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%.1 Thus, the decreased gun homicide rate was part of an overall declining [...]
Posts from ‘April, 2009’
Myth: Handguns are unsafe and cause accidents
Fact: Most fatal firearm accidents involve long guns, which are more deadly. These are typically hunting accidents.1
Fact: Handguns have triggers that are difficult for small (child) hands to operate, and are rarely the cause of accidents.2
This is an excerpt from “Gun Facts” by Guy Smith, available free from http://www.gunfacts.info
Gary Kleck, “Targeting Guns: Firearms and Their [...]
Myth: Handguns are 43 times more likely to kill a family member than a criminal
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).1
Fact: Of the remaining deaths, the deceased family members include felons, drug dealers, violent spouses committing assault, and other criminals.2
Fact: Only 0.1% (1 in a thousand) of the defensive [...]
Myth: People with concealed weapons permits will commit crimes
Fact: The results for the first 30 states that passed “shall-issue” laws for concealed carry permits are similar.
Fact: The general public is:1
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 [...]
The Myth of 90 Percent: Only a Small Fraction of Guns in Mexico Come From U.S.
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 [...]
Myth: Gun registration will help police find suspects
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.1 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 [...]
