Andy Semple enters our debate on gun control, passionatly arguing that the desire to ban guns, while understandable, leads to more crime:
Nine-year-old Tucson girl Christina-Taylor Green was fatally shot after her neighbours invited her to go along to a political meeting.
Christina-Taylor was one of six people killed when mentally ill gunman Jared Lee Loughner opened fire at US congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords's meeting in Tucson, Arizona on January 8, 2011.
Loughner shot at least 18 people, including Ms Giffords, who survived a single gunshot to the head.
Naturally, the incident has yet again raised the question over gun bans not only in the United States but in most western societies. It would have been nice if such bans had stopped criminals and the mentally ill from using guns. But, alas, the results are invariably the same, whether the ban is put in place for college campuses, cities, or entire nations: gun bans disarm the law-abiding, not criminals. Instead of making victims safer, they make criminals and tyrants safer.
Don’t believe me then look back at some of humanities darkest hours
In 1911, Turkey established gun control over its citizens. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.
In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control over its citizens. From 1929 to 195 about 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.
In 1935 China established gun control over its citizens. From 1948 to 1952 about 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.
In 1938 German established gun control over its citizens. From 1939 to 1945 about 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.
In 1956 Cambodia established gun control over its citizens. From 1975 to 1977, 1 million people, unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.
In 1964 Guatemala established gun control over its citizens. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, only able to defend themselves with traditional Mayan weapons, were rounded up and exterminated.
In 1970 Uganda establish gun control over its citizens. From 1971 to 1979, 400,000 people, mainly Christians, unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.
Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century because of gun control: 56 million.
PJ O’Rourke happens to be spot on...
When a government controls both the economic power of individuals and the coercive power of the state ... this violates a fundamental rule of happy living: Never let the people with all the money and the people with all the guns be the same people.
Suppose your family is being stalked by a criminal who intends on harming them. Would you feel safer putting up a sign in front of your home with the message: "This Home is a Gun-Free Zone"? Probably not. The sign would only tell criminals that they would meet little resistance if they attacked.
One only has to look at the consistent failures of gun bans in US cities Washington D.C. and Chicago. Murder rates in both places soared after bans were imposed. The just-released FBI crime numbers for 2009 show that murders and other violent crime rates plummeted after the Supreme Court struck down D.C.'s gunlock and handgun ban law in 2008. D.C.'s murder rate fell by an astounding 23 percent in 2009 about three times the US national drop in murder rates as well as for cities of similar size. The drop in murder and other violent crime has continued in 2010, with the numbers available through July 2010 showing a total drop in murders of about 36 percent over two years.
Gun control proponents claim that those bans weren't fair tests because guns were still available in other parts of the country and thus criminals could bring guns into Washington D.C. and Chicago. But the failure of bans occurs even when entire nations adopt them. Even island nations, such as Australia, Ireland, Jamaica, or England and New Zealand, who can't blame some neighboring country for its supply of illegal guns, have seen increases in gun related murder rates.
The debate over concealed handguns in the US has been similar, raising the question of whether guns should be limited to people's homes. Fears about accidents and rampages by permit holders, and blood running in the streets however never materialised where concealed carry has been allowed.
John R. Lott, Jr. Economist and author of the just released revised edition of "More Guns, Less Crime" (University of Chicago Press, 2010) examined all the multiple-victim public shootings with two or more victims in the United States from 1977 to 1999 and found that when states passed right-to-carry laws, these attacks fell by an astounding 60 percent. Deaths and injuries from multiple-victim public shootings fell on average by 78 percent. And to the extent that these attacks still occur in states with right-to-carry laws, they overwhelming occur in those few states where concealed handguns are not allowed. It would seem gun free zones serve as magnets for these attacks.
A 2007 study* compared gun ownership and murder rates in every European country and it found that countries like Switzerland with more widespread gun ownership had fewer gun related murders while countries like the UK with less gun ownership had, say it with me:More gun related murders.
The desire to ban guns is understandable, but it is dangerous, too.
* Don B, Kates and Barry Mauser, “Would Banning Firearms Reduce Murder and suicide? A Review of International and Domestic Evidence,” Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy 30, no 2(2007): 651-94
Andy is Stockbroker, novelist and general antagonist. He blogs regularly at www.andylsemple.com and his personal motto is "Speak without Fear. Question with Boldness."
