Federal Study Refutes Anti-Gun Arguments
Authoritarians of all stripes are using the recent school shooting
tragedies to justify depriving Americans of essential and fundamental
liberties. Anti-gun forces are calling for more restrictions on the right
to keep and bear arms. Enemies of free expression are calling for
censorship of the Internet, movies, video games, and other media. Many are
demanding that government schools be made even more like prisons than they
already are. All this, of course, is in the name of protecting children and
preventing future violence.
Which makes this excerpt from a recent syndicated column by libertarian
writer Vin Suprynowicz especially timely:
"…isn't it too bad the
government has never conducted an actual scientific study
on how it affects a child's likelihood of committing crimes
if his parents buy him a gun?
"Um, actually ... they have.
"The study was conducted from 1993-1995 by the U.S. Department
of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention. Child psychologists tracked 4,000 boys and girls
aged 6 to 15 in Denver, Pittsburgh, and Rochester, N.Y. Their
findings?
"Children who get guns from their parents don't commit gun
crimes (0 percent) while children who get guns illegally are
quite likely to do so (21 percent).
"Children who get guns from parents are less likely to commit
any kind of street crime (14 percent) than children who have
no gun in the house (24 percent) -- and are dramatically less
likely to do so than children who acquire an illegal gun
(74 percent.)
"Children who get guns from parents are less likely to use
banned drugs (13 percent) than children who get illegal guns
(41 percent.)
"Most strikingly, the study found: 'Boys who own legal firearms
have much lower rates of delinquency and drug use (than boys
who own illegal guns) and are even slightly less delinquent
than non-owners of guns.'
"This wouldn't have surprised anyone before the rise of the
modern welfare state. It used to be common knowledge that
the best way to get kids to act 'responsibly' was precisely
to give them some 'responsibility.' Why would we assume a
child taught by his parents to use a gun responsibly wouldn't
also be more responsible in his other behaviors?"
(Source: Vin Suprynowicz syndicated column)
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