Gun Control Myth Nine: Required Waiting Periods Would Prevent Some of The Most Vicious Crimes
Criminals don’t wait to commit crimes, so why should law-abiding citizens wait to be able to defend themselves? That is probably a good question, but gun control zealots will answer that there should still be waiting periods as this would some how “prevent some of the most vicious crimes!”
The truth is that “waiting periods” are actually one of the most popular forms of gun control. These could call for a “waiting” period of up to seven days to purchase a handgun. The argument is that this could deter criminals – but as with many other myths the truth is that would-be criminals wouldn’t be stopped if they don’t a criminal record or there is no public record of mental problems.
Those who couldn’t pass the background check would just to an illegal source anyway!
Additionally, while a waiting period would in theory give gun sellers time to do a check, these records are not generally accessible to gun dealers, police departments or anyone else.
Gun Control Myth Eight: Gun Control Laws Keep Criminals From Obtaining Guns
The loudest voices for gun control claim that it will keep guns out of the hands of bad people. What is generally not explained or possibly considered is that criminals don’t care about the law. If they’re going to break the law to commit a crime, then why would a law against owning a gun be a problem for them?
In fact, according to Morgan O. Reynolds in his study Myths About Gun Control, less than one percent of firearms involved in a crime and used by felons is obtained through licensed channels. In other words, criminals aren’t punished by gun control, yet law-abiding citizens are.
Some figures that Reynolds included show exactly what little impact gun control has on keeping guns from criminals:
-Just over half of the felons (compared to one-quarter of the general population) said that they owned handguns
-Fewer than one in six had purchased their guns from a retail dealer
About the only gun control law that really had an impact on gun ownership and crime was the 1934 National Firearms Act, which tightly controlled the ownership of fully-automatic or machineguns. And yet today, machineguns are legal to own with very special permits and background check. However, criminals seldom – if ever – bother with these checks and many drug cartels and other criminals do manage to obtain illegal fully-automatic firearms, suggesting that the law may have had an effect but criminals still found a work around.
Gun Control Myth Seven: Killing and other violent crimes were prevalent in the Old West because guns were so plentiful
John Wayne killed a lot of men in many Westerns, as did Clint Eastwood (although for the record the World War II film Where Eagles Dare had the highest body count of any of his films). The point is that Westerns suggest that everyone was packing guns and it was a dangerous place.
However, Hollywood and history are not the same thing. Not even close. First, about the only Eastwood film that is likely close to accurate is the film Unforgiven, where the hero can’t even hit a can without resorting to a shotgun. That’s a far cry from Eastwood’s “Man with No Name” character shooting a rope from several hundred yards away in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
But violence wasn’t really as common as movies and TV make it seem. Morgan O. Reynolds notes in his study Myths About Gun Control notes:
“From 1870 to 1885, the era of the Wild West when ‘everybody wore a gun,’ arrest rates per 100 residents were much lower in the West than in eastern cities.”
He adds that the Western frontier was more civilized, more peaceful and safer than much of America today. For example, Virginia City, Nevada; Leadville, Colorado and Dallas, Texas had no homicides in 1880 – whereas Cincinnati had 17.
Additionally because everyone carried or possessed firearms and was willing to resist there were few robberies, thefts or burglaries. The truth is that a few legendary exceptions are now accepted as the rule.
Gun Control Myth Six: Criminals mainly have guns in order to commit crimes
Career criminal William “Willie” Sutton, a prolific U.S. bank robber, reportedly said he robbed banks “because that’s where the money is.” In fact he never actually said that line, but it stuck. Sometimes the myth is greater than the truth. This could be why Myth Six is one that people easily believe; criminals mainly have guns in order to commit crimes.
This isn’t true. Consider how TV shows and movies about gangsters typically note that violent crimes are in fact “bad for business.”
The truth is that the number one reason why criminals acquire handguns is not to commit crime, but rather to protect themselves. In other words criminals have guns for the same reason as non-criminals, for personal protection. Now we don’t think criminals should have guns at all, but criminals feel the need for self-protection because they associate with other criminals are likely to be the victims as well as victimizers.
Gun Control Myth Five: People who buy guns are more prone to violence and crime than are other people
This myth assumes that only bad people or criminals have guns. But some facts need to be cleared up. It is noted that violence and crime are higher among black than white, lower-income than middle- or upper-income, young than middle-aged, single than married, urban than rural individuals.
However, all of those groups are contrary the pattern of gun ownership, and notably legal guns. The largest category of illegal gun owners is lower-income, young urban dwellers – suggesting that it is criminals who commit crime, not gun owners. In other words, criminals use guns but not all gun owners are criminals.
More importantly it should also be noted that gun owners disapprove of violence as much as non-gun owners, or even more. Additionally, according to Morgan O. Reynolds (Texas A&M University) and W.W. Caruth III (National Center for Policy Analysis) about 88 percent of violent crimes reported to the police are committed without the use of a firearm.
Gun Control Myth Four: Killing someone is the only reason to buy a handgun
If you believe this myth – that killing someone is the only reason to buy a handgun – then you probably would you also agree the only reason to buy a sports car is to speed and drive recklessly? But owning a handgun actually serves another purpose – it is there in case you need it. Most handgun owners don’t even need to fire it to make the point when the time comes when they need to defend themselves.
Morgan O. Reynolds notes in his study Myths About Gun Control:
“The vast majority of gun owners cite protection from crime as one of the main reasons they own a gun. And for good reason. Americans use guns for self-protection about one million times a year. In 98 percent of the cases, they simply brandish the weapon or fire a warning shot.”
Another aspect of this is that guns are collectible, as well as being enjoyable to take to the range to shoot. Both these points often are lost on gun control supports who offer the opinion “go collect something else,” and “why do you need to go to the range?”
Imagine if other hobbies or interests were so targeted (no pun intended). The simple truth is that handguns have many legitimate purposes besides just being used to kill someone. But sadly, in our violent world, there are times when the bad guys may want to do harm to the law-abiding, and the other truth is that handguns are very good for self defense. Yet, as Reynolds noted, in the vast majority of cases handguns are very good at sending a message without even firing a shot.
Gun Control Myth Three: Guns are if little help in defending against criminals
This myth goes hand in hand with the second myth – that being that gun control laws reduce crime. The truth is that guns in private hands are quite helpful in defending against criminals, especially if they are armed.
Additionally, US Bureau of Justice Statistics show that guns are the safest and most effective means of defense. Using a gun for protection results in fewer injuries to the defender than using any other means of defense and is safer than not resisting at all.
There is also the argument that guns as self defense are not effective as it can result in the gun owner accidentally shooting the wrong person. But statistics show this not to be the case. Studies show that about 11 percent of police
shootings kill an innocent person – about 2 percent of shootings by citizens kill an innocent person. The odds of a defensive gun user killing an innocent person are less than 1 in 26,000 (Kleck G. Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America. New York: Aldine de Gruyter. 1991.)
Gun Control Myth Two: Firearms Restriction Reduce Crime
Gun control advocates have claimed for years that laws which restrict firearms ownership reduces violent crimes. The United States has over 20,000 different gun laws, most of which are at the state and local level. Since the 1960’s states and cities have passed stricter firearms laws intending to reduce violent crime but more often than not violent crime increased. Read more
Chicago Has Most Police Killed By Gunfire This Year
The city of Chicago, which has some of the most draconian anti-gun laws in the nation, had more police killed by firearms than any other city in the nation. Four officers were killed in the line of duty in 2010. When the Supreme Court ruled in June that the city’s gun control laws were unconstitutional, Mayor Daley and the Chicago City Council passed laws that make firearm ownership so difficult and expensive that it amounts to a gun ban. This, despite the fact that last year Chicago had the highest violent crime rate in the country, with 1 in 89 residents being victims of violent crime in 2009.
When a reporter asked Mayor Daley if the anti-gun legislation helped the city’s high crime rate, the mayor picked up a rifle from a news conference display and responded, “If I put this up your—ha!—your but—ha ha!—you’ll find out how effective this is!”
Luckily for the citizens of Chicago Daley is leaving office soon so their rectums will be safe. But if the laws aren’t changed their person won’t be.
Gun Control Myth One: Guns Cause Crime
Gun control advocates often pander to people’s emotions and so-called common sense. It is easy to argue that the availability of firearms increases crime. But careful study shows this simply isn’t true. If anything, legal gun ownership reduces crime, at least violent crime. Read more
