rightsided:
First, let’s start with a CDC report commissioned by the Obama Administration and a quote by the man himself.
Year after year, those who oppose even modest gun-safety measures have threatened to defund scientific or medical research into the causes of gun violence, I will direct the Centers for Disease Control to go ahead and study the best ways to reduce it.
- Barack Obama (x)
Now for some of the findings from the report, “Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence”
1. Armed citizens are less likely to be injured by an attacker:
Studies that directly assessed the effect of actual defensive uses of guns (i.e., incidents in which a gun was ‘used’ by the crime victim in the sense of attacking or threatening an offender) have found consistently lower injury rates among gun-using crime victims compared with victims who used other self-protective strategies.
2. Defensive uses of guns are common:
Almost all national survey estimates indicate thatdefensive gun uses by victims are at least as common as offensive uses by criminals, with estimates of annual uses ranging from about 500,000 to more than 3 million per year…in the context of about 300,000 violent crimes involving firearms in 2008.
3. Mass shootings and accidental firearm deaths account for a small fraction of gun-related deaths, and both are declining:
The number of public mass shootings of the type that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School accounted for a very small fraction of all firearm-related deaths. Since 1983 there have been 78 events in which 4 or more individuals were killed by a single perpetrator in 1 day in the United States, resulting in 547 victims and 476 injured persons.” The report also notes, “Unintentional firearm-related deaths have steadily declined during the past century. The number of unintentional deaths due to firearm-related incidents accounted for less than 1 percent of all unintentional fatalities in 2010.
4. “Interventions” (i.e, gun control) such as background checks, so-called assault rifle bans and gun-free zones produce “mixed” results:
Whether gun restrictions reduce firearm-related violence is an unresolved issue.” The report could not conclude whether “passage of right-to-carry laws decrease or increase violence crime.
5. Gun buyback/turn-in programs are “ineffective” in reducing crime:
There is empirical evidence that gun turn in programs are ineffective, as noted in the 2005 NRC study Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review. For example, in 2009, an estimated 310 million guns were available to civilians in the United States (Krouse, 2012), but gun buy-back programs typically recover less than 1,000 guns (NRC, 2005). On the local level, buy-backs may increase awareness of firearm violence. However, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for example, guns recovered in the buy-back were not the same guns as those most often used in homicides and suicides (Kuhn et al., 2002).
6. Stolen guns and retail/gun show purchases account for very little crime:
More recent prisoner surveys suggest that stolen guns account for only a small percentage of guns used by convicted criminals. … According to a 1997 survey of inmates, approximately 70 percent of the guns used or possess by criminals at the time of their arrest came from family or friends, drug dealers, street purchases, or the underground market.
Second, l want to go into what the Founding Fathers actually said about the Right to keep and bear arms.
The Original Intent of the Second Amendment
There is a constitutional right to keep and bear arms. There are very few topics as open-and-shut as the meaning of the Second Amendment.
Literally all evidence from the founding fathers shows that there was a consensus as to what the original intent and the original meaning of the Second Amendment was. The Second Amendmentwas written to keep the power in the hands of the people.
Its intent was to ensure that every person was able to take up arms and join other people to fight off tyrants, invaders, or unjustified insurrections. Its meaning was that the government couldn’t infringe on the right of the people to keep and bear arms — no gun bans or restrictions on the people at large.
Here’s the text of the Second Amendment:
“A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”
Before we look over what the implications of the Second Amendment are, let’s look at some quotations from the founding fathers themselves about gun control and the constitution’s protection of the right to keep and bear arms.
The States Request an Amendment on Owning Firearms
When the constitution was written, there was quite a bit of backlash from people who wanted the constitution to include certain strong limitations on the new government. They wanted explicit protections of the freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom against unwarranted searches and seizures, and, ofcourse — the right to keep and bear arms.
The request to protect the right to keep and bear arms was almost universal and requested in plain English. There’s no way to confuse the meanings of the requests. Let’s look at the texts of some of the actual requests and proposals.
New Hampshire’s convention requested the following addition to the Constitution:
“Congress shall never disarm any Citizen unless such as are or have been in Actual Rebellion.”
They weren’t alone. Antifederalists in Pennsylvania’s wanted an amendment too, requesting the following be agreed upon:
“That the people have a right to bear arms for the defense of themselves and their own state, or the United States, or for the purpose of killing game; and no law shall be passed for disarming the people or any of them, unless for crimes committed, or real danger of public injury from individuals…”
Three different states, New York, Rhode Island, and Virginia, each required similar proposals and their requests included these exact words: “That the people have a right to keep and bear arms”.
That the founding fathers wanted the right to keep and bear arms protected was obvious. They believed that the militia was the only real defense against tyranny. They didn’t trust standing armies or their government — they wanted a country that really was just “the people” with the power, in the end.
Founding Father Quotes on Gun Control
The views of the founding fathers wasn’t minced either. They believed that the right to keep and bear arms was an important right — that the right of the people to be able to repel invasions and topple tyrants was a fundamental natural right.
An ancestor of mine, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and uncle to Robert E Lee, it was Richard Henry Lee who wrote the following in The Pennsylvania Gazette in 1788:
“To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them.”
The American hero Patrick Henry, the man who spoke fire for the cause of liberty, said in the constitutional debates:
“The great object is that every man be armed.”
Even Alexander Hamilton, the “liberal” of the day, wrote in The Federalist Papers at 184-188 that:
“The best we can help for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed.”
The great philosopher statesman Thomas Jefferson wrote in a letter to William Smith in 1787:
“What country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance. Let them take arms.”
Their values were clear. They wanted an armed populace because they knew an armed populace was a free populace. This is why they passed the Second Amendment with the text of, “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”
But that’s not all. Let’s look at further proof — let’s look at what they specifically said about the Second Amendment, and not just the idea of gun ownership.
Founding Father Quotes on the Second Amendment
The founding fathers debated the constitution ferociously — including the Bill of Rights and the Second Amendment. The following is what they said specifically about the Second Amendment at the time it was written.
Statesman Zachariah Johnson, at the Virginia convention in 1788, explained in no uncertain terms what the Second Amendment protects:
“The people are not to be disarmed of their weapons. They are left in full possession of them.”
In an article on the Bill of Rights in 1789, the Philadelphia Federal Gazette published the following discussing the Second Amendment:
“… the people are confirmed by the next article in their right to keep and bear their private arms.”
Later that same year, the Philadelphia Independent Gazetteer published the following, quoting Sam Adams on the Second Amendment:
“And that the said Constitution be never construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the Press, or the rights of Conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms…”
James Madison, who is known as the “Father of the Constitution” wrote the following in the Federalist Papers, No. 46:
“[The Constitution preserves] the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation…[where] the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.”
Of course, some people believe that the Second Amendment only protects the “militia” when it comes to gun ownership. This just begs the question: who are the militia? The Second Amendment itself is clear: “the people” is the group who have their rights protected. The militia are the people, of course.
But don’t take my word for it. After all, we’re after the original intent and now the original meaning of the Second Amendment. Let’s see what the founders said about the “militia” and who it is comprised of.
Founding Father Quotes on the Definition of “Militia”
John Adams wrote in “A Defence of the Constitutions of the United States” that the right to keep and bear arms was an individual right, but that military action had to be sanctioned by the laws, of course — not just any “revolution” would be legal, of course. He explains explicitly:
To suppose arms in the hands of citizens, to be used at individual discretion, except in private self-defense, or by partial orders of towns, countries or districts of a state, is to demolish every constitution, and lay the laws prostrate, so that liberty can be enjoyed by no man; it is a dissolution of the government. The fundamental law of the militia is, that it be created, directed and commanded by the laws, and ever for the support of the laws.”
This is a limit on the militia — not a limit on gun ownership itself. In other words, you have the right to own firearms, but not to just shot anyone you want or start a coup because you’re restless. This is just common sense, and even the most radical pro-gun thinkers would agree with such a limit. Your right to shoot guns ends where the property of others begins — that’s just how it works.
But some try to stretch this “limit” into meaning that the government can outlaw guns. Besides the obvious point that this goes against “the right of the people to keep and bear arms” on a blatant level, it also is unfounded — because militia rights are peoples’ rights. That’s because the militia is, in fact, the people.
That’s why the political economist Tenche Coxe — someone who was originally a loyalist during the revolution — even proclaimed the following in The Pennsylvania Gazette in 1788, while the debate was raging:
“Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves? Is it feared, then, that we shall turn our arms each man against his own bosom. Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American…[T]he unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people.”
And then even more bluntly, George Mason, yet another founding statesman, defined the militia during the Virginia convention to ratify the constitution in 1788:
“I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people, except for a few public officials.”
The evidence is devastating. Any historical “expert” who believes the original intent and meaning of the constitution didn’t protect an individual right to keep and bear arms is likely lying — either subconsciously to himself or consciously to your face.
After all, the Second Amendment plainly states, “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. To an honest man, the debate should be over.
Next, let’s watch some videos.
Hupp and her parents were having lunch at the Luby’s Cafeteria in Killeen in 1991 when the Luby’s massacre commenced. The gunman shot 50 people and killed 23, including Hupp’s parents. Hupp later expressed regret about deciding to remove her gun from her purse and lock it in her car lest she risk possibly running afoul of the state’s concealed weapons laws; during the shootings, she reached for her weapon but then remembered that it was “a hundred feet away in my car.” Her father, Al Gratia, tried to rush the gunman and was shot in the chest. As the gunman reloaded, Hupp escaped through a broken window and believed that her mother, Ursula Gratia, was behind her. Actually however, her mother went to her mortally-wounded husband’s aid and was then shot in the head.
As a survivor of the Luby’s massacre, Hupp testified across the country in support of concealed-handgun laws. She said that if there had been a second chance to prevent the slaughter, she would have violated the Texas law and carried the handgun inside her purse into the restaurant. She testified across the country in support of concealed handgun laws, and was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1996. The law was signed by then-Governor George W. Bush.
NY State Senator Greg Ball 1/13/13
Choose Your Own Crime Stats: United States vs. United Kingdom
Now, let’s get to some facts:
Let’s start this with the “anyone can get an ‘assault weapon’ myth:”
Yep, anyone can buy an “assault weapon,” as long as they have…
1. Found a Class 3 firearms dealer, which then requires that they have:
Found a Class 3 firearms dealer that has an assault weapon (note that the AR15 is not an assault weapon, as it is not fully-automatic) that they are willing to sell.
Found a Class 3 firearms dealer that is willing to sell to them. (Note that gun dealers can and will to refuse to sell to individuals who do not meet their personal standards)
2. Have required funds needed to purchase the firearm; most machine guns range in price from $5,000 to (as I have personally seen) $40,000, with the potential to cost even more than that.
3. Met the following requirements:
Is at least 21 years old
Is a citizen of the United States
Not an abuser of drugs or alcohol
Never been convicted of a felon
Never been dishonorably discharged from military service
3. Called their local CLEO (chief law enforcement officer - sheriff, police chief, etc.) and asked what the procedure is for signing Form 4 Application for Tax Paid Transfer and Registration of Firearm. This requires that the CLEO is willing to sign before the firearm is purchased (CLEO will refuse to sign for any number of reasons, even out of their own political bias.)
4. Obtained, in duplicate, and filled out the BATFE Form 4 Application for Tax Paid Transfer and Registration of Firearm from your dealer seen below. (Some information must be filled out by the dealer.)
(Note: Complete the back of the form by answering the questions and stating the reason you wish to possess the item. The reason can be any number of possible answers and is something you should discuss with your dealer.)
5. Affixed a recent color passport-sized (2”x2”) photograph of themselves on the back of each copy of the form. (These photos typically cost $5 to $10 at place such as Kinkos and Walgreens.)
6. Acquired a signature of the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of your county or city. (This may take time depending on location; if it is a city then it will take longer.)
7. While acquiring the CLEO signature, and at law enforcement agency, filled out and fingerprint FBI Form FD-258, in duplicate, at a cost of $10 to $15.
8. Obtained and filled out the Certification of Compliance, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(5)(B), ATF Form 5330.20, declaring that they are a United States citizen. (This form is sent to the the Department of the Treasury.)
9. Payed the $200 Federal Transfer Tax for each NFA device or firearm to be purchased.
10. Mailed in every form and fee, which includes:
BATFE Form 4 Application for Tax Paid Transfer and Registration of Firearm
FBI Form FD-258
Certification of Compliance, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(5)(B), ATF Form 5330.20
$200
(This list does not include fee payed to obtain items necessary for this process: photos, fingerprints, etc.)
11. Waited 6 months for the ATF to receive, process, and approve their request. This process includes an FBI NICS background check, the results of which may disqualify them from being able to obtain the firearm in the first place. (After the request is approved one copy of BATFE Form 4 Application for Tax Paid Transfer and Registration of Firearm will be returned to the dealer.)
12. Returned to the dealer to have the firearm transfered into their possession, a process that requires the dealer to have them fill out ATF form 4473 Firearms Transaction Record (See below), the standard form for background checks for those purchasing a non-NFA weapon, however this is for the dealer to keep as a record of the sale, in compliance with ATF regulations.
112 Pages of Gun Facts; From Laws, to Ownership, and Common Misconceptions
The ‘40 Percent’ Myth By John Lott:
Gun-control advocates have recently been throwing around an impressive new number. President Obama used it last Wednesday, claiming: “as many as 40 percent of guns are purchased without a background check.” Vice President Biden and everyone from the New York Times to the Wall Street Journal to USA Today repeatedly use it. That “fact” provided the principal support for his first announced gun-control proposal, “universal background checks.” But unless you include family inheritances and gifts as “purchases,” it is simply false.
The Brady Act background checks currently prevent someone who buys from a federally licensed dealer from buying a gun if he has a felony, or in many cases a misdemeanor conviction, or has been involuntarily committed for mental illness. Prior to Brady, federal law merely required that people sign a statement stating that they did not have a criminal record or a history of mental problems under threat of perjury. Obama’s 40 percent claim makes it look like a lot of gun buyers are avoiding these checks.
Actually, the number reported was a bit lower, 36 percent, and as we will see the true number of guns “sold” without check is closer to 10 percent. More important, the number comes from a 251-person survey on gun sales two decades ago, early in the Clinton administration. More than three-quarters of the survey covered sales before the Brady Act instituted mandatory federal background checks on February 28, 1994. In addition, guns are not sold in the same way today that they were sold two decades ago.
The number of federally licensed firearms dealers (FFLs) today is only a fraction of what it was. Today there are only 118,000; while back in 1993 there were over 283,000. Smaller dealers, many operating out of their homes, were forced out by various means, including much higher costs for licenses.
The survey asked buyers if they thought they were buying from a licensed firearms dealer. While all FFLs do background checks, those perceived as being FFLs were the only ones counted. Yet, there is much evidence that survey respondents who went to the very smallest FFLs, especially the “kitchen table” types, had no inkling that the dealer was actually “licensed.” Many buyers seemed to think that only “brick and mortar” stores were licensed dealers, and thus reported not buying from an FFL when in fact they did.
But the high figure comes primarily from including such transactions as inheritances or gifts from family members. Putting aside these various biases, if you look at guns that were bought, traded, borrowed, rented, issued as a requirement of the job, or won through raffles, 85 percent went through FFLs; just 15 percent were transferred without a background check.
If you include these transfers either through FFLs or from family members, the remaining transfers falls to 11.5 percent.
We don’t know the precise number today, but it is hard to believe that it is above single digits.
Nevertheless, even if few purchases avoid background checks, should we further expand the checks? It really depends on how the system would be implemented.
We have to realize that the current system of background checks suffers from many flaws, some causing dangerous delays for people who suddenly need a gun for self-defense, such as a woman being stalked by an ex. In addition to crashes in the computers doing the checks, 8 percent of background checks are not accomplished within two hours, with almost all of these delays taking three days or longer.
Obama made many other false statements during his talk. He asserted that “over the last 14 years [background checks] kept 1.5 million of the wrong people from getting their hands on a gun.” But these were only “initial denials,” not people prevented from buying guns.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms dropped over 94 percent of those “initial denials” after just preliminary reviews. Virtually all the remaining cases were dropped after further investigation by ATF field offices or the Department of Justice. Few of these “initial denials,” 62 people or about 0.1 percent, involved strong enough evidence to be consideration for prosecution. Just 13 pleaded guilty or were convicted.
Delays are undoubtedly just an inconvenience for most people buying guns. But for a few, it makes a huge difference in their ability to defend themselves against assailants. Indeed, my own research suggests these delays might actually contribute to a slight net increase in violent crime, particularly rapes.
Clearly, criminals are seldom stopped by the checks. That isn’t really too surprising because even when guns were banned in Washington, D.C., and Chicago, or even in island nations such as the U.K., Ireland, and Jamaica, criminals still got guns and murder rates rose after the bans.
No amount of background checks on private transfers would have stopped the Connecticut, Wisconsin, and Colorado massacres.
Expanded background checks might well be reasonable, but only if the current system is fixed. Passing laws may make people feel better, but they can actually prevent people from defending themselves.
Assault Weapons Tied To Less Than .012 Percent Of Deaths In 2011:
After announcing 23 executive orders to broaden gun control in America earlier this week, President Obama pressed Congress to institute an “assault weapons” ban to end incidents of violence in our nation.
The problem—“assault weapons” weretied to less than .012 percentof overall deaths in America in recent years (2011). And the 1994 “Assault Weapons Ban” (AWB) had a demonstrably small impact on overall crime in our country.
In fact, according to statistics compiled by criminology professors Chris Koper and Jeff Roth and put forth by John Lott, three years after the ban was instituted theses professors could find no “meaningful effect.”
Ten years after the ban was instituted, a colleague of Koper and Roth looked at the impact of the ban and wrote: “We cannot clearly credit the ban with any of the nation’s recent drop in gun violence.”
What the current federal gun grabbers fail to take in into account is that concealed carry laws were expanding as the AWB was being implemented. Thus, much of the drop in crime was due not to the fact that grandpa no longer had an AR-15 in his closest but that grandpa was carrying a Glock 19 on his person.
With concealed carry, immediate retribution for criminals became a reality.
Again—in 2011, less than .012 percent of the overall deaths in America were tied to “assault weapons,” and there was not even a ban in place. Years before that, 1994-2004, when the ban was in effect, it’s impact on gun violence was nil.
The bottom line: There is something other than our safety and/or crime reduction behind the current push to ban “assault weapons.” And this “something,” whatever it is, will be detrimental to freedom.
Less Than One Percent of Deaths in 2011 Were Gun-Related:
The media regularly twists gun numbers to make gun-related deaths appear predominant over every other type of death in this country. However, a rational examination of how small the percentage of gun-related deaths are when compared to the overall number of deaths in any given year helps one to see through the hype.
For example, in 2011, the total number of gun-related deaths was 8,583.
Taken by itself, out of context, that number seems overwhelming. But taken in the context of overall deaths in America from—including natural causes—that number represents only .34 percent of all deaths for that year.
In other words, the percentage of deaths that were gun-related in 2011 does not even equal half of one percent of the 2,513,171 overall deathsfor that year.
And if you really want to see how exaggerated the current anti-“assault rifle” rhetoric is, just look at 2011 numbers for the percentage of rifle-related deaths.
That figure is .012 percent of the overall deaths in America in 2011.
Meanwhile, the percentage of overall deaths that were the result of falling off things like rocks and ladders was 1 percent, or nearly three times the percentage of deaths that were gun-related: 26,631 versus 8,583.
Gun-related deaths represented only .34 percent of all deaths in America 2011. If the left wants us to feel safer, maybe they need to start banning ladders instead of guns.
The Facts About ‘Assault Weapons,’ Crime, and Gun Bans By John Lott:
Warning about “weapons designed for the theater of war,” President Obama on Wednesday called for immediate action on a new Federal Assault Weapons Ban. He said that “more of our fellow Americans might still be alive” if the original assault weapons ban, passed in 1994, had not expired in 2004. Last month, in the wake of the horrific shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) promised to introduce an updated version of the ban. She too warned of the threat posed by “military weapons.”
After the nightmare of Newtown, their concern is understandable. Yet despite being at the center of the gun-control debate for decades, neither President Obama nor Ms. Feinstein (the author of the 1994 legislation) seems to understand the leading research on the effects of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. In addition, they continue to mislabel the weapons they seek to ban.
Ms. Feinstein points to two studies by criminology professors Chris Koper and Jeff Roth for the National Institute of Justice to back up her contention that the ban reduced crime. She claims that their first study in 1997 showed that the ban decreased “total gun murders.” In fact, the authors wrote: “the evidence is not strong enough for us to conclude that there was any meaningful effect (i.e., that the effect was different from zero).”
Messrs. Koper and Roth suggested that after the ban had been in effect for more years it might be possible to find a benefit. Seven years later, in 2004, they published a follow-up study for the National Institute of Justice with fellow criminologist Dan Woods that concluded, “we cannot clearly credit the ban with any of the nation’s recent drop in gun violence. And, indeed, there has been no discernible reduction in the lethality and injuriousness of gun violence.”
Moreover, none of the weapons banned under the 1994 legislation or the updated version are “military” weapons. The killer in Newtown used a Bushmaster .223. This weapon bears a cosmetic resemblance to the M-16, which has been used by the U.S. military since the Vietnam War. The call has frequently been made that there is “no reason” for such “military-style weapons” to be available to civilians.
Yes, the Bushmaster and the AK-47 are “military-style weapons.” But the key word is “style”—they are similar to military guns in their cosmetics, not in the way they operate. The guns covered by the original were not the fully automatic machine guns used by the military, but semiautomatic versions of those guns.
The civilian version of the Bushmaster uses essentially the same sorts of bullets as small game-hunting rifles, fires at the same rapidity (one bullet per pull of the trigger), and does the same damage. The civilian version of the AK-47 is similar, though it fires a much larger bullet—.30 inches in diameter, as opposed to the .223 inch rounds used by the Bushmaster. No self-respecting military in the world would use the civilian version of these guns.
A common question is: “Why do people need a semiautomatic Bushmaster to go out and kill deer?” The answer is simple: It is a hunting rifle. It has just been made to look like a military weapon.
But the point isn’t to help hunters. Semiautomatic weapons also protect people and save lives. Single-shot rifles that require you to physically reload the gun may not do people a lot of good when they are facing multiple criminals or when their first shot misses or fails to stop an attacker.
Since the Federal Assault Weapons Ban expired in September 2004, murder and overall violent-crime rates have fallen. In 2003, the last full year before the law expired, the U.S. murder rate was 5.7 per 100,000 people, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Report. By 2011, the murder rate fell to 4.7 per 100,000 people. One should also bear in mind that just 2.6% of all murders are committed using any type of rifle.
The large-capacity ammunition magazines used by some of these killers are also misunderstood. The common perception that so-called “assault weapons” can hold larger magazines than hunting rifles is simply wrong. Any gun that can hold a magazine can hold one of any size. That is true for handguns as well as rifles. A magazine, which is basically a metal box with a spring, is trivially easy to make and virtually impossible to stop criminals from obtaining. The 1994 legislation banned magazines holding more than 10 bullets yet had no effect on crime rates.
Ms. Feinstein’s new proposal also calls for gun registration, and the reasoning is straightforward: If a gun has been left at a crime scene and it was registered to the person who committed the crime, the registry will link the crime gun back to the criminal.
Nice logic, but in reality it hardly ever works that way. Guns are very rarely left behind at a crime scene. When they are, they’re usually stolen or unregistered. Criminals are not stupid enough to leave behind guns that are registered to them. Even in the few cases where registered guns are left at crime scenes, it is usually because the criminal has been seriously injured or killed, so these crimes would have been solved even without registration.
Canada recently got rid of its costly “long-gun” registry for rifles in part because the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Chiefs of Police could not provide a single example in which tracing was of more than peripheral importance in solving a gun murder.
If we finally want to deal seriously with multiple-victim public shootings, it’s time that we acknowledge a common feature of these attacks: With just a single exception, the attack in Tucson last year, every public shooting in the U.S. in which more than three people have been killed since at least 1950 has occurred in a place where citizens are not allowed to carry their own firearms. Had some citizens been armed, they might have been able to stop the killings before the police got to the scene. In the Newtown attack, it took police 20 minutes to arrive at the school after the first calls for help.
The Bushmaster, like any gun, is indeed very dangerous, but it is not a weapon “designed for the theater of war.” Banning assault weapons will not make Americans safer.
DOJ Report: Youth Gun Violence Down 95% From 1994:
A recently released Department of Justice (DOJ) study shows that youth aged 12 through 17 are six times more likely to be attacked by someone using a knife instead of gun.
The study shows a heavy drop—a full 95%—in gun-related violence toward youth from 1994 to 2010.
Moreover, the study shows that “serious crimes against youth perpetrated at schools dropped 62%” over this same period of time.
The study also showed that youth who came from a single parent home were 3.8 times more likely to be a victim of violent crime, and “homicides among American youth declined by 65 percent from 1993 to 2010.”
And finally, some news stories in which citizens used their Second Amendment Rights to defend themselves and others.
Jan 4th – Walton County, Georgia – Walton County Home Invasion
A mom and her twin 9-year-old children tried hiding near the attic – but the crook wouldn’t back down.
Police say the crook was armed with a crow bar and the terrified woman inside the home opened fire on the crook, striking him five times.
It all happened around noon Friday at the Henderson Ridge subdivision in Walton County.
Investigators say Paul Lee Slater is in critical condition and in an intensive care unit at Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville.
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Jan 4th – York, PA – Homeowner wrestles for shotgun, shoots at home invader
One of four men arrested in connection with a botched home invasion in Chanceford Township where shots were fired but no one was injured pleaded guilty Friday in York County court to attempted robbery.
Zachary D. Underwood, 18, of Harrisburg, and three others forced their way into a home in the 600 block of Salem Church Road shortly after midnight on July 12 demanding drugs and money, according to police reports.
The occupants wrestled a shotgun away from one of the men and one of the intruders fired four shots into a wall.
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Jan 3rd – Cleveland, Ohio – Cleveland homeowner defends self in second home invasion attempt in 2 months.
A man attempting to break into a Cleveland, Ohio home was shot by the homeowner.
It just so happens that the same homeowner shot and killed another burglar at the same Portage Avenue house less than two months earlier.
The first incident happened in late November. The burglar, 43-year-old David Fletcher, was attempting to break into a home owned by a man neighbors call “Mike.” Neighbors say that Mike bought a half a dozen homes on the block to remodel, but trouble soon followed.
Portage Avenue is plagued with abandoned homes.
“Everybody has this problem with people breaking in these abandoned houses,” said neighbor Ben Blair in November.
In the November incident, Feltcher was wielding a knife as he attempted to break into Mike’s home. Feltcher was killed.
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Jan 3rd – Akron, Ohio - Akron meat market shootout
Investigators believe the men entered Hever’s Family Meats, 3307 Cleveland Ave. NW, at 12:07 p.m. Wednesday with their weapons drawn. Davis said they attempted to take money from the cash register and, during the robbery, one of the robbers fired several rounds.
“Fire was immediately returned by an employee. A gun battle ensued inside the store,” Davis said.
At some point, the robbers ran out the front door, jumped into the car and sped away.
Mercy Medical Center video shows one of the men soon after being dropped off at the hospital and the car leaving, Davis said.
Bush was found there with multiple gunshot wounds.
“A short time later, we believe the second suspect checked himself in at Affinity Medical Center in Massillon with at least three gunshot wounds,” Davis said. That man was identified as McLendon.
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Jan 3rd – Lubbock, Texas – Homeowner shoots at thieves
Police went to the 100 block of Avenue S around 5:30 a.m. after receiving a “burglary in process” call from the homeowner, said Lubbock Police Department spokesman, Sgt. Jonathan Stewart
Stewart said two men attempted to steal a television from the backyard and fled after the homeowner came out and shot at them.
Stewart said the number of shots fired hadn’t been determined and because the two men had not been located, it was unknown if one of them was hit.
“If there’s reasonable evidence the homeowner shot at the men to protect his home, he will not be convicted of any crime,” Stewart said. “Nothing is pending against the homeowner at this time.”
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Jan 2nd – Phoenix, Arizona – Father shoots daughter’s attempted rapist
A man reportedly trying to break into several homes in Phoenix was shot and killed by a homeowner. It happened around 2 a.m. Wednesday near 28th Avenue and Acoma.
Neighbors spotted a white man in his 30s going door to door, apparently trying to break into homes. Witnesses say he attempted to get into at least four homes.
As the man tried to get into one of the houses, the homeowner came out with a gun. When he spotted the suspect trying to break into the bedroom belonging to his daughters, ages 4 and 7, he started yelling.
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Jan 2nd – Miami, Florida - Homeowner shoots naked man who was choking his dog
A naked burglar was shot by a Miami homeowner Wednesday morning after he allegedly attempted to choke a pet dog and bite the residents.
Miami police report that the homeowner at a duplex at Northwest 2nd Avenue and 56th street woke up to the sound of dogs barking at 5 a.m.
He then found a naked man choking his pet, according to the arrest report. The nude intruder reportedly turned on the owner, jumping on him while choking and trying to bite him.
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Jan 2nd - NEOSHO RAPIDS, Kansas – Homeowner shoots home invader
Lyon County authorities say a homeowner shot and injured one person breaking into an eastern Kansas home and held another suspect at gunpoint until police arrived.
The incident happened Wednesday morning at a home about three miles north of Neosho Rapids.
Lyon County Sheriff Jeff Cope says the homeowner fired one shot at the suspect, Gary Yowell, 35, who was treated at Newman Regional Health for non-life threatening injuries.
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Jan 2nd – Galva, Illinois – Two shot during home invasion
A Galva man says he was defending his home when he shot two intruders and was himself shot twice late Friday night.
Dustin Brock was treated for what he believes was a .410 shotgun wound to his chest and a large caliber bullet wound in his hand that he received while struggling with intruders on his kitchen floor at 417 E. Division St., Galva.
Police received a 911 call around 11 p.m. Friday regarding shots fired. Brock said it all happened very fast. There are bullet holes in his kitchen wall and floor.
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Dec 31st – Cleveland, Ohio – Homeowner shoots burglar
A Cleveland homeowner said he shot a burglar Friday morning after the intruder grabbed a lamp and tried to hit him, Cleveland police said.
Police received a call about 8:50 a.m. from the Portage Avenue homeowner, who told police he was holding the suspect at gunpoint, Police spokesman Sgt. Sammy Morris said.
Morris said the homeowner told officers he shot the suspect after he confronted him, and gunshot wounds were found on the burglar’s cheek and right arm, Morris said.
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Dec 29th - MCNAIRY COUNTY, Tennessee – Homeowner stops home invasion
Deputies said they arrested Steven Hicks and his wife, Sharon, for felony aggravated burglary, after homeowner Ryan Sisk spotted the two with Johnathan Beckham and Joe Little ransacking his home.
“This lets me know that there is no security anymore even at your own home and it’s changed me,” said Sisk. “It’s definitely changed us.”
Deputies said the thieves broke in through the back door, emptied the safe that stored 11 loaded guns, and took jewelry. Family members said the burglary has shaken their sense of small town security.
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Dec 27th – Harris County, Texas – Homeowner kills burglary suspect
A burglary suspect died late Thursday morning after deputies said he was shot by a homeowner who was defending his property.
The shooting occurred in northwest Harris County on Place Rebecca Lane just off Kuykendahl Road, according to the sheriff’s office.
Harris County Sgt. Robert Spurgeon said it was around 2 a.m. when the homeowner, 51, heard glass breaking in his condo. He went to investigate and found a man entering through a window.
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Dec 25th – Aundrel county, Maryland – Man killed during business robbery
When officers arrived they were met by an employee of the business. The employee advised officers that prior to their arrival an unknown intruder had broken into the business while the employee was there. There was an altercation inside the business and as a result the intruder was shot. The intruder ran out of the business and collapsed. Paramedics were summonsed to the scene, at which time, the intruder was pronounced deceased. The intruder has been identified as Byron Keith Phillip, 30 of Chester, Maryland.
Thanks to weaponsystems for these:
NRA Armed Citizen:
Two clerks were operating a Sunoco gas station in Springfield Township, Ohio, when an armed robber entered the store and ordered one of the clerks to “go behind the counter and get me the money.” As the criminal went behind the counter he fired at the clerks, prompting the pair to retrieve a .40-caliber pistol and a shotgun and fire at the robber. Shots fired by both clerks struck the criminal, killing him. A daily customer of the Sunoco station was puzzled as to why anyone would attempt to rob the store, telling local media, “I know everyone that works in there. They are all great guys. Everybody knows they have guns. That’s why I’m surprised someone tried to rob them. It does not make sense.” (The Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati, Ohio 12/10/12)
Two masked and armed criminals entered Joyeria Vanessa jewelry store in San Jose, Calif. and demanded money from the owner. In response, the owner retrieved a pistol and fired at the robbers. The shots missed, but sent the criminals fleeing to a nearby getaway car. Police made clear that the woman had a right to defend herself. (KGO-TV, San Francisco, Calif. 11/26/2012)
A woman was at home with her three-year-old son in Wyandotte, Okla. when she was awakened by a knock on her door. The homeowner peered outside, noticed a strange man at her door and retrieved a .22-caliber pistol. The man then began breaking into the home, making it through one of two locked doors; at which point the woman opened the inside door and fired a shot at the criminal. The would-be burglar fled to a waiting getaway car and proceeded to cross the state line into Missouri. After viewing surveillance video of a nearby road, Missouri police were able to determine the criminal’s whereabouts and make an arrest. (The Joplin Globe, Joplin, Mo. 11/21/12)
While driving a car he stole less than 15 minutes earlier, a thief in Ceres, Calif. spotted a 69-year-old homeowner in his garage and attempted to rob him with a knife. The homeowner responded by retrieving a nearby .38-caliber handgun and shooting the criminal twice. The wounded robber fled the home but was captured by police in a nearby yard. An investigation revealed that the criminal already had a warrant out for his arrest, resulting from his lack of participation in a court ordered alternative work program. (The Modesto Bee, Modesto, Calif. 11/05/12)
A pair of armed intruders entered a home in St. Helena Island, S.C. and attempted to rob the 31-year-old woman who lives there. The homeowner responded by retrieving a gun and firing at the criminals, striking one and causing both to flee. The wounded criminal was discovered when he turned up at the Savannah Memorial University Medical Center seeking treatment; the other was captured a day later. The home invaders face charges of armed robbery and attempted murder. (The Beaufort Gazette, Beaufort, S.C. 10/30/12)
A 63-year-old woman suffering from congestive heart failure and arthritis was asleep at home in Bessemer, Ala. when an armed intruder came into her bedroom. The home invader demanded that the woman hand over money and jewelry, and when she didn’t comply, he drew a keyhole saw and cut her on her stomach and arm. Eventually, one of the woman’s seven dogs alerted a guest staying at the home to the commotion. The guest distracted the criminal long enough for the woman to retrieve a .44-caliber revolver and shoot the criminal, who fled the scene. Police captured the home invader a short time later after he sought treatment at a local hospital. Following the shooting, the woman told local media, “I have a family to protect and that’s what I did. I protected me and mine.” The armed citizen also noted that she has been a gun owner for more than 30 years and that “women are better with guns.” (The Birmingham News, Birmingham, Ala. October 30, 2012
12-year-old Kendra St. Clair was at home alone in Durant, Okla. when a man began banging on the front door. Frightened, Kendra called her mother at work, who told her to retrieve a .40-caliber pistol and to hide in the bathroom closet. Kendra complied, and after calling 911, heard the criminal break through a back door. After about six minutes inside the home, the intruder made it to the bathroom closet where Kendra was hiding. As the home invader attempted to open the closet, Kendra fired at the criminal, striking him and causing him to flee. Police captured the intruder a short time later and transported him to a hospital. Following the incident, Kendra’s mother told local media about how her daughter was coping, stating, “She’s a trooper… She’s staying strong and confident. She’s handling this much better than I would have.” When asked about her experience, Kendra told reporters, “I kept my head on straight.” (The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City, Okla. 10/19/12)
A 22-year-old woman was at home alone in Dallas, Texas when a pair of home invaders, at least one of whom was armed, kicked in the front door. After retrieving a gun, the woman spotted the criminals as they were headed to the second floor of the house. The woman opened fire on the home invaders, striking one and causing both to flee. The wounded burglar collapsed just outside the front door and was later taken to a local hospital, where he died. The father of the armed citizen noted that he was proud of his daughter’s actions, stating, “I’m real proud of her because I taught her that… I taught my girls that — to defend themselves when someone comes to hurt them, and apparently she listened.” (NBC DFW, Dallas, Texas 10/18/12)
A 70-year-old woman was asleep in her Fayette County, W.V. home, when she was awakened by her burglar alarm. After arming herself with a .38-caliber revolver, the woman went to investigate. When she found the burglar, the criminal punched her in the face. The woman responded by firing at the home invader, causing him to flee. Local law enforcement officials have been supportive of the homeowner’s actions, with Fayette County Sheriff Steve Kessler noting, “If the victim of the burglary had been unarmed she could have been seriously injured or killed when confronted by this burglar.” (The Register-Herald, Beckley, W.V. 10/12/12)
Thanks to classical-liberal for these:
• A 1997 high school shooting in Pearl, Miss., was halted by the school’s vice principal after he retrieved the Colt .45 he kept in his truck.
• A 1998 middle school shooting ended when a man living next door heard gunfire and apprehended the shooter with his shotgun.
• A 2002 terrorist attack at an Israeli school was quickly stopped by an armed teacher and a school guard.
• A 2002 law school shooting in Grundy, Va., came to an abrupt conclusion when students carrying firearms confronted the shooter.
• A 2007 mall shooting in Ogden, Utah, ended when an armed off-duty police officer intervened.
• A 2009 workplace shooting in Houston, Texas, was halted by two coworkers who carried concealed handguns.
• A 2012 church shooting in Aurora, Colo., was stopped by a member of the congregation carrying a gun.
• At the recent mall shooting in Portland, Ore., the gunman took his own life minutes after being confronted by a shopper carrying a concealed weapon.
Read more at: http://www.lp.org/news/press-releases/halt-the-massacre-of-innocent-children-by-ending-prohibition-on-self-defense-in-/
(10/7/13) 70+ Year Old Vietnam Vet Shoots and Kills Home Invader in Indiana
(10/5/13) Auto Shop Owner Wins Gunfight Against 2 Armed Robbers
(10/4/13) Texas Teenager Shoots and Kills 1 of 2 Home Invaders
(9/29/13) Female Homeowner Uses Her Words Against Thief – “Do You See How Big This Gun Is?!”
(9/27/13) Texas Homeowner Shoots Intruder Armed With Baseball Bat
(9/26/13) GA Homeowner Shoots 1 of 2 Home Invaders
(9/24/13) Marine in Washington Shoots and Kills Car Thief Armed With Gun
(9/24/13) Three Thugs Try to Rob Off Duty Officer, All Three Shot, One of Them is Killed
(9/20/13) GA Thrift Store Employee Shoots Armed Robber Multiple Times, Killing Him
(9/18/13) Texas Business Owner Fights Off 3 Armed Robbers, Kills 1
(9/17/13) California Homeowner Shoots 1 of 3 Home Invaders
(9/16/13) Family Returning Home From Wake Saved From Armed Robbers by Armed Family Member
(9/16/13) 77 Year Old Montana Man Shoots 22 Year Old Home Invader in the Chest
(9/13/13) AR Homeowner Shoots and Kills Intruder to Protect Wife and Two Preschool Age Children
(9/12/13) Concealed Carrier in Texas Shoots Two Car Jackers, Kills One
(9/9/13) Armed Citizen Saves Female Neighbor From Violent Armed Robbery Outside of Her Home
(9/9/13) Pregnant Woman Who Was Anti-Gun Uses Husband’s Gun to Scare Off 2 Home Invaders
(9/7/13) Pizza Place Employee Shoots 1 of 2 Gun Toting Armed Robbers
(9/6/13) Armed Illinois Homeowner Stops String of Burglaries by Opening Fire on Suspects
(9/5/13) Machete Wielding Pharmacy Robber Foiled by Clerk With Gun
(9/5/13) Female Law Student, Mother Uses Gun to Fight Off Three Would be Car Jackers
(9/4/13) Armed Homeowner Shoots and Kills Suspect Being Pursued by Police During Crime Spree
(9/4/13) Elderly, Disabled Woman Uses 9mm Glock to Fight Off Intruder High on Drugs
(9/3/13) Burglar in Tennessee Shot by Business Owner with 12G Shotgun
(9/3/13) MO Four Deployment Veteran Pulls Gun on Would be Armed Robber (Remember this gif?)
(8/27/13) Georgia Liquor Store Owner Shoots 1 of 2 Armed Robbers
(8/27/13) Pizza Delivery Driver Shoots and Kills Knife Wielding Career Criminal
(8/23/13) Ohio Homeowner Manages to Shoot and Kill Intruder After Being Stabbed Three Times
(8/21/13) AL Store Clerk Uses Handgun to Thwart Armed Robber Without Firing a Shot
(8/20/13) Elderly Iowa Homeowner