Got this from today's paper and wanted to share. Another view from a pro gun guy.![[grin]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/041.gif "Grin [grin]")
CONSERVATIVE CORNER: Some perspective on call for gun control
Peter Friedman
Peter Friedman
The recent shooting rampage at a local strip club committed by a lone crackpot has brought a call for increased gun control by Mayor Scott W. Lang, the editorial board of The Standard-Times and others. This is a knee-jerk reaction that would be ineffective and would punish law-abiding residents.
Because gun crimes make sensational news stories, generally reported without any proportionality, gun owners are easy targets. When viewed in balance with other risks in society, firearms deaths are relatively uncommon. At the same time, firearms in the hands of the law-abiding have been proven to reduce crime.
To keep things in perspective, the United States has about 300 million people; it is not surprising that with this many people, deaths result from a variety of causes every day.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2003 (the most recent data available), there were 112,132 accidental deaths in the United States. Of these, 730 were firearms related, while 44,757 resulted from automobiles. Other large contributors to injury deaths were falling (17,229), poisoning (19,457), suffocation (5,579), drowning (3,306) and fire (3,369). Surprisingly, even bicycles and tricycles caused more accidental fatalities (762) than firearms.
Of the 29,789 total firearms-related deaths in the U.S. in 2003, a sizable majority resulted from suicide (16,907). Japan's suicide rate, which is 25 percent higher than that of the United States, coupled with their draconian gun laws, suggests that without firearms, those who want to commit suicide will find other ways.
A large fraction of the 11,920 U.S. firearm homicides in 2003 were gang-on-gang violence and occurred within a limited number of high-crime urban centers; this type of crime is committed almost entirely with illegal guns and would not be meaningfully affected by further restrictions on the law-abiding.
Crimes committed with semiautomatic sporting rifles such as the type used in the Foxy Lady (improperly referred to as "assault weapons" in the media), are very rare, running in the neighborhood of 1 percent of gun crimes. Nationally, murders with knives, clubs and axes outnumber murders with "assault weapons" by 20 to 1.
Locally, New Bedford had a total of six murders in 2006. For comparison, (according to The Standard-Times) in the one week before Christmas alone, Southeastern Massachusetts had nine deaths due to heroin overdoses. (Given the relatively much greater danger of heroin than so-called assault rifles, perhaps The Standard-Times should reconsider its editorial position favoring making hypodermic needles available without a prescription.)
While out-of-proportion news coverage focuses on gun crimes, the benefits of gun ownership receive little attention.
Forty-five percent of American households have at least one firearm, and most gun owners are law-abiding citizens who keep their guns for self-protection or use them for legitimate recreational purposes, such as collecting, hunting or target practice.
Criminologist Dr. Gary Kleck has written peer-reviewed studies that report that firearms are used three to five times more often for defensive purposes than for criminal activity. In total, Dr. Kleck estimates that firearms are used defensively about
2.5 million times each year in the United States. In most cases, the gun is only brandished; only in 1 percent of the cases are the criminals wounded, 0.1 percent fatally.
Dr. John Lott of Yale University conducted an exhaustive multi-year statistical analysis of crime trends in every county in the United States and has proven that allowing law-abiding citizens to be armed lowers crime.
Disarming law-abiding citizens guarantees that criminals have the advantage by leaving potential crime victims vulnerable. Generally, criminals avoid targets that they think can defend themselves. Female ownership of guns has been particularly beneficial in reducing crime.
Over the past 20 years, the right of citizens to carry firearms for self-defense has greatly expanded, while at the same time the crime rate in the United States has dropped substantially.
Forty states have laws that generally allow most residents the right to carry a gun for self-defense.
To his credit, after his public call for more gun control, Mayor Lang invited a number of local gun experts to discuss the issue. According to Standard-Times sports columnist Marc Folco, who attended the meeting, the mayor listened and admitted being unaware of much of what he was told, including that the guns he was advocating banning are popular sporting rifles. After being better informed, the mayor's position seemed to soften.
While adding new restrictions on law-abiding gun owners would be of no benefit, there are beneficial steps that could and should be taken. Most important, we should more strictly enforce the thousands of gun laws already on the books, many of which, although potentially effective, are not enforced.
Mayor Lang and the new district attorney, "Safer" Sam Sutter, could request that the federal government bring "Project Exile" to New Bedford.
Project Exile is a proven, highly effective program in which any convicted felon caught with a firearm is prosecuted under existing federal laws.
The key to its success is its strict enforcement with severe penalties (five years in a federal prison) and simple burden of proof: Any felon in possession of a gun is already in violation of federal law.
We were all saddened by the violence at the Foxy Lady. But as we look to the future, we should look at effective solutions instead of writing ineffective laws that only serve to punish the law-abiding.
Dr. Friedman is a professor of mechanical engineering at UMass Dartmouth and an NRA life member. He lives in South Dartmouth and can be e-mailed at
[email protected]
Date of Publication: January 04, 2007 on Page A14
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/01-07/01-04-07/02opinion.htm
CONSERVATIVE CORNER: Some perspective on call for gun control
Peter Friedman
Peter Friedman
The recent shooting rampage at a local strip club committed by a lone crackpot has brought a call for increased gun control by Mayor Scott W. Lang, the editorial board of The Standard-Times and others. This is a knee-jerk reaction that would be ineffective and would punish law-abiding residents.
Because gun crimes make sensational news stories, generally reported without any proportionality, gun owners are easy targets. When viewed in balance with other risks in society, firearms deaths are relatively uncommon. At the same time, firearms in the hands of the law-abiding have been proven to reduce crime.
To keep things in perspective, the United States has about 300 million people; it is not surprising that with this many people, deaths result from a variety of causes every day.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2003 (the most recent data available), there were 112,132 accidental deaths in the United States. Of these, 730 were firearms related, while 44,757 resulted from automobiles. Other large contributors to injury deaths were falling (17,229), poisoning (19,457), suffocation (5,579), drowning (3,306) and fire (3,369). Surprisingly, even bicycles and tricycles caused more accidental fatalities (762) than firearms.
Of the 29,789 total firearms-related deaths in the U.S. in 2003, a sizable majority resulted from suicide (16,907). Japan's suicide rate, which is 25 percent higher than that of the United States, coupled with their draconian gun laws, suggests that without firearms, those who want to commit suicide will find other ways.
A large fraction of the 11,920 U.S. firearm homicides in 2003 were gang-on-gang violence and occurred within a limited number of high-crime urban centers; this type of crime is committed almost entirely with illegal guns and would not be meaningfully affected by further restrictions on the law-abiding.
Crimes committed with semiautomatic sporting rifles such as the type used in the Foxy Lady (improperly referred to as "assault weapons" in the media), are very rare, running in the neighborhood of 1 percent of gun crimes. Nationally, murders with knives, clubs and axes outnumber murders with "assault weapons" by 20 to 1.
Locally, New Bedford had a total of six murders in 2006. For comparison, (according to The Standard-Times) in the one week before Christmas alone, Southeastern Massachusetts had nine deaths due to heroin overdoses. (Given the relatively much greater danger of heroin than so-called assault rifles, perhaps The Standard-Times should reconsider its editorial position favoring making hypodermic needles available without a prescription.)
While out-of-proportion news coverage focuses on gun crimes, the benefits of gun ownership receive little attention.
Forty-five percent of American households have at least one firearm, and most gun owners are law-abiding citizens who keep their guns for self-protection or use them for legitimate recreational purposes, such as collecting, hunting or target practice.
Criminologist Dr. Gary Kleck has written peer-reviewed studies that report that firearms are used three to five times more often for defensive purposes than for criminal activity. In total, Dr. Kleck estimates that firearms are used defensively about
2.5 million times each year in the United States. In most cases, the gun is only brandished; only in 1 percent of the cases are the criminals wounded, 0.1 percent fatally.
Dr. John Lott of Yale University conducted an exhaustive multi-year statistical analysis of crime trends in every county in the United States and has proven that allowing law-abiding citizens to be armed lowers crime.
Disarming law-abiding citizens guarantees that criminals have the advantage by leaving potential crime victims vulnerable. Generally, criminals avoid targets that they think can defend themselves. Female ownership of guns has been particularly beneficial in reducing crime.
Over the past 20 years, the right of citizens to carry firearms for self-defense has greatly expanded, while at the same time the crime rate in the United States has dropped substantially.
Forty states have laws that generally allow most residents the right to carry a gun for self-defense.
To his credit, after his public call for more gun control, Mayor Lang invited a number of local gun experts to discuss the issue. According to Standard-Times sports columnist Marc Folco, who attended the meeting, the mayor listened and admitted being unaware of much of what he was told, including that the guns he was advocating banning are popular sporting rifles. After being better informed, the mayor's position seemed to soften.
While adding new restrictions on law-abiding gun owners would be of no benefit, there are beneficial steps that could and should be taken. Most important, we should more strictly enforce the thousands of gun laws already on the books, many of which, although potentially effective, are not enforced.
Mayor Lang and the new district attorney, "Safer" Sam Sutter, could request that the federal government bring "Project Exile" to New Bedford.
Project Exile is a proven, highly effective program in which any convicted felon caught with a firearm is prosecuted under existing federal laws.
The key to its success is its strict enforcement with severe penalties (five years in a federal prison) and simple burden of proof: Any felon in possession of a gun is already in violation of federal law.
We were all saddened by the violence at the Foxy Lady. But as we look to the future, we should look at effective solutions instead of writing ineffective laws that only serve to punish the law-abiding.
Dr. Friedman is a professor of mechanical engineering at UMass Dartmouth and an NRA life member. He lives in South Dartmouth and can be e-mailed at
[email protected]
Date of Publication: January 04, 2007 on Page A14
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/01-07/01-04-07/02opinion.htm
