What is happening to the gun control (search) movement?
This month, the Million Mom March (search) in Washington drew an anemic showing of only 2,000 people, while this year, all of the Democratic presidential candidates"” however unenthusiastically"” spoke of Americans"™ Second Amendment (search) right to own guns. These are just a few of the signs that the facts finally seem to be catching up to the movement. The future for the movement looks even worse.
Whether the subject is concealed handgun laws (search) or bans on semi-automatic so-called "œassault weapons," (search) gun control debates have been filled with apocalyptic claims about what will happen if gun control is not adopted. One common prediction is that laws allowing the carrying of a concealed weapon will result in crime waves, or permit holders shooting others. However, with 37 states now having right-to-carry laws (search), and another nine states letting some citizens carry, permit holders have continually shown themselves to be extremely law-abiding. It is becoming more and more difficult to attack those laws.
Disarray among gun controllers is becoming common, even on one cornerstone of the gun control movement "” the semi-automatic gun ban. Take the statements made on National Public Radio by a representative of the Violence Policy Center (search) just one week after the assault weapon extension was defeated in the Senate this March.
NPR described the VPC as "one of the more aggressive gun groups in Washington." Yet the VPC's representative claimed: "œIf the existing assault-weapons ban expires, I personally do not believe it will make one whit of difference one way or another in terms of our objective, which is reducing death and injury and getting a particularly lethal class of firearms off the streets. So if it doesn"™t pass, it doesn"™t pass."
The NPR reporter noted: "[the Violence Policy Center's representative] says that's all the [assault-weapons ban] brought about, minor changes in appearance that didn't alter the function of these weapons."
Yet, before the Senate vote the VPC had long claimed that it was a "myth" that "assault weapons merely look different. The NRA and the gun industry today portray assault weapons as misunderstood ugly ducklings, no different from other semi-automatic guns. But while the actions, or internal mechanisms, of all semi-automatic guns are similar, the actions of assault weapons are part of a broader design package. The 'ugly' looks of the TEC-9, AR-15, AK-47 and similar guns reflect this package of features designed to kill people efficiently."
So why the sudden disarray after the Senate defeat? Simply, gun-control groups' credibility is on the line and they are getting cold feet. With no academic research showing the assault weapons ban reduces crime, gun control groups realize that soon it will be obvious to everyone that their predicted horror stories about "assault weapons" were completely wrong.
Internationally, dramatic gun control victories in countries such as England, Australia, and Canada are also unraveling.
"” Crime did not fall in England after handguns were banned in January 1997. Quite the contrary, crime rose sharply. Yet, serious violent crime rates from 1997 to 2002 averaged 29 percent higher than 1996; robbery was 24 percent higher; murders 27 percent higher. Before the law, armed robberies had fallen by 50 percent from 1993 to 1997, but as soon as handguns were banned, the robbery rate shot back up, almost back to their 1993 levels.
"” Australia has also seen its violent crime rates soar after its Port Arthur gun control measures (search) in late 1996. Violent crime rates averaged 32 per cent higher in the six years after the law was passed (from 1997 to 2002) than they did the year before the law in 1996. The same comparisons for armed robbery rates showed increases of 45 percent.
"” The 2000 International Crime Victimization Survey, the most recent survey done, shows that the violent crime rate in England and Australia was twice the rate in the US.
"” Canada has not gone anywhere near as far as the United Kingdom or Australia. Nevertheless, their gun registration system is costing roughly a thousand times more than promised and has grown to be extremely unpopular, with only 17 percent of Canadians in a poll release this week supporting the system. Nor does the system seem to be providing any protection. The Canadian government recently admitted that they could not identify even a single violent crime that had been solved by registration.
Everyone wants to take guns away from criminals. The problem is that if the law-abiding citizens obey the laws and the criminals don"™t, the rules create sitting ducks who cannot defend themselves. While the debate is hardly over, gun control is just another example of government planning that hasn"™t lived up to its billing. And like other types of government planning, eventually its failures become too overwhelming to ignore.
Great post!! I hope a few people that frequent these boards read this and have enough of an open mind to let it some of those statistics sink in.
We're not out of the woods, and never will be. There will always be those out there that want our guns.
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Danny
Life Member, North American Hunting Club
Life Member, National Rifle Association
Life Member, Buckmasters
Oklahoma Hunter Education Instructor
Yet, before the Senate vote the VPC had long claimed that it was a "myth" that "assault weapons merely look different. The NRA and the gun industry today portray assault weapons as misunderstood ugly ducklings, no different from other semi-automatic guns. But while the actions, or internal mechanisms, of all semi-automatic guns are similar, the actions of assault weapons are part of a broader design package. The 'ugly' looks of the TEC-9, AR-15, AK-47 and similar guns reflect this package of features designed to kill people efficiently."
Just how efficient is an AK-47, Tec-9 or SKS. These are some of the most inaccurate guns made today. How efficient can a gun be when it requires 10 rounds of more to make a single hit on a target? These people don't know their head from their a$$. Lee Harvey Oswald and his gun of choice were far more efficient than any AK firing street idiot.
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"The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency........... Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their president."
Great post Stuckinthereeds!
One reason I think tha twe are not hearing too much from the anti's is that they have learned it is not a great election topic! Their own commander-in-chief, Billary Klintoon, told them to tone down the anti gun rhetoric!
As I've said before, we've had a very quiet 4 years as far as gun control goes!
We need to keep up the good work, the threat to our rights will always be close by!
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Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty or Safety!
Ben Franklin
I LOVE my country, I FEAR my government!
If your mother was an abortion proponent, would you be reading this right now?
Interesting article on Gun Control
