Fact: All violent crime (including gun and non-gun murders) fell during the same period, 1992 to 1997. However, the percent of homicides committed with guns stayed the same. In 1992, 68% of murders were committed with guns; in 1997, it was still 68%. Thus, the decreased gun homicide rate was part of an overall declining crime rate, not an effect of the Brady Bill.
Fact: Gun possession by criminals has risen in the Brady years – 18% of state prisoners (16% before Brady) and 15% for federal prisoners (12% before Brady) are caught with firearms.
Fact: The Brady law has so far failed to appreciably save lives.
Fact: Violent crime started falling in 1991, three years before passage of the Brady law. The Brady law did not apply in 18 states, yet violent crime in those states fell just as quickly.
Fact: A majority of Americans agree that the bill is worthless. 51% believe the act has been ineffective at reducing violent crime, and 56% believe it has had no impact on reducing the number of homicides in the U.S.
This is an excerpt from “Gun Facts” by Guy Smith, available free from http://www.gunfacts.info
Posted in: Gun Laws and Social Costs.
Fact: Most fatal firearm accidents involve long guns, which are more deadly. These are typically hunting accidents.
Fact: Handguns have triggers that are difficult for small (child) hands to operate, and are rarely the cause of accidents.
This is an excerpt from “Gun Facts” by Guy Smith, available free from http://www.gunfacts.info
Posted in: Accidental Deaths.
Fact: Of the 43 deaths reported in this flawed study, 37 (86%) were suicides. Other deaths involved criminal activity between the family members (drug deals gone bad).
Fact: Of the remaining deaths, the deceased family members include felons, drug dealers, violent spouses committing assault, and other criminals.
Fact: Only 0.1% (1 in a thousand) of the defensive uses of guns results in the death of the predator. This means you are much more likely to prevent a crime without bloodshed than hurt a family member.
This is an excerpt from “Gun Facts” by Guy Smith, available free from http://www.gunfacts.info
Posted in: Guns Availablity.
Fact: The results for the first 30 states that passed “shall-issue” laws for concealed carry permits are similar.
Fact: The general public is:
- 5.7 times more likely to be arrested for violent offenses than CCW permit holders.
- 13.5 times more likely to be arrested for non-violent offenses than the than CCW permit holders.
Fact: In Texas, the general public is 14 more likely to commit a crime than a CCW permit holder. They are also five times more likely to commit a violent crime.
Fact: Even gun control organizations agree it is a non-problem, as in Texas- “because there haven’t been Wild West shootouts in the streets”.
Fact: Of 14,000 CCW licensees in Oregon, only 4 (0.03%) were convicted of the criminal (not necessarily violent) use or possession of a firearm.
Fact: In Florida, a state that has allowed concealed carry since late 1987, you are twice as likely to be attacked by an alligator as by a person with a concealed carry permit.
This is an excerpt from “Gun Facts” by Guy Smith, available free from http://www.gunfacts.info
Posted in: Concealed Carry Laws and Weapons.
Finally someone in the mainstream media posted some sense when it comes to this whole Mexico Gun fiasco:
There’s just one problem with the 90 percent “statistic” and it’s a big one:
It’s just not true.
In fact, it’s not even close. The fact is, only 17 percent of guns found at Mexican crime scenes have been traced to the U.S.
The Myth of 90 Percent: Only a Small Fraction of Guns in Mexico Come From U.S. on Foxnews.com.
Posted in: Uncategorized.
Fact: Registration is required in Hawaii, Chicago, and Washington D.C. Yet there has not been a single case where registration was instrumental in identifying someone who committed a crime. Criminals very rarely leave their guns at the scene of the crime. Would-be criminals also virtually never get licenses or register their weapons.
This is an excerpt from “Gun Facts” by Guy Smith, available free from http://www.gunfacts.info
Posted in: Licensing and Registration.
Fact: “…most criminals are more worried about meeting an armed victim than they are about running into the police.”
Fact: 11% of police shootings kill an innocent person - about 2% of shootings by citizens kill an innocent person.
Fact: Police have trouble keeping their own guns. Hundreds of firearms are missing from the FBI and 449 of them have been involved in crimes.
Fact: People who saw the helplessness of the L.A. Police Department during the 1992 King
Riots or the looting and violence in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina know that citizens need guns to defend themselves
This is an excerpt from “Gun Facts” by Guy Smith, available free from http://www.gunfacts.info
Posted in: Guns and Crime Prevention.
Basic to the debates on gun control is the fact that most violent crime is committed by repeat offenders. Dealing with recidivism is key to solving violence.
- 71% of gunshot victims had previous arrest records.
- 64% had been convicted of a crime.
- Each had an average of 11 prior arrests.
- 63% of victims have criminal histories and 73% of the time they know their assailant (twice as often as victims without criminal histories)
.
Most gun violence is between criminals. This should be the public policy focus
This is an excerpt from “Gun Facts” by Guy Smith, available free from http://www.gunfacts.info
Posted in: Crime and Guns.
