ADMINISTRATION SHOULD CLEAN UP ANTI-GUN RHETORIC
President Clinton and Vice President Gore are using false and misleading
arguments in their efforts to push anti-gun legislation, says
firearms-policy expert John Lott Jr.
o Both Clinton and Gore contend that 13 children die every
day from guns, evoking in media ads the images of innocent
elementary school children -- but 11 of those 13 deaths
per day involve 15-to-19-year-olds, primarily homicides
involving gang members.
o They say guns purchased illegally for resale to criminals
account for between one-third and one-half of guns used in
a crime -- but their figures assume guns that were both
sold and used in a crime within three years were purchased
for such illegal resale, and their figures purposefully
exclude most gun crimes.
o They contend that the Brady law reduces crime -- yet the
only academic research conducted on the Brady law
established that the national waiting period had no
significant impact on murder and robbery, and was actually
associated with a small increase in rape and aggravated
assault.
Lott says that when law-abiding citizens are made more dependent
on government for their protection, the most vulnerable -- the
poor who live in high crime urban areas, as well as women and the
elderly -- will pay the ultimate price.
Source: John R. Lott Jr. (University of Chicago), "Shoot Down
Anti-Gun Plans," Investor's Business Daily, July 22, 1999.
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President Clinton and Vice President Gore are using false and misleading
arguments in their efforts to push anti-gun legislation, says
firearms-policy expert John Lott Jr.
o Both Clinton and Gore contend that 13 children die every
day from guns, evoking in media ads the images of innocent
elementary school children -- but 11 of those 13 deaths
per day involve 15-to-19-year-olds, primarily homicides
involving gang members.
o They say guns purchased illegally for resale to criminals
account for between one-third and one-half of guns used in
a crime -- but their figures assume guns that were both
sold and used in a crime within three years were purchased
for such illegal resale, and their figures purposefully
exclude most gun crimes.
o They contend that the Brady law reduces crime -- yet the
only academic research conducted on the Brady law
established that the national waiting period had no
significant impact on murder and robbery, and was actually
associated with a small increase in rape and aggravated
assault.
Lott says that when law-abiding citizens are made more dependent
on government for their protection, the most vulnerable -- the
poor who live in high crime urban areas, as well as women and the
elderly -- will pay the ultimate price.
Source: John R. Lott Jr. (University of Chicago), "Shoot Down
Anti-Gun Plans," Investor's Business Daily, July 22, 1999.
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