Gun Facts, Part One

The following is for the EDUCATION of Michael "I'm a big fat stupid white man" Moore and all his STUPID followers. More importantly, it points out a major fallacy in article 9 of his worthless "Liberal's Pledge to Disheartened Conservatives."

Myth: Concealed carry laws increase crime.

Fact: Thirty five states¹ (and the majority of the American population) live in “right-to-carry” states, and in each the crime rate fell (or did not rise) after the law became active (as of July, 2006). Three more states generally issue permits, though it is optional ("do-issue").

Fact: Crime rates involving gun owners with carry permits have consistently been about 0.02% of carry permit holders since Florida’s right-to-carry law started
in 1989.²

Fact: After passing their concealed carry law, Florida's homicide rate fell from 36% above the national average to 4% below the national average and remains below the national average to this day.³

Fact: The serious crime rate in Texas fell 50% faster than the national average after a concealed carry law was passed in 1995. Fact: When citizens are allowed to carry concealed weapons:
• Murder rates drop 8%
• Rape rates fall 5%
• Aggravated assaults drop 7%

Fact: More to the point, crime is significantly higher in states without right-to-carry laws⁴:

Fact: States that disallow concealed carry have violent crime rates 11% higher than national averages.⁵

Fact: Deaths and injuries from mass public shootings fall dramatically after right-to-carry concealed handgun laws are enacted. Between 1977 and 1995, the average death rate from mass shootings plummeted by up to 91% after such laws went into effect, and injuries dropped by over 80%.

¹ At publication time two more states, Kansas and Nebraska, have pass shall-issue legislation, but the new laws have not yet taken effect.
² Florida Department of Justice, 1998
³ Cramer C and Kopel D. Shall issue: the new wave of concealed handgun permit laws. Golden CO: Independence Institute Issue Paper. October 17, 1994
⁴ John Lott, David Mustard: This study involved county level crime statistics from all 3,054 counties in the U.S., from 1977 through 1992. During this time ten states adopted right-to-carry laws. It is estimated that if all states had adopted right-to-carry laws, in 1992 the US would have avoided 1,400 murders, 4,200 rapes, 12,000 robberies, 60,000 aggravated assaults – and saved over $5,000,000,000 in victim expenses.
⁵ FBI, Uniform Crime Reports, 2004 - excludes Hawaii and Rhode Island - small populations and geographic isolation create other determinants to violent crime.

Yes, I know he's not likely to read this. But it makes me feel better. If you want to read the whole thing at once, and not wait for me to post it here, you can download the PDF version for free from http://www.gunfacts.info. The title of this article is also a link to the same place, and you'll find a link to GunFacts on the side bar as well.

Current Mood: Happy
Current Music: The Door Into Summer - The Monkees
Current Gun: Tanfoglio Witness .45ACP