Unbiased America's take on MA gun control

[SKumar]

Unbiased American is run by two guys, Will Ricciardella and Kevin Ryan. Their fb page currently has 111k likes and growing quite rapidly. They post a lot of evidence-based conservative articles and have very high engagement rate. In the last couple days, they decided to use MA as an example of the effects of gun control. Cool short read that I thought is worthy of a share.

HOW STRICTER GUN LAWS BACKFIRE
by Kevin Ryan

In 1998, Massachusetts enacted the strictest gun control laws in the nation. Overnight, the state increased the number of firearm laws on its books from 67 to 100, a 50% increase.

Among the new laws:
• Much stricter licensing requirements.
• Higher age requirements for purchase and possession of firearms.
• “Assault weapon” ban.
• Ten round limit for all firearms and magazines.
• Strict firearm storage requirements, requiring all guns to be kept locked at all times.
• Many new disqualifications for ownership and legal justifications for firearm confiscation.

All this was on top of the state’s already strict gun control laws. It made Massachusetts one of the 3 strictest states for firearm ownership in the nation.

Gun ownership fell, as did the number of people registering their weapons. Within four years, the number of active gun licenses in the state plummeted from nearly 1.5 million to just 200,000.

So, firearm homicides must have fallen, right?

Nope. In 1998, 65 murders in Massachusetts were committed with firearms. By 2011, that number had nearly doubled to 122. Nationwide during that time, there was only a 3% increase in firearm homicides.

Also, from 1998 to 2011, aggravated assaults with guns rose 26.7% in Massachusetts, and robberies with firearms increased 20.7%.

What happened in Massachusetts mirrored what happens in other places that implement onerous gun control laws. Making firearms more difficult to LEGALLY obtain reduces firearm ownership among the law abiding more than it does among those who ignore the law.

And as anyone will tell you, the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. But thanks to strict gun control, places like Massachusetts, D.C., and Chicago have a lot fewer good guys with guns.


SOURCES:
The nation’s toughest gun-control law made Massachusetts less safe - The Boston Globe
What happened to violent crime in Massachusetts after the the 1998 firearms licensing law? - Crime Prevention Research Center
More Guns, Less Crime - Jhon R Lott Jr
http://www.goal.org/Documents/stat_pdfs/LicensePostAuditReport.pdf
State Firearm Laws - State-by-State

(K.R.) Yesterday I posted 2 charts showing how the 1998 passage of strictest-in-the-nation gun laws in Massachusetts actually led to a sharp INCREASE in murders and robbery, and several people countered that “a state’s gun laws are only as strong as the laws in neighboring states”. In other words, because it’s easy to cross state borders, people can just buy their firearms in a state that has laxer gun laws and bring them into the state with stricter gun control.

At least that’s their theory. In reality, state and federal law prohibit such a transaction. You cannot purchase across state lines what you cannot possess where you live. If your state bans it, you can’t buy it in another state.

Critics will counter that “criminals aren’t going to abide by those laws.” But that’s exactly the point. Criminals, by definition, break the law. Laws don’t stop someone who’s willing to break the law. They’ll buy one on the black market or steal one or do whatever it takes to come into possession of a firearm.

Instead, the people most often hindered by gun control laws are law abiding people who would otherwise have a firearm to defend themselves. And there are far, FAR more law abiding people than there are criminals.

So when a state like Massachusetts (or a city like Washington or Chicago) institute radical gun control laws, all they’re doing is creating the equivalent of a “gun-free zone”, an area where criminals are less threatened by the potential that a home owner or shop keeper will pull out a firearm to defend themselves.

And the numbers prove it. When Massachusetts instituted their strict gun control laws, homicides and burglaries skyrocketed. Even if, as critics contended, strict state level gun laws are undermined by looser laws in neighboring states, passing strict legislation shouldn’t change crime one way or the other. All of New England should have roughly the same crime levels.

But that’s not what happened. By passing stricter gun control than neighboring states, Massachusetts essentially rang the dinner bell for criminals. “Come to the Bay State if you want to rob homes with less fear of getting shot!”

SOURCES:

The nation’s toughest gun-control law made Massachusetts less safe - The Boston Globe
What happened to violent crime in Massachusetts after the the 1998 firearms licensing law? - Crime Prevention Research Center
More Guns, Less Crime - Jhon R Lott Jr
http://www.goal.org/Documents/stat_pdfs/LicensePostAuditReport.pdf
State Firearm Laws - State-by-State

 

[daveyburt]

Refreshing!!!

Great work!

 

[dustoff22]

Seeing is believing.

 

[Boris]

great points but moonbat will counter with "MA gun laws make me feel safer" (that's a real quote from a radio personality) ... try arguing with that shit, and you don't need to, it's useless.

The illogical retards who rely on feelz instead of logic need to be ridiculed and outed, just like they used to. They need to be stigmatized and ostracized and made feel like the idiot that they are. You should laugh in their face and tell them that only in nanny state like MA imbeciles like that can survive to adulthood. That's what we got to do.

 

[Asaltweapon]

Nice write up but we knew most of that already.
Convincing us is not the issue. It’s THEM!!!!

 

[frenchman]

Facebook is an echo chamber. The only people who will read this are the ones who don't need to be educated. The antis have their own echo chamber, where the exact same happens on the opposite side of the spectrum. They're just listening to their own side of the story, over and over, very much like we do.

 

[gusto411]

It’s a great article that clearly shows that gun control is working!

Without these gun control measures the murder and robbery rate in MA would be 10 (most likely a 100) times higher than it is today.
Imagine what mayhem the lack of gun control would create in places like Chicago and Baltimore. It’s bad enough with the gun control now, imagine how much worse it would be without!

Thank the government for gun control and ask it for more!

PS
I’m only being half-sarcastic, but that’s what I would hear from antis...

 

[rsj]

They say poverty causes crime, but its the other way around.

 

[vickers]

Here's the thing though. I don't think the average pearl clutching lib in Mass really cares about the fact that crime increased. If more people are getting killed in certain sections of some cities, it doesn't really affect them as they probably don't live there. They are more afraid of people owning guns and living in their neighborhoods and young white kids shooting up suburban schools. I don't think these kind of facts really work on that mindset. They like the fact that there are less people owning guns overall because they are more afraid of that than crime unless it directly affects them.

 

[ridleyman]

Phew, in 2011 the murder rate was 60%! I'm lucky to be alive! With a rate like that I might be able to be governor. Or pitch for the Red Sox.

 

[Admin]

Those graphs are pretty telling

 

[Cowgirlup]

Facebook is an echo chamber. The only people who will read this are the ones who don't need to be educated. The antis have their own echo chamber, where the exact same happens on the opposite side of the spectrum. They're just listening to their own side of the story, over and over, very much like we do.

You are right that the majority will not listen. But every once in a while a little ray of light breaks through the bullsh!t and we have another person that wants to keep their rights. It's still worth putting it out there. I also see younger people being more curious and open minded. Kind of like that Samoan guy that is now an outspoken conservative.

 

[weekendracer]

Facebook is an echo chamber. The only people who will read this are the ones who don't need to be educated. The antis have their own echo chamber, where the exact same happens on the opposite side of the spectrum. They're just listening to their own side of the story, over and over, very much like we do.

But, it's like outing a vegan, you post it and you now know who your friends really are.

 

[drgrant]

Here's the thing though. I don't think the average pearl clutching lib in Mass really cares about the fact that crime increased. If more people are getting killed in certain sections of some cities, it doesn't really affect them as they probably don't live there. They are more afraid of people owning guns and living in their neighborhoods and young white kids shooting up suburban schools. I don't think these kind of facts really work on that mindset. They like the fact that there are less people owning guns overall because they are more afraid of that than crime unless it directly affects them.

IMHO you'll never flip those people, but its important to provide information to the "wonkies." - people either on the fence or are just non gun owners. There are millions of people that haven't really formed an opinion about guns or gun ownership in america. That's ultimately where the value really is. Flipping known antis is mostly a waste of time.


-Mike

 

[cjrubes]

great points but moonbat will counter with "MA gun laws make me feel safer" (that's a real quote from a radio personality) ... try arguing with that shit, and you don't need to, it's useless.

The illogical retards who rely on feelz instead of logic need to be ridiculed and outed, just like they used to. They need to be stigmatized and ostracized and made feel like the idiot that they are. You should laugh in their face and tell them that only in nanny state like MA imbeciles like that can survive to adulthood. That's what we got to do.

I agree with you completely. Facts have no effect on these people. Every decision they make is an emotional one.