- Somebody is lying...
-
- Statement: "One child under 14 is accidently shot
to death every day in the USA" (Center to Prevent Handgun Violence)
-
- Truth: True, if the year in question is 1979, when there
were 364 such deaths. In 1990, the most recent year for which data are
available, the number was 236, according to the National Center for Health
Statistics. The number of fatal gun accidents among children has fallen
by 56% since 1970, even as the gun supply has grown significantly.[4]
-
- Statement: "In the past decade, more than 138,000
Americans were shot by children under the age of 6." (Hartford Courant)
-
- Truth: No source is ever cited for this factoid because
there is none. No government or academic agency even collects data to provide
an estimate for the true figure.[4]
-
- Statement: 135,000 children carry guns to school each
day. (U.S. Sen. Biden and Chafee)
-
- Truth: The 135,000 figure, also sometimes given as 186,000,
is often attributed to the Department of Justice (DOJ), but no specific
DOJ study is identified. The number is a huge distortion from the plausible
16,000 to 17,000 nationally extrapolated from criminologist Gary Kleck's
data.[4]
-
- Statement: "Firearms are responsible for the deaths
of 45,000 infants, children and adolescents per year." (American Academy
of Pediatrics)
-
- Truth: Even if all persons 15-95 are considered "adolescents,"
this one can't be true. The 45,000 figure exceeds the total deaths in all
ages from all causes related to firearms.[4]
-
- Statement: "One million U.S. inhabitants die prematurely
each year as the result of intentional homicide or suicide." (former
Surgeon General C. Everett Koop)
-
- Truth: According to the National Center for Health Statistics,
in 1988 there were about 30,000 suicides (by all methods) and about 22,000
homicides (by all methods, including legal self-defense). Thus, the "one
million" claim is off by about 1800%.[4]
-
- Statement: "Guns are the leading cause of death
among older teenagers- white and black-in America." (Newsweek)
-
- Truth: True for black males, but not for females or for
males of other races.[4]
-
- Statement: "People without guns injure, people with
guns kill." (The Coalition for Gun Control)[2]
-
- Truth: Most homicides (c. 60-75%) in Canada are done
with something other than a firearm. One is more likely to be injured by
a knife wielding attacker than a gun wielding attacker. If injured, (non
fatal) knife wounds are more likely to be more serious than firearms injuries
according to Statistics Canada. In Canada from 1961-1990, there were a
total of 15,198 homicides.
-
- 63.1% were with a non-firearm. 14.3% were with a non-restricted
rifle. 13% were with a illegally owned restricted firearm. 6.5% were with
a non-restricted shotgun. 2.4% were with a unidentified firearm. 0.7% were
with a legally owned and registered restricted firearm. [8]
-
- In 1992, there were 756 homicides(including self defense
homicides) in Canada, of those, 26.19% with with firearms, that leaves
73.81% homicides by means other that a firearm. [8]
-
- Statement: "Dogs are more regulated than firearms
are." (The Coalition for Gun Control)
-
- Truth: No permit is needed to purchase or acquire a dog.
No permit is required to transport a dog or take a dog for a walk. Dogs
are not banned because of physical appearance. Small dogs are not more
strictly regulated than larger dogs. Dogs are not registered everywhere,
and where they are, registration is quick and easy, available to everyone,
and used to control dogs that tend to run around on their own. Registration
of dogs has not been used to confiscate expensive dogs that have not been
used in criminal offenses.
-
- Statement: "Motor vehicles are more regulated and
taxed than guns." (The Coalition for Gun Control)[2].
-
- Truth: Applicable taxes on firearms and motor vehicles
are the same, being the Goods and Services Tax and Provincial Sales Taxes.
Motor vehicles are not banned for being paramilitary in appearance (i.e
Jeeps and 4WD vehicles), having automatic transmissions, large capacity
( 5 litres) gas tanks, or colour. No permit is needed to purchase a motor
vehicle. No permit is needed to tow or ship a vehicle if the vehicle is
not being driven. Drivers licenses are easy to get, good for 5 years and
allow the motor vehicle to be taken anywhere in Canada by the driver. Concealed
weapons permits are not available to Canadian citizens. Motor vehicles
are not required to be stored with empty fuel tanks and disabled engines
in locked garages.
-
- Statement: "Guns are more lethal on a per use basis
than motor vehicles." (The Coalition for Gun Control)[2]
-
- Truth: Number of motor vehicle related accidental deaths
in Canada in 1990, 3798. Number of firearms related accidental deaths in
Canada in 1990, 186. Canadians fire millions of rounds of ammunition every
year while hunting, plinking, target practise, and competitive shooting.
Target shooting is one of the safest of the outdoor sports.
-
- Statement: "Easy access to firearms contributes
to crime". (The Coalition for Gun Control)[2]
-
- Truth: Areas that have instituted tougher restrictions
on the legal access or ownership of firearms have seen increases in the
violent crime rates. Canada and Britain have both increased the restrictions
on firearms owners in the last 15 years, and have seen dramatic increases
in violent crime and the use of illegal firearms. Areas of the US (and
several countries) that have liberal restrictions, or have eased their
restrictions on legal gun owners have low crime rates, or have seen their
crime rates drop. Prior to January 1978 when Bill C-51 came into effect,
Canada had very liberal gun laws. From 1977 to 1991, Canada's violent crime
rate has increased 89% (583 to 1099 violent crimes per 100,000 population)
compared to a 59% for the US in the same period. (476 to 758 violent crimes
per 100,000 population). [10]
-
-
- Statement: "The majority of Canadians support tougher
gun control." (The Coalition for Gun Control)[2]
-
- Truth: While a survey that asked "Do you favour
more gun control?" had 80% of the respondants say yes. However when
asked "What should the Government do to fight crime?", less than
1% responded by saying "more gun control". "Do you agree
that the courts are presently much too lenient in punishing criminals using
guns?" 86% said yes. "Do you agree that law abiding sportsmen,
recreational shooters and collectors should not lose their guns because
the the actions of relatively few criminals?" 82% said yes. A September
1991 nationwide Gallup poll found that 88% of Canadians favor sever penalties
for crimes involving firearms, in preference the only 8% in favour of increasing
restrictions over existing firearms owners, and 68% felt that passing more
severe laws over legitimate gun users will will have very little influence
on criminals.[1]
-
- Statement: "The experts support tougher[sic] gun
control." (The Coalition for Gun Control)[2]
-
- Truth: The individuals that the CfGC claims are experts,
are not experts on gun control. Some are merely more politicians, some
are experts in unrelated fields, some are bureaucrats that have admitted
to their lack of knowledge, and are simply following the line put forward
by their political masters. Experts who have actually studied the effects
of gun control have found that gun control does not reduce violent crime.
-
- Statement: "The NRA worked feverishly to block all
attempts to ban plastic, undetectable handguns that could easily be smuggled
onto airlines." (Handgun Control Incorporated) [3] "The NRA's
army of slick lobbyists even fought our efforts to ban ... plastic pistols
which can't be found by metal detectors, ...! (COALITION TO STOP GUN VIOLENCE)[9]
-
-
- Truth: The NRA and the Federal Aeronautics Administration
(FAA) showed how the Glock-17 pistol was 83% steel, and completely visible
to X-ray machines. The NRA then worked with the FAA to write a law making
undetectable firearms illegal.
-
- Statement: "When the nation's police asked congress
to ban the manufacture and sale of "cop killer" bullets -- ammunition
that penetrates the vests worn by police -- the NRA lobbied furiously to
defend the sale of this ammunition.[3] (Handgun Control Incorporated) "The
NRA's army of slick lobbyists even fought our efforts to ban ...cop-killer
bullets specifically designed to pierce bullet-proof vests!" (COALITION
TO STOP GUN VIOLENCE)[9]
-
-
- Truth: The NRA helped write the law restricting the sale
of armor piercing handgun ammunition to the police and armed services only.
The NRA pointed how an earlier version of the law was so badly written
that it would have banned most ammunition, including regular normal ammunition
used for hunting and target shooting. The company that was making "armor
piercing" handgun ammunition was owned and run by senior police officers,
and only sold the ammunition in tiny quantities to some police departments
and the military anyway. The ammunition was specifically designed to provide
improved penetration against autobody panels and auto glass, and its design
actually reduced the chance that it would pierce bullet-resistant vests..
-
- Statement: "Handgun Control Incorporated, One million
strong" (Handgun Control Incorporated)[3]
-
- Truth: According to papers filed by HCI, their membership
is actually about 250,000, although they only have about 146,000 names
on their mailing list. The NRA, on the other hand, has over 3,400,000 members.
In Canada, the Coalition for Gun Control has only about 3,000 members,
while the National Firearms Association has about 100,000 members.
-
- Statement: "14 children are killed by handgun abuse
every day in the USA". (Handgun Control Incorporated)
-
- Truth: 14 children/day times 364 days/year means about
5100 children killed by handguns every year in the USA. This is false.
The total firearms deaths for children (up to age 14) was 587 in 1988.
In 1990 the number children killed by firearms related accidents was 236.
The total number of children killed by abuse of firearms (handguns, shotguns,
and rifles) in the USA is between 600 and 800 a year.
-
- Statement: "The United States has weak gun control
laws." (Handgun Control Incorporated)
-
- Truth: Gun control varies greatly within the USA. Unlike
many countries, every political unit within the USA can make their own
laws. In addition to federal laws such as lifetime firearm prohibition
orders for convicted felons, age minimums for buying firearms that are
higher than Canada, and restrictions on the interstate purchase of firearms,
every state, county, city, town and village can and does set up their own
gun laws. Many areas of the USA have gun control laws much tougher than
anywhere in the world. Example, Washington D.C., handguns are banned, longarms
must be stored disassembled. In Chicago, Illinois, handguns must be registered,
but registration forms are not available. New York City, firearms permits
take up to 6 months to get, and concealed weapons permits are only available
for the rich and politically connected. California has a 15 day waiting
period on the purchase of all firearms. In the USA the following persons
are prohibited by law from possessing firearms: convicted felons, fugitives
from justice, illegal drug users, the mentally ill, illegal aliens, dishonorable
dischargees from the armed forces, and anyone who has renounced U.S. citizenship.[7]
-
- Statement: "A gun in the home is 43 times more likely
to kill someone you know than be used against an intruder."
-
- Truth: This is a misrepresentation of a meaningless comparison
from a limited and poorly done study. This study was performed over a 6
year period in one single county in the USA. As this study is was done
in just one county, that makes its results useless for saying what happens
anywhere else. Scientists and researchers call this "a sample size
of one". The comparison is meaningless because it is an apples vs
oranges comparison. 37 of the 43 are suicides, 4.6 are classified as criminal
homicides, and 1.3 were classified as accidents.[5]
-
- Kellermann and Reay, the authors of the study have stated
themselves that "cases in which burglars or intruders are wounded
or frightened away by the use or display of a firearm [and] cases in which
would-be intruders may have purposely avoided a house known to be armed.."[5]
should be included as a benefit. BUT, when they calculated their comparison
they did NOT include those cases. They therefore undercounted protection
uses by at least 500 times.[6] If the purpose is to compare defensive uses
verses misuse, all defensive uses should be counted, not just the 0.2%
of time when a defensive use results in the death of an attacker. You measure
defensive uses by lives saved, not criminals killed, after all, the purpose
of self defense is to prevent or stop a criminal attack, not kill the attacker.
-
- Homicides that were found to be self-defense in a court
of law were counted as criminal homicides by this study, thus over stating
the number of criminal homicides, and under stating the number of self-defense
homicides.
-
- "Someone you know" is often described as friends
or even "loved ones", but in reality this includes rival gang
members, drug dealers, abusive spouses and acquaintances, and so on. Those
who proclaim the 43-1 statistics will often imply that only dear friends,
loved family members, and small innocent children are the ones being killed,
an obviously misleading statement.
-
- The study failed to distinguish between households or
environs populated by people with violent, criminal, or substance-abuse
histories -- where the risk of death is very high -- versus households
inhabited by more civil folk (for example, people who avoid high-risk activities
like drug dealing, gang banging and wife beating) -- where the risk is
very low indeed. In actuality, negligent adults allow fatal but avoidable
accidents; and homicides are perpetrated mostly by people with histories
of violence or abuse, people who are identifiably and certifiably at ~high
risk~ for misadventure.
-
- The Hart Poll in 1981 found 644,000 defensive uses with
handguns per year. The Mauser Poll in 1990 found 691,000 defensive uses
per year. The Field Poll in California in 1978 found 1.2 million handgun
defensive uses per year. The Time/CNN Poll in 1989 found over 908,000 defensive
uses per year. Gary Kleck estimated the yearly defensive use of firearms
by civilians to be at about 1,000,000 per year. A more recent study by
Gary Kleck put the yearly total at approximately 2,400,000 defensive uses.
Yet the total deaths by firearm in the USA only runs about 25,000 to 30,000
per year, and that includes accidents, murders, suicides and self defense
homicides. That means a gun is 30-40 times more likely to defend against
an assault or other crime than kill anybody. As accidental firearm's related
deaths is about 1400 per year, including hunting accidents, the defensive
use verses accidental death ratio is about 700-800 to 1. A study by Simon
Fraser University professor Gary Mauser shows Canadians use guns in self-defense
against assailants more than 32,000 times a year. \ Statement: "80%
of deaths by guns in Canada are with legally owned firearms." (Coalition
for Gun Control)
-
- Truth: Stats Canada tells us that of the 1320 deaths
by firearms in Canada, 80% are suicides (1056), 15% are homicides (198)
including self defence homicides, and 5% are accidents (66). CfGC uses
the above quote to imply that law abiding citizens are the source of firearms
related violent crime, when the CfGC's statement is clearly meaningless.
-
- Statement: "Bankrolled largely by gun manufacturers
and importers, the NRA spends $80 million each year to defeat each and
every gun control proposal - no matter how reasonable and important."
(COALITION TO STOP GUN VIOLENCE)[9]
-
- Truth: The NRA's $80 million yearly budget is largely
from its membership dues ($25 per year) from over 3 million members. The
NRA is forbidden by law from using these funds to lobby the government.
The NRA obeys this law. The NRA's Institute for Legislative Action is a
legally separate organization that cannot receive any funding from the
NRA proper, and their budget is much smaller (a few million dollars). Gun
manufacturers and importers lobby through the National Shooting Sports
Association, and not the NRA, deliberatly to avoid the claim that the NRA
is funded by gun manufacturers. The NRA has been pushing point of sale
"instant" background checks of firearm purchasers, as well as
laws prohibiting the possession of firearms by minors except for supervised
hunting and target shooting activities. The "Three Strikes and You're
Out" Law recently approved in Washington State is a NRA Initiative.
-
- Statement: "As further evidence, a 1977 law froze
the number of handguns in Washington D.C., and independent studies (one
by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the other by a Justice Department
analyst) showed that after the law took effect handgun deaths in the District
of Columbia fell 30%." (Handgun Control Incorporated)[11]
-
- Truth: The 1977 law BANNED privately owned handguns in
Washington D.C. In 1977 the homicide rate was approximate 22 per 100,000
population, it has since climbed to about 80 per 100,000 population, with
approximately 80% of those homicides being performed with banned handguns.
The studies HCI refers to above looked at the numbers of homicides, not
the rates, and considering that several hundred thousand people moved out
of Washington DC following the 1977 law, the total number of homicides
naturally dropped, but the RATE of homicide, or your chance of being a
victim of homicide, dramatically increased.
-
- _______________
-
- Information From:
-
- [1] National Firearms Association fact sheet.
-
- [2] Coalition For Gun Control fact sheet.
-
- [3] Handgun Control Incorporated letter(s).
-
- [4] American Rifleman, August 1993, Pg42-44, "Kids
and Guns" by David Kopel.
-
- [5] "Protection or Peril? An Analysis of Firearm-Related
Deaths in the Home," Arthur L. Kellermann and Donald T. Reay, The
New England Journal of Medicine 314, no. 24 (June 12, 1986): 1557-1560
-
- [6] "Crime Control through the Private Use of Armed
Force" by Professor Gary Kleck.
-
- [7] US federal law, 18 USC 922(g).
-
- [8] Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (Stats Canada)
-
- [9] Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. Letter to Florida
Residents, Nov '93
-
- [10] U.S. Source "Uniform Crime Reports for the
United States 1991", Federal Bureau of Investigation, p.58 CDN. Source
"Crime Trends in Canada 1962-1990", Cdn. Ctr. for Justice Statistics,
p.15.
-
- [11] Handgun Control Incorporated Fact Card (circa 1986)
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