I was surprised to see Newsday publish this opinion.
http://www.newsday.com/coverage/current/editorial/tuesday/nd3.htm
Bush Is Not a Trigger-Happy Cowboy
By John R. Lott, Jr. John R. Lott Jr., a senior research scholar at the Yale University Law School, is the author of "More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws."
NO DOUBT gun control is a central issue in the presidential campaign. For a year now, Vice President Al Gore has painted Texas Gov. George Bush as an extremist, a pawn of the National Rifle Association who recklessly endangered people by signing a concealed handgun law. Gore has gone as far as linking Bush's signing that legislation to last year's fatal shooting at a Fort Worth church. Gore's use of type-casting is made easier by the stereotypical view held of Texas. But what few realize is that with about 42,000 words worth of state gun laws, Texas' regulations are actually quite average. Those accusing Bush of flip-flops-to position himself as a moderate-are, to put it charitably, unfamiliar with his record. Texas' concealed-handgun laws have a lot of company. Thirty other states have similar so-call- ed shall-issue laws, which set up objective rules allowing people permits once they pass certain criteria: a criminal background check, a minimum age, payment of required fees and any necessary training. Twelve more states have more restrictive "discretionary" rules, where local officials can use their discretion to determine whether an applicant has demonstrated sufficient need for protection. Only seven states totally forbid the carrying of concealed handguns. Yet even this does not give the complete picture, because Texas has one of the most restrictive shall-issue laws, with the third-longest training requirement-10 hours. (Half the other states require no training whatsoever and another quarter require three to five hours.) Texas also has the highest fee, $140, compared with the average of $60.
Background checks in Texas are also among the strictest. Bush makes no apologies for signing the law that went into effect in January, 1996, and states, "I believe the law we passed in Texas has made Texas a safer place." Indeed, murder rates in Texas fell by 25 percent between 1995 and 1997, much faster than the 16-percent decline in states without shall- issue laws. Texas's rape rates fell twice as fast. The most emotional attack against Bush is that he signed a 1997 law allowing people to carry concealed handguns in churches.
But this charge is completely misleading. Churches are still listed as an area where permit holders are forbidden to carry their weapons. What the 1997 law did was create a uniform warning sign requirement for permit holders across all public buildings, including churches. The change was strongly supported by ministers in the state. After the concealed-handgun law took effect in 1996, owners of public buildings had the right to post a sign stating that concealed handguns were not allowed on thei property. Churches were initially exempt from this warning requirement because concealed handguns were never permitted in churches.
But since it is not always obvious which buildings are church property, the 1997 law, in order to avoid confusion, explicitly made the rule the same across all public buildings. The law was also motivated by issues of fairness and ease of prosecution, since many thought that permit holders ought to be warned before entering a building where guns were prohibited.
Some media pundits expressed surprise when Bush said that, if passed, he would sign a law mandating that trigger locks be sold with guns. Leaving aside whether such legislation is wise, this is in line with what he has done as governor. He signed legislation in 1995 that made it a crime to store firearms in a way that a reasonable person would know that someone under 18 could gain access to a weapon.
Indeed, while 17 states have similar laws, Texas is one of only four states that sets the age limit for access as high as 18. The other states set it between 12 and 16.
Bush has made liability reform a cornerstone of his governorship, and he signed into law major tort reform early during his first term as governor. He has long been unwilling to "subcontract out public policy to the trial lawyers" and the legal assault on the gun is no different.
His decision to support this legislation, which restricts city suits against gun makers, was courageous. After the Columbine attack, politicians in many other states, fearing public reaction, delayed or quietly buried reform legislation. But Bush held firm, signing legislation only weeks after Columbine.
While Bush has supported NRA-backed legislation involving concealed handguns and restraining suits against gun makers, he has opposed the group on trigger locks and background checks at gun shows.
His consistency stands in sharp contrast to the changes in Gore's positions on guns and abortion when he first tried to make the move from Tennessee to the Democratic presidential primaries in 1988. Bush is not the trigger-happy cowboy Gore is potraying him to be.
Copyright © Newsday, Inc.
------------------
"The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside
the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light." (Romans 13:12)
http://www.newsday.com/coverage/current/editorial/tuesday/nd3.htm
Bush Is Not a Trigger-Happy Cowboy
By John R. Lott, Jr. John R. Lott Jr., a senior research scholar at the Yale University Law School, is the author of "More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws."
NO DOUBT gun control is a central issue in the presidential campaign. For a year now, Vice President Al Gore has painted Texas Gov. George Bush as an extremist, a pawn of the National Rifle Association who recklessly endangered people by signing a concealed handgun law. Gore has gone as far as linking Bush's signing that legislation to last year's fatal shooting at a Fort Worth church. Gore's use of type-casting is made easier by the stereotypical view held of Texas. But what few realize is that with about 42,000 words worth of state gun laws, Texas' regulations are actually quite average. Those accusing Bush of flip-flops-to position himself as a moderate-are, to put it charitably, unfamiliar with his record. Texas' concealed-handgun laws have a lot of company. Thirty other states have similar so-call- ed shall-issue laws, which set up objective rules allowing people permits once they pass certain criteria: a criminal background check, a minimum age, payment of required fees and any necessary training. Twelve more states have more restrictive "discretionary" rules, where local officials can use their discretion to determine whether an applicant has demonstrated sufficient need for protection. Only seven states totally forbid the carrying of concealed handguns. Yet even this does not give the complete picture, because Texas has one of the most restrictive shall-issue laws, with the third-longest training requirement-10 hours. (Half the other states require no training whatsoever and another quarter require three to five hours.) Texas also has the highest fee, $140, compared with the average of $60.
Background checks in Texas are also among the strictest. Bush makes no apologies for signing the law that went into effect in January, 1996, and states, "I believe the law we passed in Texas has made Texas a safer place." Indeed, murder rates in Texas fell by 25 percent between 1995 and 1997, much faster than the 16-percent decline in states without shall- issue laws. Texas's rape rates fell twice as fast. The most emotional attack against Bush is that he signed a 1997 law allowing people to carry concealed handguns in churches.
But this charge is completely misleading. Churches are still listed as an area where permit holders are forbidden to carry their weapons. What the 1997 law did was create a uniform warning sign requirement for permit holders across all public buildings, including churches. The change was strongly supported by ministers in the state. After the concealed-handgun law took effect in 1996, owners of public buildings had the right to post a sign stating that concealed handguns were not allowed on thei property. Churches were initially exempt from this warning requirement because concealed handguns were never permitted in churches.
But since it is not always obvious which buildings are church property, the 1997 law, in order to avoid confusion, explicitly made the rule the same across all public buildings. The law was also motivated by issues of fairness and ease of prosecution, since many thought that permit holders ought to be warned before entering a building where guns were prohibited.
Some media pundits expressed surprise when Bush said that, if passed, he would sign a law mandating that trigger locks be sold with guns. Leaving aside whether such legislation is wise, this is in line with what he has done as governor. He signed legislation in 1995 that made it a crime to store firearms in a way that a reasonable person would know that someone under 18 could gain access to a weapon.
Indeed, while 17 states have similar laws, Texas is one of only four states that sets the age limit for access as high as 18. The other states set it between 12 and 16.
Bush has made liability reform a cornerstone of his governorship, and he signed into law major tort reform early during his first term as governor. He has long been unwilling to "subcontract out public policy to the trial lawyers" and the legal assault on the gun is no different.
His decision to support this legislation, which restricts city suits against gun makers, was courageous. After the Columbine attack, politicians in many other states, fearing public reaction, delayed or quietly buried reform legislation. But Bush held firm, signing legislation only weeks after Columbine.
While Bush has supported NRA-backed legislation involving concealed handguns and restraining suits against gun makers, he has opposed the group on trigger locks and background checks at gun shows.
His consistency stands in sharp contrast to the changes in Gore's positions on guns and abortion when he first tried to make the move from Tennessee to the Democratic presidential primaries in 1988. Bush is not the trigger-happy cowboy Gore is potraying him to be.
Copyright © Newsday, Inc.
------------------
"The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside
the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light." (Romans 13:12)
