The Dolhenty
Report
A Commentary on the
Human Condition
by Dr. Jonathan Dolhenty
The Myths of
the Gun-Control Issue
Well, let's explode a few myths and get the
facts straight. Gun-control legislation is again in
the news and the Second-Amendment-Bashers are again
out in full force. I'm not a "gun-nut" myself and I
don't even own a single weapon. So I have no
particular axe to grind. But I do support the Bill
of Rights, including the right to bear arms. Here
are some myths you may hear again, and again:
- Myth #1: The police are outgunned by
criminals because criminals are armed with
"assault" weapons. According to testimony given
by Trenton, New Jersey, Deputy Police Chief
Joseph Constance before the Senate Judiciary
Committee: "Since police started keeping
statistics, we now know that assault weapons
are/were used in an under-whelming .026 of 1% of
crimes in New Jersey. This means that my
officers are more likely to confront an escaped
tiger from the local zoo than to confront an
assault rifle in the hands of a drug-crazed
killer on the streets."
- Myth #2: Citizens cannot use firearms in an
effective way in self-defense. According to Gary
Kleck, a professor of criminology at Florida
State University, about 2.5 million people each
year use a firearm to protect themselves, their
families, or their property. Handguns account
for about 2/3 of these incidents.
- Myth #3: As many children have been killed
with guns in the last 10 years as were killed as
soldiers in the Vietnam War. Here is a place
where we always have to be careful. Definitions
matter. The anti-gun definition of "children"
includes juveniles 15-17 and young adults 18-24.
Many of these are killed while involved in some
criminal activity. This simple arithmetic
language-game elevates child deaths by over
1000%, which is what the anti-gun people need to
justify their restrictive proposals. If children
are defined as those through age 14, they
account for about 8% of gun-related deaths of
those through age 24. These statistics are based
on information from the National Center for
Health Statistics.
- Myth #4: Fatal firearms accidents cause a
large number of child deaths each year.
According to statistics from the National Center
for Health Statistics, firearms are involved in
only 3% of fatal accidents among children. Among
all deaths among children, firearms are involved
in only 0.4%.
- Myth #5: Suicide rates are highest where
firearms ownership is highest. According to Gary
Kleck, professor of criminology at Florida State
University, Japan, which has outlawed virtually
all private ownership of firearms, has a suicide
rate 50% higher than the United States.
- Myth #6: There is universal support among
police officers for restrictions on the
ownership of firearms. According to the National
Association of Chiefs of Police, comprehensive
surveys of law enforcement professionals show
that the vast majority of police officers do not
support bans on firearms.
- Myth #7: Most police officers are constantly
in danger from being killed by assault weapons.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, FBI
Uniform Crime Reports, on-duty police officers
are six times more likely to be killed with
their own service pistols than with assault
weapons. They are fifteen times more likely to
be killed in vehicle accidents than by assault
weapons.
Need I say it? The issue is not gun control.
Guns don't kill people -- people do. Taking guns
away from ordinary citizens will not solve the
problem. Criminals do not pay attention to gun
laws. A criminal will always be able to get a gun
if he wants one.
A war on guns will be about as successful as the
war on drugs. That in itself should make one pause
before supporting gun-control legislation.
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