Why Gun Control Does Not Work

Minuteman Monthly Newsletter
Issue 67
February 2007

Welcome to this issue of the Minuteman Monthly Newsletter. This is the monthly communication from my Web site at www.SaveTheGuns.com. Thank you for reading this month's issue and for passing it on to a friend.

Major U.S. gun control legislation has been around since before the National Firearm Act of 1934. This act put strict restrictions, taxes and fees upon short-barreled shotguns and fully automatic machine guns. There has been more than 25,000 local, state and federal laws and ordinances regulating firearm ownership, carry and transfer ever since.

Why then, with 25,000 gun laws, don't we have the safest country in the world? Why hasn't gun control put a stop to violent crime committed with firearms? To find out why gun control is a terribly ineffective method of reducing crime, not to mention that it's unconstitutional...
Read On...

SaveTheGuns.com Quotes of the Month

"[Tyranny cannot be safe] without a standing army, an enslaved press, and a disarmed populace."James Madison, In his autobiography


"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclination, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence."John Adams (1735-1826) Founding Father, 2nd US President


"... of the liberty of conscience in matters of religious faith, of speech and of the press; of the trial by jury of the vicinage in civil and criminal cases; of the benefit of the writ of habeas corpus; of the right to keep and bear arms.... If these rights are well defined, and secured against encroachment, it is impossible that government should ever degenerate into tyranny."James Monroe (1758-1831), 5th US President


"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man." Thomas Jefferson


"I hope, therefore, a bill of rights will be formed to guard the people against the Federal government as they are already guarded against their State governments, in most instances." Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1788. ME 7:98

SaveTheGuns.com Gun Safety Tip of the Month

The gun safety tip of the month for this issue of the Minuteman Monthly Newsletter is to positively identify a threat in your home as a true threat before you draw and fire upon them.
Many hundreds of people have been shot by mistake in a home because the homeowner misidentifies a threat. Unannounced sleepovers from unfamiliar guests have resulted in tragedy. Don't let this happen to you.

Perhaps a friend of your teenage son and your son decided it would be best for him to sleep at your house tonight without telling you or your wife... You wake up to find a total stranger in your home trying to find the bathroom... Think about it...

Never assume that a person you don't know in your home is there to do you harm and is deserving of a .45 ACP in the chest. Positively identify a threat as a true threat before utilizing your basic human rights of self defense.

NRA Membership Recruiter Corner

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I have written a Web page with more information on membership in the National Rifle Association. It has a list of benefits as well as membership options and prices. For your convenience the above NRA Membership link is there as well.
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Minuteman Monthly Newsletter Aiming Point

Okay, here it is Mayor Bloomberg, Mayor Daley and many, many others in local, state and federal positions of authority who believe that gun control laws are effective means of reducing rates of violent crime. If only they can find the right type of gun restriction...

There have been, according to most experts, more than 25,000 local, state and federal laws, regulations and ordinances passed by legislative bodies in the United States alone. The Massachusetts Police Chief's Guide to Gun Control Laws in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is larger than War and Peace and The Lord of the Rings put together.

Why then, with so much gun control, is Massachusetts the eighteenth (18th) most violent state in America? It's the same case in Maryland, California, Illinois, New York and New Jersey.

These gun control capitols of America should be the safest states of all, but they're not.

Maryland has countless firearm restrictions and regulations that apply to lawful gun owners, yet Maryland has the third (3rd) highest rate of violent crime in the country. The law abiding gun owners of California, Illinois, New York and New Jersey are equally frustrated, as their states rank 10th, 11th, 21st and 26th in violent crime per capita, but make gun owners jump through hoops merely to exercise their rights under the Constitution.

The states with the least restrictions upon gun owners are actually among the safest. For instance, the upper New England states of New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine are 47th, 48th and 49th in per capita rates of violent criminal acts respectively. Yet, gun control up here in the northeast corner of the nation means using both hands and a proper and consistent grip.

In Maine, I can carry a handgun openly in public, without a permit, although nobody really does it anymore and many towns have implemented ordinances against it. Concealed carry is more acceptable to the general public in these states. Heck, in Vermont, you can carry a concealed firearm under your clothing without any permit required as long as you're of age to do so. But these three states have among the lowest per-capita violent crime rates in the country.

If gun control was so darn important in reducing rates of violent crime committed with handguns, shouldn't Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire with the state motto "Live Free or Die", be among the most violent instead of the safest?

I'm not saying that if Washington D.C., Detroit and Los Angeles just adopted Vermont's firearm laws, that everything would be fine. But I am saying that at the very least, there is no correlation whatsoever between harsh firearm ownership regulations and low rates of violent crime.

If you take a close look at the state of Alaska for instance, you'd see that they have the highest rates for forcible rapes per capita of any other state, but in Alaska one can lawfully carry a concealed firearm without a permit as in Vermont.

So very few firearm restrictions, doesn't necessarily mean very little violent crime either. Alaska has very few firearm ownership restrictions, but is the 7th most violent state in the nation, mainly because of its colossal number of forcible rapes.

In Washington D.C., handgun ownership has been banned since 1976, but they have the highest rate of violent acts per 100,000 citizens of almost any area in the world.

Gun control legislation as a method of curtailing rates of violent crime has completely failed. The evidence is very clear on at least that point.

Why has gun control completely failed as a method of reducing violent crimes committed with firearms?

The easy answer is actually pretty darn simple:

Violent criminals and those who are willing and/or inclined to commit rape, robbery and murder with a firearm, are already disobeying some of the most basic laws of humanity and are not concerned that they're also breaking a law that regulates firearm possession. That's the easy and quick answer.

The somewhat more involved answer is this:

Violent criminals do not obtain their firearms from properly licensed sporting goods retailers, while filling out all the forms correctly and with proper identification.

According to the United States Department of Justice, around twelve percent (12%) of all criminals who actually used a gun in the commission of a crime, got their gun from any retail source.

About 88% of violent criminals who committed a violent crime with a firearm, got their gun outside of the reach of any firearm regulations. Firearm sales and acquisitions can only be controlled by a government entity or regulation when you have an upstanding licensed retailer and an honest and law abiding citizen as parties in the sale. When neither is involved in the transfer of possession of a firearm, the sale falls outside the reach of state or federal gun control policy.

That makes perfectly good sense doesn't it? When the buyer or the seller have no interest in abiding by local, state and federal law, the transfer of possession of the firearm cannot be controlled by any government policy. Even the biggest liberal secular progressive dimwit can understand that...

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, about 40% of violent criminals who used a gun to commit a crime with, got their guns from family and friends. They were either voluntarily given to them by their family and friends or stolen from them. The study does not differentiate between the two.

Approximately another 40% got their firearms from street purchases, through the illegal narcotics trade and from burglaries and robberies. So we can clearly see that about 80% of violent felons got their guns from sources that lie outside the control of government policy. Of the remaining 20%, here's the breakdown:

8.3% came from retail outlets. Such as major retailers, sporting goods specialty stores and from gun dealers. These purchases were mostly made through falsifying documentation, providing false identification and a small number (about 1%) of licensed (FFL) gun dealers who disregard the National Instant Check System (NICS), don't keep good BATFE records or who knowingly sell to felons.

6.2% came from undetermined sources, but were probably outside the reach of gun control laws, simply by the evidence that they were classified as undetermined.

3.8% of crime guns came from pawn shops, where again, there was false identification, lying on required forms or a very small number (1%) of pawn shop owners who did not follow proper record keeping or NICS procedures.

1.0% came from flea markets and yard sales through private transfers of firearms directly to violent criminals.

About 0.7% of guns actually used to commit a crime came from gun shows. Yet, with this small sliver of seven tenths of one percent, gun shows seem to be the latest focus by dimwitted gun control fanatics. Gun control fanatics it seems to me are not really the brightest lights on the chandelier, if you know what I mean...

Looking closely at the actual sources of guns that were actually used in criminal acts, we can pretty easily see why gun control laws don't work to reduce acts of violent crime. With full realization that violent criminal thugs do not concern themselves with breaking gun laws, why are many in government touting them as effective?

To recap, here is why gun control doesn't work and only serves to diminish the Bill of Rights and harass and burden honest gun owners.

***Violent criminal thugs do not observe and heed laws that regulate firearm possession, because they're already committing worse crimes and pay no heed to such laws. In addition, they know that most often, illegal firearm possession or firearm possession during the commission of a crime is plea-bargained away or dropped entirely by the District Attorney's office.

***Violent criminal thugs do not customarily get their guns from properly licensed retail outlets where gun control policy is followed through. Only the law-abiding are effected by such laws.

***Violent criminal thugs fabricate documentation, lie, cheat and provide false identification when they get their guns from retailers, pawn shops and others sources.

"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."Thomas Jefferson

Since laws that regulate firearm possession, ownership and carry affect only those who obey the law in the first place, what can we do? What steps can we take to diminish guns being used during the commission of a violent crime? How can we diminish gun-crime, without placing any undue burden upon the lawful and honest gun owner?

How can I/We stand here and thrust the Bill of Rights into the faces of politicians, without offering viable and useful alternatives? Violent crimes committed with firearms need to be curtailed somehow. It's indeed a serious problem in many of our larger cities and something needs to change.

It's mostly a social problem, a lack of good fathers, terrible role models, a lack of general public morality and empty churches. It's certainly not the fault of lawful and honest gun owners...
Can we curtail these incidents where firearms are used to commit crimes, while leaving the lawful and honest gun owner out of the loop? I think we can!

We must diminish criminal access to firearms and introduce policies that really affect the criminal mind. These are some steps we can take to actually affect criminal usage and access to firearms, while leaving legitimate and honest gun owners completely out of the loop.

Add significant civil (fines) and criminal penalties onto a friend or family member of a violent felon who knowingly provides a firearm to him/her.

Add five (5) years of federal prison (per firearm) onto any burglary or robbery charge where a firearm is stolen. This additional five year of real prison per stolen firearm must be mandatory and should not be dropped or plea-bargained away. (I.E. Six guns stolen from a home burglary would get thirty years in prison (6X5=30))

Add significant civil (fines) and criminal penalties onto any violent crime of rape, robbery or murder, where a firearm was used or carried as a weapon. (I.E. 5 additional years for gun possession during the commission of a violent crime, 10 additional years for brandishing, 15 additional years for firing it and 20 additional years for personal injury to the victim with the firearm discharge.) We must make criminals think twice about choosing a firearm to commit a crime with.

Prosecute felons who attempt to purchase a firearm through a properly licensed retailer and get caught. It's been illegal for felons to own firearms since the Gun Control Act of 1968, but they're rarely ever punished for the attempt to purchase one. If you choose to be a felon, you have to realize that you're giving up certain freedoms when you commit a crime of violence. As Benjamin Franklin said "[O]nly a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters."

Legislators have to refocus crime control efforts and aim at the felon and the felon's access to firearms and not at firearms themselves or those who lawfully own them.
Concentrating efforts to reduce violent crime upon the violent criminal thug and not the firearm they obtained, would go a long way toward fixing this persistent problem.
Hey Bloomberg, Menino and Daley! Are you listening?

Government must take more careful aim at diminishing actual sources of firearms that are used in crime. They must also promote efforts that affect the criminal mind by increasing penalties for choosing a firearm to commit a crime with, while not providing a way out for these increased penalties. If we're going to be serious about reducing violent crime, we must do away with the plea-bargaining of illegal firearm charges. Most often these gun charges are dropped in a criminal case and violent felons know it....

Let's look at the problem even more simply shall we? Honest and upright gun owners commit no crimes, while violent criminal thugs don't obey laws that regulate firearms. That's the whole reason behind the failures of gun control laws to affect violent crime.

Even the most ignorant dimwit liberal can understand that...

Shine the floodlight upon the violent felon and not the gun in his hand. How's that for being simple and focused?!?!?!

It is only the slow-witted legislator and obtuse leftist who thinks that a hardened violent criminal thug will obey a law regulating firearm possession.

Oh wait a minute, I do have another answer! Let's stop voting dimwit blockheaded anti-gun legislators into public office!

"When you become entitled to exercise the right of voting for public officers, let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers, "just men who will rule in the fear of God." The preservation of [our] government depends on the faithful discharge of this Duty; if the citizens neglect their Duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made, not for the public good so much as for selfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the Laws; the public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizen will be violated or disregarded. If [our] government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the Divine Commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the Laws."Noah Webster 1758-1843

Closing Comments

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Thank you,
Marc
SaveTheGuns.com