I could use some information on certain gun laws and statistics on impacts of guns and or lack of guns..
This is for a report that I have to do fora college class that is full of people who don't like guns and I have to persuade their opinions.

I need some reputable sources. Maybe something showing statistics that will say that states or countries with gun bans have higher crime rates than those with more relaxed gun laws.

Historical is good, current is good.. Just about anything that can be used to show people that our second ammendment is a good thing.

Any Ideas?

I just received a pretty informative email about everything that just went down in DC.
I'll see if I can past it into a PM and send it to you.
KP

D.C. Gun Ban Ruled Unconstitutional, Violates Individual Right To Own A Gun
Friday, March 09, 2007
This week, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Second Amendment is an individual right and concluded that the District of Columbia’s ban on guns in the home is unconstitutional. According to the majority opinion, "[T]he phrase 'the right of the people'...leads us to conclude that the right in question is individual." Also, earlier this week, Second Amendment supporters on Capitol Hill introduced H.R. 1399 - the "District of Columbia Personal Protection Act."
In ruling on the D.C. gun ban case, the majority opinion of the Circuit Court <http://www.nraila.org/media/PDFs/dcc..._7041a.pdf>held as follows:
"To summarize, we conclude that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms. That right existed prior to the formation of the new government under the Constitution and was premised on the private use of arms for activities such as hunting and self-defense, the latter being understood as resistance to either private lawlessness or the depredations of a tyrannical government (or a threat from abroad). In addition, the right to keep and bear arms had the important and salutary civic purpose of helping to preserve the citizen militia. The civic purpose was also a political expedient for the Federalists in the First Congress as it served, in part, to placate their Anti-federalist opponents. The individual right facilitated militia service by ensuring that citizens would not be barred from keeping the arms they would need when called forth for militia duty. Despite the importance of the Second Amendment's civic purpose, however, the activities it protects are not limited to militia service, nor is an individual's enjoyment of the right contingent upon his or her continued or intermittent enrollment in the militia."

Read the majority opinion here <http://www.nraila.org/media/PDFs/dcc..._7041a.pdf>
In its ruling, the Court also rejected the argument that the Second Amendment does not apply to the District of Columbia, which has had a gun ban on the books for decades, because it is not a State. The majority opinion concludes that the D.C. prohibition on gun ownership in the home, "amounts to a complete prohibition on the lawful use of handguns for self-defense. As such, we hold it unconstitutional."
The ruling was not unanimous, and the dissenting judge makes it clear in her dissent that opponents of the Second Amendment are still pervasive throughout our federal court system.
Today's ruling is the second time a federal circuit court has upheld the individual nature of the Second Amendment in recent years. In 2001, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously found in the case of U.S. v. Emerson that, "All of the evidence indicates that the Second Amendment, like other parts of the Bill of Rights, applies to and protects individual Americans....We find that the history of the Second Amendment reinforces the plain meaning of its text, namely that it protects individual Americans in their right to keep and bear arms..."
While the court decision was certainly great news, earlier this week, Second Amendment supporters on Capitol Hill introduced H.R. 1399 - the "District of Columbia Personal Protection Act." This legislation, by Representatives Mike Ross (D-Ark.) and Mark Souder (R-Ind.), seeks to restore the constitutionally-guaranteed Second Amendment rights of the residents of the District of Columbia.
In lauding the D.C. court decision, and announcing her plans to introduce the Senate companion bill to H.R. 1399, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.) noted, "I agree with the court that the Constitution guarantees law-abiding citizens the right to bear arms and defend themselves. That is why next week I will reintroduce my legislation to repeal the existing ban. Protection of constitutional rights does not cease when you cross into the borders of the District of Columbia. Not only is Washington, D.C.’s gun ban unconstitutional, but it also has been a public policy failure as seen in the rise in crime since its enactment. The time has finally come to change course."
The need for this corrective legislation is obvious. Since 1977, the District has banned the possession of all handguns not acquired and registered before that year. D.C. law also prohibits keeping an assembled rifle or shotgun in the home, effectively outlawing the use of firearms for lawful self-defense. And despite these Draconian gun control laws, Washington, D.C., consistently has one of the highest murder rates in the nation.
This legislation had a record high number of cosponsors in the 109th Congress (235 cosponsors for the House version, and 41 cosponsors for the Senate version). The House has voted on this issue four different times over the past eight years but the Senate has yet to consider it.

Please be sure to contact your U.S. Representative at (202) 225-3121, and ask him or her to cosponsor and support the "District of Columbia Personal Protection Act."

Do a search for a guy named Dr. Gary Kleck. he's a Prof. at a college in florida and has published many pieces giving stats and figures.

Check out John Lott as well (link goes toWikipedia) as well. He's done a tremendous amount research in thisvery samearea.

GOA's "Just for Skeptics" page also has a great deal of informationon gun ownership and Second Amendment issues, including U.S. and international firearm ownership vs. crimes statistics.

This is a great issue, and I applaud you for working with it. Good luck!

honestly i have NO idea about the crime rate but you might look into england as even the police there don't have firearms.

Don't look here!
Google

See if you can find a copy of THE HISTORY OF GUN CONTROL IN ENGLAND, by Inspector Colin Greenwood of the North Riding Constabulary. I imagine your library can get it, if they don't already have it.

Also, contact the NationalRifle Association Institute for Legislative Action. They can provide all the stats you need. You might also contact the Justice Department & FBI for crime rate info..........