including the 42 homicides, 310 cases of attempted murder, 2,561 robberies and 204 burglaries.24Fact: Handguns were used in 3,685 British offenses in 2000 compared with 2,648 in 1997, an increase of 40%.25 It is interesting to note:

• Of the 20 areas with the lowest number of legal firearms, 10 had an above average level of “gun crime.”
• Of the 20 areas with the highest levels of legal guns, only 2 had armed crime levels above the average.

Fact: Between 1997 and 1999, there were 429 murders in London, the highest two-year figure for more than 10 years – nearly two-thirds of those involved firearms – in a country that has virtually banned private firearm ownership.26

Fact: Over the last century, the British crime rate was largely unchanged. In the late nineteenth century, the per capita homicide rate in Britain was between 1.0 and 1.5 per 100,000.27 In the late twentieth century, after a near ban on gun ownership, the homicide rate is around 1.4.28 This implies that the homicide rate did not vary with either the level of gun control or gun availability.

Fact: The U.K. has strict gun control and a rising homicide rate of 1.4 per 100,000. Switzerland has the highest per capita firearm ownership rate on the planet (all males age 20 to 42 are required to keep rifles or pistols at home) and has a homicide rate of 1.2 per 100,000. To date, there has never been a schoolyard massacre in Switzerland.29

Fact: “The scale of gun crime in the capital [London] has forced senior officers to set up a specialist unit to deal with ... shootings.”30


23 Reported in The Guardian, September 3, 2000.

24 42 killed by handguns last year, The Times, January 10, 2001, reporting on statistics supplied by the British Home Office.

25 Illegal Firearms in the UK, Centre for Defense Studies at King's College in London, July 2001.

26 Ibid.

27 Crime and Society in England 1750-1900, Clive Emsley, 1987, at 36.

28 Where Kids and Guns Do Mix, Stephen P. Halbrook, Wall Street Journal, June 1999.

29 Ibid.

30 Associated News Media, April 30, 2001.

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Myth: Gun control in Australia is curbing crime

Fact: Crime has been rising since enacting a sweeping ban on private gun ownership. In the first two years after Australian gun-owners were forced to surrender 640,381 personal firearms, government statistics showed a dramatic increase in criminal activity.31 In 2001-2002, homicides were up another 20%.32

From the inception of firearm confiscation to March 27, 2000, the numbers are:
• Firearm-related murders were up 19%
• Armed robberies were up 69%
• Home invasions were up 21%

The sad part is that in the 15 years before the national gun confiscation:
• Firearm-related homicides dropped nearly 66%
• Firearm-related deaths fell 50%

Fact: Gun crimes have been rising throughout Australia since guns were banned. In Sydney alone, robbery rates with guns rose 160% in 2001, more in the previous year.33

Fact: A ten year Australian study has concluded that firearm confiscation had no effect on crime rates.34 A separate report also concluded that Australia’s 1996 gun control laws “found [no] evidence for an impact of the laws on the pre-existing decline in firearm homicides”35 and yet another report from Australia for a similar time period indicates the same lack of decline in firearm homicides 36


31 Crime and Justice - Crimes Recorded by Police, Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2000.

32 Report #46: Homicide in Australia, 2001-2002, Australian Institute of Criminology, April 2003.

33 Costa targets armed robbers, The Sydney Morning Herald, April 4, 2002.

34 Gun Laws and Sudden Death: Did the Australian Firearms Legislation of 1996 Make a Difference?, Dr. Jeanine Baker and Dr. Samara McPhedran, British Journal of Criminology, November 2006.

35 Austrian firearms: data require cautious approach, S. McPhedran, S. McPhedran, and J. Baker, The British Journal of Psychiatry, 2007, 191:562

36 Australian firearms legislation and unintentional firearm deaths a theoretical explanation for the absence of decline following the 1996 gun laws Public Health, Samara McPhedran, Jeanine Baker, Public Health, Volume 122, Issue 3

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Fact: Despite having much stricter gun control than New Zealand (including a near ban on handguns) firearm homicides in both countries track one another over 25 years, indicating that gun control is not a control variable.37
Myth: Japan has strict gun control and a less violent society

Fact: In Japan, the total murder rate is almost 1 per 100,000. In the U.S., there are about 3.2 murders per 100,000 people each year by weapons other than firearms.38 This means that even if firearms in the U.S. could be eliminated, the U.S. would still have three times the murder rate of the Japanese. Whereas Japan’s murder rate may be low, its suicide rate is over 20 per 100,000 people. Combined, Japanese are being murdered and committing suicide at a rate of about 21 per 100,000. In the U.S., our combined murder and suicide rate is also about 21.


Myth: Gun bans elsewhere work

Fact: Though illegal, side-street gun makers thrive in the Philippines, primarily hand crafting exact replicas of submachine guns, which are often the simplest type of gun to manufacture. Estimates are that almost half of all guns in the Philippines are illegal.39

Fact: Chinese police destroyed 113 illegal gun factories and shops in a three-month crackdown in 2006. Police seized 2,445 tons of explosives, 4.81 million detonators and 117,000 guns.40


Myth: The United States has the highest violence rate because of lax gun control

Fact: The top 10 countries for homicide do not include the U.S.41


Myth: The United States is the source of 90% of drug syndicate guns in Mexico

Fact: This is an often misquoted data point from the BATFE, who said 90% of the firearms that have been interdicted in transport to Mexico or recovered in Mexico came from the United States. Thus the 90% number includes only the firearms American and Mexican police stop in transport.42


37 Firearm Homicide in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand: What Can We Learn From Long- Term International Comparisons?, Samara McPhedran, Jeanine Baker, and Pooja Singh, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, March 16, 2010

38 Japan data: 1996 Demographic Yearbook, United Nations, 1998; US data: FBI Uniform Crime Statistics, 1996.

39 Filipino gunsmiths are making a killing, Taipei Times, May 7, 2005.

40 China Radio International Online, September 7, 2006.

41 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Centre for International Crime Prevention, Seventh United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems, covering the period 1998 – 2000.

42 Mexico's Massive Illegal weapons coming from China and the U.S., American Chronicle, March 14, 2009

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Fact: The original 90% number was derived from the number of firearms successfully traced, not the total number of firearms criminally used. For 2007-2008, Mexican officials recovered approximately 29,000 firearms from crime scenes and asked for BATFE traces of 11,000. Of those, the BATFE could trace roughly 6,000 of which 5,114 were confirmed to have come from the United States. Thus, 83% of the crime guns recovered in Mexico have not been or cannot be traced to America and the real number is most likely 17%.43

Fact: Mexican drug syndicates can buy guns anywhere. For the relatively underpowered civilian rifles coming from the United States, drug runners would pay between 300% and 400% above the market price. Thus they can and are buying guns around the world.44

Fact: Mexican drug cartels – with a $40 billion in annual revenues – have military armament that includes hand grenades, grenade launchers, armor-piercing munitions, antitank rockets and assault rifles smuggled in from Central American countries.45 These are infantry weapons bought from around the world and not civilian rifles from the United States.


Myth: Mexico seizes 2,000 guns a day from the United States

Fact: The Mexican attorney general’s office reports seizing a total of 29,000 weapons in all of 2007 and 2008, or about 14,500 weapons a year. And that is all types of weapons, regardless of country of origin.46 Had they actually seized approximately 2,000 weapons per day, the total number of seized guns would be closer to 1,460,000.


Myth: Thousands of guns go into Mexico from the U.S. every day

Fact: In Senate Committee testimony, the BAFTE said the number was likely at worst to be in the “hundreds”.47 As evidenced above, for 2007 and 2008, the average for all firearms seizures was closer to 40 per day (29,000 guns/730 days), and only a fraction of these came from the USA by any means.


43 The Myth of 90 Percent, Fox News, April 2, 2009, BATFE data distilled by William La Jeunesse and Maxim Lott

44 Southwest Border Region--Drug Transportation and Homeland Security Issues, National Drug Intelligence Center, October 2007

45 Drug cartels' new weaponry means war, Los Angeles Times, March 15, 2009

46 The Myth of 90 Percent, William La Jeunesse and Maxim Lott, Fox News, April 2, 2009

47 Senate Committee Judiciary, William Hoover, Assistant Director, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, & Firearms, March 17, 2009

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Myth: Concealed carry laws increase crime

Fact: Four states require no permit to carry a concealed firearm, 37 are “shall-issue” states where non-felons receive permits on demand, eight states may or may not issue permits, and one state allows no form of concealed carry. Statistics for each CCW state show that crime rate fell (or did not rise) after the right-to-carry law became active.

Fact: Crime rates involving gun owners with carry permits have consistently been about 0.02% of all carry permit holders since Florida’s right-to-carry law started in 1988.48

Fact: Florida's homicide rate fell from 36% above the national average to 4% below after CCW enactment and remains below the national average (as of the 2005 reporting period).49


48 Florida Department of Justice, 1998

49 Shall issue: the new wave of concealed handgun permit laws, Cramer C and Kopel D. Golden CO: Independence Institute Issue Paper. October 17, 1994

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Fact: In Texas, murder rates fell 50% faster than the national average in the year after their concealed carry law passed. Rape rates fell 93% faster in the first year after enactment, and 500% faster in the second.50 Assaults fell 250% faster in the second year.51

Fact: More to the point, crime is significantly higher in states without right-to-carry laws52:

Fact: States that disallow concealed carry have violent crime rates 11% higher than national averages.53

Fact: Deaths and injuries from mass public shootings fall dramatically after right-to-carry concealed handgun laws are enacted. Between 1977 and 1995,54 the average death rate from mass shootings plummeted by up to 91% after such laws went into effect, and injuries dropped by over 80%.55


Myth: Concealed carry permit holders shoot police

Fact: The Violence Police Center started listing instances of CCW holders shooting police.56 From May 2007 through November 2009 (2.5 years) they recorded nine police deaths, three in one mass killing by a white supremacist using an AK-47 rifle. Of the nine, five have yet to have a trial or conviction.


50 Some criminologist believe measuring first year change is shortsighted as it takes more than a year for permits to be issued, reach critical quantities, and for the criminally minded to recognize the new situation and avoid violent confrontations.

51 Bureau of Justice Statistics, online database, reviewing Texas and U.S. violent crime from 1995-2001.

52 Crime, Deterrence, and Right-to-Carry Concealed Handguns, Lott, John R., and Mustard, David B. J. of Legal Studies, vol.26, n.1, pp.1-68 (Jan. 1997): This study involved county level crime statistics from all 3,054 counties in the U.S., from 1977 through 1992. During this time ten states adopted right-to-carry laws. It is estimated that if all states had adopted right-to-carry laws, in 1992 the US would have avoided 1,400 murders, 4,200 rapes, 12,000 robberies, 60,000 aggravated assaults – and saved over $5,000,000,000 in victim expenses.

53 FBI, Uniform Crime Reports, 2004 - excludes Hawaii and Rhode Island - small populations and geographic isolation create other determinants to violent crime.

54 Federal legislation created a national “gun-free schools” policy, effective in 1996. Some criminologists maintain this created a new dynamic, encouraging mass murder on campus. Thus after 1995 it is increasing difficult to make comparisons based on the effects of CCWs and mass shootings.

55 Multiple Victim Public Shootings, Bombings, and Right-to-Carry Concealed Handgun Laws: Contrasting Private and Public Law Enforcement, John Lott and William Landes, Law School of the University of Chicago, Law & Economics Working Paper No. 73

56 Law Enforcement Officers Killed by Concealed Handgun Permit Holders, VPC, December 13, 2009

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Myth: People with concealed weapons permits will commit crimes

Fact: The results for the first 30 states that passed “shall-issue” laws for concealed carry permits are similar.

Fact: In Texas, citizens with concealed carry permits are 14 times less likely to commit a crime. They are also five times less likely to commit a violent crime.66

Fact: People with concealed carry permits are:67
• 5.7 times less likely to be arrested for violent offenses than the general public
• 13.5 times less likely to be arrested for non-violent offenses than the general public

Fact: Even gun control organizations agree it is a non-problem, as in Texas – “because there haven't been Wild West shootouts in the streets”.68

Fact: Of 14,000 CCW licensees in Oregon, only 4 (0.03%) were convicted of the criminal (not necessarily violent) use or possession of a firearm.

Fact: “I'm detecting that I'm eating a lot of crow on this issue ... I think that says something, that we've gotten to this point in the year and in the third largest city in America there has not been a single charge against anyone that had anything to do with a concealed handgun.”69


57 Reports were as received. No selection or filtering process was used.

58 Violent crime rates are from inception of “shall issue” CCW through 2006, the most recent period available through the Bureau of Justice Statistics online database.

59 October 1987 through Jan 2008

60 1995 – no follow-up data available

61 1994 through 2007

62 1995 through 2004

63 2002 through 2006

64 In 2005 and 2006, Minnesota had an abnormal spike in robbery and aggravated assaults. The first three years of CCW in Minnesota saw violent crime rates being roughly stable and the problem has somewhat abated since then.

65 2001 through 2007

66 Texas Department of Public Safety and the U.S. Census Bureau, reported in San Antonio Express-News, September, 2000

67 An Analysis of the Arrest Rate of Texas Concealed Carry Handgun License Holders as Compared to the Arrest Rate of the Entire Texas Population, William E. Sturdevant, PE, September 11, 1999

68 Nina Butts, Texans Against Gun Violence, Dallas Morning News, August 10, 2000

69 John Holmes, Harris County [Houston, TX] District Attorney, In Session: Handgun Law's First Year Belies Fears of 'Blood in the Streets,” Texas Lawyer, December 9, 1996

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Fact: In Florida, a state that has allowed concealed carry since late 1987, you are twice as likely to be attacked by an alligator as by a person with a concealed carry permit.70


Myth: Concealed guns in bars will cause violence

Fact: In Virginia, in the first year where CCW holders were allowed to, the number of major crimes involving firearms at bars and restaurants statewide declined 5.2% The crimes that occurred during the law's first year were relatively minor.71


Myth: Texas CCW holders are arrested 66% more often

Fact: Most arrests cited are not any form of violent crime (includes bounced checks or tax delinquency). 72

Fact: The VPC "study" only includes arrests, not convictions.

Fact: Many of these arrests in this premature VPC "study" came in the early years of Texas CCWs when the law was not understood by most of the law enforcement community or prosecutors.

Fact: Compared to the entire population, Texas CCW holders are about 7.6 times less likely to be arrested of a violent crime.73 The numbers breakdown as follows:
• 214,000 CCW holders74
• 526 (0.2%) felony arrests of CCW holders that have been adjudicated
• 100 (0.05%) felony convictions


70 Concealed Weapons/Firearms License Statistical Report, Florida Department of State, 1998 – Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission, December 1998

71 Gun Crimes Drop at Virginia Bars And Restaurants, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Auguat 14, 2011, reporting data from the Virginia State Police

72 Basis For Revocation Or Suspension Of Texas Concealed, Texas Department of Public Safety, December 1, 1998

73 Texas Department of Corrections data, 1996-2000, compiled by the Texas State Rifle Association, www.tsra.com/arrests.htm

74 These are year 2000 records. As of 2005, the number of Texas concealed carry permit holders was 248,874.

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Fact: A different study concludes that the four year violent crime arrest rate for CCW holders is 128 per 100,000. For the general population, it is 710 per 100,000. In other words, CCW holders are 5.5 times less likely to commit a violent crime.75

Fact: “I lobbied against the law in 1993 and 1995 because I thought it would lead to wholesale armed conflict. That hasn't happened. All the horror stories I thought would come to pass didn't happen. No bogeyman. I think it's worked out well, and that says good things about the citizens who have permits. I'm a convert.”76

Fact: “It has impressed me how remarkably responsible the permit holders have been.”77


Myth: CCWs will lead to mass public shootings

Fact: Multiple victim public shootings drop in states that pass shall-issue CCW legislation.78


Myth: People do not need concealable weapons

Fact: In 80% of gun defenses, the defender used a concealable handgun. A quarter of the gun defenses occurred in places away from the defender's home.79

Fact: 77% of all violent crime occurs in public places.80 This makes concealed carry necessary for almost all self-defense needs. But due to onerous laws forbidding concealed carry, only 26.8% of defensive gun uses occurred away from home.81

Fact: Often, small weapons that are capable of being concealed are the only ones usable by people of small stature or with physical disabilities.


75 An Analysis Of The Arrest Rate Of Texas Concealed Handgun License Holders As Compared To The Arrest Rate Of The Entire Texas Population, William E. Sturdevant, PE, September 11, 1999

76 Glenn White, President of the Dallas Police Association, Dallas Morning News, December 23, 1997

77 Colonel James Wilson, Director Texas Department of Public Safety, Dallas Morning News, Jun 11, 1996

78 Multiple Victim Public Shootings, Bombings, and Right-to-Carry Concealed Handgun Laws: Contrasting Private and Public Law Enforcement, Lott John R., Landes William M.; University of Chicago – covers years 1977 to 1995

79 Armed Resistance to Crime: The Prevalence and Nature of Self-Defense with a Gun, by Gary Kleck and Marc Gertz, in The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, Northwestern University School of Law, Volume 86, Number 1, Fall, 1995

80 Criminal Victimization in the United States, U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1993

81 Kleck and Gertz, National Self Defense Survey, 1995

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