Congratulations, Oatka. My letter is off to the urninal Sentinel. We'll see what happens with it. Here it is for your critique:
The Journal Sentinel's October 5th editorial "The Politics of Crime" contained some statements so outrageous that they demand rebuttal. The editorial stated that more than 3,000 holders of concealed weapons permits in Texas had been jailed, a figure which originated in a study released to the press by the Violence Policy Center, a group which advocates the banning of handguns in America. The editorial further parrotted the VPC's claim that Texas licensees were 66% more likely than others to be arrested for firearms violations.
One would conclude from this that Texas is awash with drunken murderous cowboys carrying licensed guns. Unless, of course, one looks at the facts.
The VPC study covered a period of four years, during which 23 licensees were arrested for murder or attempted murder. Of these, sixteen were ruled to be self-defense, the purpose for which the concealed carry law was passed. The remaining seven murders out of a group of 215,000 licensees over a period of four years yields a murder rate of .81 per 100,000 population. Contrast this with the public at large which has a murder rate of 8.5 per 100,000.
The VPC study asserts that the licensees were arrested for violent crimes at a rate of 194 per 100,000 population, but did not mention that the rate for the rest of the public for violent crime is 730 per 100,000. Nor did the VPC mention that 55% of those licensees arrested were later cleared of the charges.
Let's look at the VPC's numbers for non-violent crimes. They report an arrest rate for Texas licensees of 639 per 100,000 population, but ignore the rate of 5,212 per 100,000 for the general public. Included in the VPC offenses are crimes such as marijuana possession, drunken driving, credit card abuse, and even hunting with an artificial light.
Yep, those Texas licensees are a dangerous bunch. Unless you compare them to the rest of the public. But what about the "66% more likely to be arrested for firearms violations" allegation? That one is easy. The VPC compared the annual 218 firearms violations by licensees to that of people who don't own guns. That's tantamount to claiming that automobile owners are 66% more likely to get a traffic ticket than people who don't own a car.
The Violence Policy Center spews out literally hundreds of "studies" using dubious methodology every year. A cub reporter with a keyboard and a modem could debunk their conclusions in a few minutes. Yet the editors at the Journal Sentinel, either by design or through sheer laziness, embraced the VPC claims and used them in an editorial that addressed serious issues in the presidential election. Is it any wonder that the public is growing increasingly distrustful of the mainstream press?
Dick
Want to send a message to Bush? Sign the petition at
http://www.petitiononline.com/monk/petition.html and forward the link to every gun owner you know.
