Good News, Bad News, Unbelievable News

Ammunition for the Right to Bear Arms

That gives libertarians a great opportunity to point out some overlooked facts about the benefits of gun ownership. Here are a few:

• Guns save the lives of vast numbers of children -- and adults -- each year. In the largest study of its type ever done, Dr. John Lott and David Mustard of the University of Chicago examined crime statistics in every U.S. county from 1977 to 1992. They found abundant, unequivocal evidence that gun ownership is a major deterrence to violence. In the 31 states that have "shall issue" laws -- where any adult without criminal records or evidence of mental illness is permitted to carry a concealed gun -- crime rates are far lower than in states where there are no such laws. Their research shows that, using the most conservative estimates, those states reduced their murder rate by an average of 8.5%, rapes by 5%, aggravated assaults by 7% and robbery by 3%.

  Those statistics have human faces. According to Lott and Mustard, if the states that didn't have "shall issue" laws had instead adopted them in 1992, the country would have been spared 1,500 murders, over 4,000 rapes, 60,000 aggravated assaults, and 12,000 robberies -- per year.

  By denying citizens the right to carry guns, some local and state governments are creating the equivalent of hundreds of Littleton massacres every year. (Wall Street Journal, 8/28/96)

• In 1993 research conducted by liberal criminologist Dr. Gary Kleck found that U.S. gun owners use their weapons 2.45 million times a year to ward off criminal attack. That's once every 13 seconds. Most of the time, the guns weren't fired -- just showing the weapon was enough to send criminals fleeing. Without guns, homeowners and their families would be at the mercy of murderers, rapists, burglars, and other thugs. Guns allow even the weak and elderly a chance to defend themselves against crime. (Kleck survey, reported in "Stopping Power" by J. Neil Schulman.)

• A three-year study by the National Institute of Justice surveyed 1,800 prisoners and confirmed that criminals strongly fear meeting armed resistance by potential victims. If a criminal knows he may be met with a gun, he is far less likely to violate a home or commit an assault. (Reported in "Guns, Crime, and Freedom" by Wayne LaPierre.)

• In the 1950's, children had far greater access to guns than today. Guns could even be ordered through the mail. Yet there was no serious problem with illegal guns in schools.

• It is also vital to remember why the Founding Fathers were such strong proponents of gun ownership. It was not for hunting or even for protection against crime. It was because they feared that an unarmed public could easily become the victim of a tyrannical government. They believed that an armed public would provide the single greatest protection against government tyranny.