How I Became an Ardent Gun Rights Defender

When I relocated back to Utah to be near my aging parents, I recall vividly a prominent issue in the news. The Utah State Legislature had just passed a new law regarding what has become known as “the Shall Issue Law.” That is whoever qualifies for a concealed carry permit, must be issued said permit, after meeting certain criterion. I remember very clearly how the local media were adamantly opposed to this law. They had all kinds of fears about people shooting others, over road rage issues and were certain that general mayhem would follow. I thought their fears where totally justified and agreed with them completely.

When after two years or so, the predicted carnage didn’t follow; I began to wonder why I had so readily agreed with them on their predictions. My willingness to ask myself this question and to understand, as best as I could, why I had thought this, began a multi-year odyssey. It wasn’t any easy journey and my experience is that few people are willing to look closely at their own judgments. It has been a life altering experience.  

I first began reading as much as I could about the issue of gun control from both sides of the issue, both opinion pieces and books. One of the first books I read, because it was generating much controversy was a book by economist John Lott, entitled The Bias Against Guns.  Lott has been vilified for his original book More Guns; Less Crime. Those within the gun control movement as well as most in the traditional media vilified him.

The essence of his work was he looked at crime data from every county in the nation. No one had ever done this before. He used an algorithm to filter out as many extraneous factors as he could. That is income level, educational factors, etc. His results were truly startling. What he found, was that the only single factor that could account for the level of violent crimes in a given area was the legal ownership of firearms. Not as had been previously claimed, that the ready availability of firearms led to more crime, but the exact opposite.

This controversial conclusion really upset those in the gun control community, including the media and some criminologists. I then read other books that either supported gun control or tried to look at the issue from both sides. I found their arguments to be unscientific and emotionally based or without any real substance.

The next books which really “rocked my world” was a book called Armed by Gary Kleck and Don Kates. Gary Kleck is a criminologist with the University of Florida, with no ties to the NRA or other gun organizations and a member of the ACLU. Don Kates was a civil rights attorney living in San Francisco. This book was very scholarly with numerous citations. It went into great detail investigating numerous issues, including how the media demonizes gun owners, revealing the myth that ordinary people commit murder, etc. The second factor I found very interesting, in that, I too believed the myth that anyone under the right circumstances could commit murder (i.e., a heated argument, large consumption of alcohol, etc). What numerous years of research by a number of criminologists are that people who commit murder have a long history of anti-social and risky behavior, with numerous arrests and usually a minimum of two felony convictions.

Few people know that our nation is at a 35 year low for violent crime. The rates experienced today are similar to those in the early seventies when statistics were first compiled. Since tens of millions of firearms are sold every year, this completely disproves the claim that the “proliferation of firearms” leads to increased violent crime rate. Another fact which is unconventional with common held belief is that so called “assault rifles or weapons” are used in very few crimes. Somewhere between 1 to 2 percent and that the assault weapons ban had no effect whatsoever on the violent crime are. Numerous studies including one by the pro-Clinton CDC found no provable relationship between the end of the ban and increased crime or any lowering during the ban itself.

Probably the most shocking contrast that I found was the lack of honesty of the gun-control movement. It can be demonstrated that they often misrepresent the facts without any challenge by the media. Yet the NRA and other similar organizations go to great lengths to document their conclusions and statements. My own experience is that whenever I write a op-ed piece or letter to the editor a different standard is used in qualifying what I write.

But don’t take my word for it. Do your own research. Read what is written on different web sites both pro and con and read whatever books you can get your hands on. Have the courage to examine your own beliefs and why you think the way you do.