Here's the link to check it out on foxnews:
http://www.foxnews.com/national/041300/guncontrol.sml
The Story - oops! I forgot to post the story.
Most U.S. States Lack Basic
Gun Control Laws, Says Survey
6:02 p.m. ET (2202 GMT) April 13, 2000 By Patrick Rizzo
NEW YORK — Forty-two states lack basic gun control laws to provide even "minimum standards for public safety," a nationwide survey released Thursday said.
The study examined each of the 50 states' laws and rated them on 30 gun control measures such as registration, safety training, safe storage requirements, licensing and litigation.
The report used a scale of one to 100 to rate the states' performance and gave 42 states scores of less than 20. The average score was nine. Massachusetts and Hawaii earned the highest scores, with Louisiana and Maine getting the lowest.
"A total of 42 states ... lack even basic gun control laws and fall below minimum standards for public safety," the report said.
The survey was conducted by international financier George Soros's Open Society Institute's Center on Crime and the Funders' Collaborative for Gun Violence Prevention. The study, billed as the first national "report card" on gun control and comprehensive survey of state gun laws, was called "absurd" by the National Rifle Association (NRA), the gun rights lobbying group.
The study was released a week before the anniversary of the shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, on April 20, 1999, which escalated the national debate over gun control.
The study said it chose the criteria it used based on the main components of current state laws and by looking at major elements of gun control laws in other developed countries.
Out of a maximum of 100 for very strict laws, scores ranged from minus-10 to over 70, with points taken away for laws that lowered the minimum standards, such as blocking cities and states from suing gun manufacturers.
Massachusetts, Hawaii Score Best
Massachusetts, with 76 points, and Hawaii, with 71, scored the highest. Six other states were categorized as having moderate gun laws — California, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, Illinois and New York — scoring between 27 and 53.
Twenty-two states, among them Rhode Island, Michigan, Florida, New Hampshire and Utah, scored between zero and 20. And 20 states scored below zero, with Louisiana and Maine at the very bottom at -8 and -10, respectively.
"Only a handful of states achieved more than 50 percent of the 100 available points; the vast majority of jurisdictions lack even basic laws governing the sale and ownership of guns," said the study.
Among some of the study's other findings were:
— 32 states require no background checks for buying a handgun from a private seller;
— six states have no legal minimum age for a child to possess a handgun;
— 31 states have no waiting period for handgun purchases;
— only four states have a one-gun-a-month law;
— and 43 states do not require a permit or registration to purchase assault weapons.
Study Criticized By NRA
The NRA dismissed the report.
"It's essentially absurd on its face and it ignores the thousands of regulations on the federal level," said NRA spokesman Bill Powers, who said he had not read the report himself, but excerpts had been read to him.
"To call this a study is like calling me a professional athlete," he said in a telephone interview.
"On page five of the study you ... see that there's a discussion of the federal law," said Funders program director Rebecca Peters, who coordinated the report.
Peters said that the study focused on state laws because current federal laws were limited and did not account for the fact that half of all gun sales occur in the secondary market, involving unlicensed dealers.
She also said that it would be impossible for the limited number of federal officers to enforce the laws, which focus mainly on penalties, rather than prevention.
"Gun violence has to be approached as a public health problem and the emphasis has to be on prevention," she said in a telephone interview.
"This study shows how scarce the laws are that would prevent guns from coming into the wrong hands in the first place," she added.
Darned interesting piece of drivvel here. The NRA called it absurd; I call it poppycock. Any other adjectives that could be repeated in front of your mothers?
On a scale of 1 - 100, this survey was able to get to a -10 in one case "with points taken away for laws that lowered the minimum standards, such as blocking cities and states from suing gun manufacturers."
So just because a state refuses to blame a mfg. for the actions of an individual, they get gigged?
I don't completely mind being ignorant, because I can fix that, but God please keep me from being stupid!
My very best to all.
[This message has been edited by TMoney (edited April 14, 2000).]
http://www.foxnews.com/national/041300/guncontrol.sml
The Story - oops! I forgot to post the story.
Most U.S. States Lack Basic
Gun Control Laws, Says Survey
6:02 p.m. ET (2202 GMT) April 13, 2000 By Patrick Rizzo
NEW YORK — Forty-two states lack basic gun control laws to provide even "minimum standards for public safety," a nationwide survey released Thursday said.
The study examined each of the 50 states' laws and rated them on 30 gun control measures such as registration, safety training, safe storage requirements, licensing and litigation.
The report used a scale of one to 100 to rate the states' performance and gave 42 states scores of less than 20. The average score was nine. Massachusetts and Hawaii earned the highest scores, with Louisiana and Maine getting the lowest.
"A total of 42 states ... lack even basic gun control laws and fall below minimum standards for public safety," the report said.
The survey was conducted by international financier George Soros's Open Society Institute's Center on Crime and the Funders' Collaborative for Gun Violence Prevention. The study, billed as the first national "report card" on gun control and comprehensive survey of state gun laws, was called "absurd" by the National Rifle Association (NRA), the gun rights lobbying group.
The study was released a week before the anniversary of the shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, on April 20, 1999, which escalated the national debate over gun control.
The study said it chose the criteria it used based on the main components of current state laws and by looking at major elements of gun control laws in other developed countries.
Out of a maximum of 100 for very strict laws, scores ranged from minus-10 to over 70, with points taken away for laws that lowered the minimum standards, such as blocking cities and states from suing gun manufacturers.
Massachusetts, Hawaii Score Best
Massachusetts, with 76 points, and Hawaii, with 71, scored the highest. Six other states were categorized as having moderate gun laws — California, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, Illinois and New York — scoring between 27 and 53.
Twenty-two states, among them Rhode Island, Michigan, Florida, New Hampshire and Utah, scored between zero and 20. And 20 states scored below zero, with Louisiana and Maine at the very bottom at -8 and -10, respectively.
"Only a handful of states achieved more than 50 percent of the 100 available points; the vast majority of jurisdictions lack even basic laws governing the sale and ownership of guns," said the study.
Among some of the study's other findings were:
— 32 states require no background checks for buying a handgun from a private seller;
— six states have no legal minimum age for a child to possess a handgun;
— 31 states have no waiting period for handgun purchases;
— only four states have a one-gun-a-month law;
— and 43 states do not require a permit or registration to purchase assault weapons.
Study Criticized By NRA
The NRA dismissed the report.
"It's essentially absurd on its face and it ignores the thousands of regulations on the federal level," said NRA spokesman Bill Powers, who said he had not read the report himself, but excerpts had been read to him.
"To call this a study is like calling me a professional athlete," he said in a telephone interview.
"On page five of the study you ... see that there's a discussion of the federal law," said Funders program director Rebecca Peters, who coordinated the report.
Peters said that the study focused on state laws because current federal laws were limited and did not account for the fact that half of all gun sales occur in the secondary market, involving unlicensed dealers.
She also said that it would be impossible for the limited number of federal officers to enforce the laws, which focus mainly on penalties, rather than prevention.
"Gun violence has to be approached as a public health problem and the emphasis has to be on prevention," she said in a telephone interview.
"This study shows how scarce the laws are that would prevent guns from coming into the wrong hands in the first place," she added.
Darned interesting piece of drivvel here. The NRA called it absurd; I call it poppycock. Any other adjectives that could be repeated in front of your mothers?
On a scale of 1 - 100, this survey was able to get to a -10 in one case "with points taken away for laws that lowered the minimum standards, such as blocking cities and states from suing gun manufacturers."
So just because a state refuses to blame a mfg. for the actions of an individual, they get gigged?
I don't completely mind being ignorant, because I can fix that, but God please keep me from being stupid!
My very best to all.
[This message has been edited by TMoney (edited April 14, 2000).]
