this deserves it's own post:
COLUMN: Gun control legislation eliminates basic rights
Updated 12:00 PM ET January 19, 2000
By Scott Mathewson
Oklahoma Daily
U. Oklahoma
(U-WIRE) NORMAN, Okla. -- In America we have developed a pattern for dealing with tragedy. I do not refer to the normal,
healthy
pattern of the grieving process -- something that we, as Oklahomans, have become intimate with.
What I am referring to is an illogical national willingness to sacrifice our personal freedom for a modicum of perceived safety.
It began in the wake of the Kennedy assassination and was last encountered in the 1995 Omnibus Counterterrorism Act
proposed in the
wake of the Oklahoma City bombing.
The latter act, in its original form, would have essentially gutted the Bill of Rights.
Fortunately, groups such as the ACLU recognized that even under the auspices of safety, the government should never consider
legislation
that threatens our basic freedoms.
Now the nation is faced with another violent tragedy, the massacre in Littleton, Colo.
As the initial shock wears off and the healing process begins, Americans are now asking the government to take from them the
freedom that
is their birthright -- they are asking for gun control.
Most Americans do not understand the facts and issues surrounding gun control because the information they receive flows from
a media
base that serves a liberal political agenda.
And not all the data comes from Handgun Control Inc., or the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence.
A prime example of media bias is the use of data from the Centers for Disease Control.
In 1996, Congress passed legislation restricting the CDC from spending money on anti-gun advocacy.
It seems the CDC had been using taxpayer money to fund biased, politically motivated research instead of real studies similar
to those done
by the FBI.
HCI and the rest of the anti-gun lobby use several fabrications to sway public opinion.
One of the biggest lies they tell is that gun-control laws prevent crime.
The FBI Uniform Crime Reports shows that the overall homicide rate in the jurisdictions that have the most severe restrictions on
firearms
purchase and ownership is 23 percent higher than the rest of the country.
Oddly enough, the reports also show that the 10 states with the largest increase in prison population experienced an average
decrease in
violent crime of 13 percent.
The 10 states with the smallest increase in prison population experienced an average increase of 55 percent in violent crime.
The data are
clear; gun control impacts the law-abiding citizens, not the criminals.
I am not asking you to accept my arguments and data at face value.
Should you do the research and still feel that gun control is the answer, fine.
If you still choose to sacrifice your freedom for security it will at least be your choice, not theirs.
(C) 2000 Oklahoma Daily via U-WIRE
http://news.excite.com/news/uw/000119/university-83
COLUMN: Gun control legislation eliminates basic rights
Updated 12:00 PM ET January 19, 2000
By Scott Mathewson
Oklahoma Daily
U. Oklahoma
(U-WIRE) NORMAN, Okla. -- In America we have developed a pattern for dealing with tragedy. I do not refer to the normal,
healthy
pattern of the grieving process -- something that we, as Oklahomans, have become intimate with.
What I am referring to is an illogical national willingness to sacrifice our personal freedom for a modicum of perceived safety.
It began in the wake of the Kennedy assassination and was last encountered in the 1995 Omnibus Counterterrorism Act
proposed in the
wake of the Oklahoma City bombing.
The latter act, in its original form, would have essentially gutted the Bill of Rights.
Fortunately, groups such as the ACLU recognized that even under the auspices of safety, the government should never consider
legislation
that threatens our basic freedoms.
Now the nation is faced with another violent tragedy, the massacre in Littleton, Colo.
As the initial shock wears off and the healing process begins, Americans are now asking the government to take from them the
freedom that
is their birthright -- they are asking for gun control.
Most Americans do not understand the facts and issues surrounding gun control because the information they receive flows from
a media
base that serves a liberal political agenda.
And not all the data comes from Handgun Control Inc., or the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence.
A prime example of media bias is the use of data from the Centers for Disease Control.
In 1996, Congress passed legislation restricting the CDC from spending money on anti-gun advocacy.
It seems the CDC had been using taxpayer money to fund biased, politically motivated research instead of real studies similar
to those done
by the FBI.
HCI and the rest of the anti-gun lobby use several fabrications to sway public opinion.
One of the biggest lies they tell is that gun-control laws prevent crime.
The FBI Uniform Crime Reports shows that the overall homicide rate in the jurisdictions that have the most severe restrictions on
firearms
purchase and ownership is 23 percent higher than the rest of the country.
Oddly enough, the reports also show that the 10 states with the largest increase in prison population experienced an average
decrease in
violent crime of 13 percent.
The 10 states with the smallest increase in prison population experienced an average increase of 55 percent in violent crime.
The data are
clear; gun control impacts the law-abiding citizens, not the criminals.
I am not asking you to accept my arguments and data at face value.
Should you do the research and still feel that gun control is the answer, fine.
If you still choose to sacrifice your freedom for security it will at least be your choice, not theirs.
(C) 2000 Oklahoma Daily via U-WIRE
http://news.excite.com/news/uw/000119/university-83