The Fallacy Of Even Stricter Gun Control Laws

There are frenzied calls for tightening gun laws again; however, do laws that are more restrictive than those we already have here actually put an end to firearms homicides when they are enacted?  The answer is simply, NO.

There are now at least 33 countries with the harsher gun laws that anti gun rights groups want here. Even with the strict laws that these groups want, their gun murder rates are astronomical compared to the United States.

For example, in South Africa, with a set of some of the most restrictive laws in the world, gun murders are almost ten times the rate here. But, on the other end of the gun control spectrum in Israel, a law abiding citizen can step into a government armory and take home a government owned fully automatic rifle. And, the firearms homicide rate there is miniscule.

These oppressive Gun laws in just ten countries with stratospheric firearms homicide rates shown below are a United States anti gun rights group’s dream.

These countries' laws include:

No guaranteed right to own or use a firearm;

Gun registration;

Background checks for purchases;

Licensing to buy or possess a gun or ammunition;

Proof of the “need” to own a gun;

Limits on the amount of guns and ammunition a person can own;

Records of the storage and movement of all firearms and ammunition under the owner’s control;

Records of all private sales;

Bans on private sales;

Ownership age requirements;

Types of firearms allowed;

Bans on certain semiautomatic “Black” firearms;

and 
“Gun Free Zones.”

Here’s a look at ten of those countries that are light years ahead of the US in firearms homicides and some of their failed gun laws that anti gun rights groups believe will work here. This is what happens when their anti gun goals are achieved.

Keep in mind that The US gun homicide rate was approximately 2.84 per 100,000 persons in 2010.

VENEZUELA

With a gun homicide rate of 54 per 100,000 in latest reporting year

This rate is a quadrupling since Hugo Chavez took control with “Tight” gun controls

No constitutional right to gun ownership

In Venezuela, only licensed gun owners may legally own, possess or transfer a firearm or ammunition

A background check is required which includes mental records

Gun owners must apply and re-qualify for their firearm ownership license every three years

Venezuelans can only own or possess shotguns and .22 caliber

Private possession of handguns is prohibited

No “Black” rifles allowed

Firearms applicants must provide a “genuine” reason to have a firearm

National registry for possession and transfer of every privately owned firearm

The government has written regulations for lawful and safe storage of guns ammo ammo owned by licensees

No concealed carry in public areas

Eight years in prison for illegal gun possession

EL SALVADOR

With a gun homicide rate of 50.36 per 100,000 in latest reporting year

No constitutional right to gun ownership

In El Salvador, only licensed gun owners may legally own, possess or transfer a firearm or ammunition

A background check is required which includes mental records

Gun owners must apply and re-qualify for their firearm ownership license every three years for ownership and six years for possession

Central registry for gun licensees

May own up to 5 firearms

National registry for possession and transfer of every privately owned firearm

JAMAICA

With a gun homicide rate of 47.44 per 100,000 in latest reporting year

No constitutional right to gun ownership

Limit of 50 rounds of ammunition allowed per year

Private sale or transfer of firearms is prohibited

In Jamaica, only licensed gun owners may legally own, possess a firearm or ammo

Handgun ownership only with a license to own

A license background check is required which includes mental records

Knowledge of firearm safety and the law is tested – a class is required for a license

Firearms applicants must provide a “genuine” reason to have a firearm

Central registry for gun licensees

National registry for possession and transfer of every privately owned firearm

Firearms dealer license required

The government has written regulations for lawful and safe storage of guns ammo owned by licensees

HONDURAS

With a gun homicide rate of 46.70 per 100,000 in latest reporting year

No constitutional right to gun ownership

In Honduras, only licensed gun owners may legally own, possess or transfer a firearm or ammunition

Gun owners must apply and re-qualify for their firearm ownership license every four years

Central registry for gun licensees

May own up to 5 firearms

National registry for possession and transfer of every privately owned firearm

ST KITTS/NEVIS

With a gun homicide rate of 44.23 per 100,000 in latest reporting year

No constitutional right to gun ownership

National registry for possession and transfer of every privately owned firearm

Five to ten years in prison for illegal gun ownership

GUATEMALA

With a gun homicide rate of 38.52 per 100,000 in latest reporting year

No constitutional right to gun ownership

Only licensed gun owners may legally own, possess or transfer a firearm or ammunition

Gun owners must apply and re-qualify for their firearm ownership license annually or every three years depending on type of license to own

A license background check is required which includes mental records

No military type or weapons of war

Semi automatic rifles allowed by permit only

Handgun possession by permit only

Ammunition limits are 250 for a carry license and 250 for a possession license

National registry for possession, ownership, and  transfer of every privately owned firearm

The government has written regulations for lawful and safe storage of guns ammo ammo owned by licensees

15 years in prison for a prohibited type of firearm and 8 -10 for other illegal possession

COLOMBIA

With a gun homicide rate of 31.71 per 100,000 in the latest reporting year

Firearms applicants must provide a “genuine” reason to have a firearm

Only licensed gun owners may legally own, possess or transfer a firearm or ammunition

A license background check is required which includes mental records

Gun owners must apply and re-qualify for their firearm ownership license every ten years for firearms kept at the home or property, One year for restricted firearms, three years for self defense guns

No handguns over .38

No semiautomatic firearms over.22

No infrared or laser sights

National registry for possession and transfer of every privately owned firearm

The government has written regulations for lawful and safe storage of guns ammo ammo owned by licensees

Gun Free Zones

15 years in prison for illegal possession of firearms

 SOUTH AFRICA

With a gun homicide rate of 26.63 per 100,000 in the latest reporting year

Only licensed gun owners may legally own, possess or transfer a firearm or ammunition

Firearms applicants must provide a “genuine” reason to have a firearm

Recent license rejection reasons there:

“You failed to provide any substantive and or adequate reasons in order to proof that a need exist to possess the particular firearm and that the need cannot be satisfied by any other means than possessing the said firearm.”

“You failed to provide any supplementary documentation in support of your motivation.”

“You failed to convince the Registrar that there exist circumstances or reasons that necessitate the possession of the firearm.”

People who apply for firearm licenses will, have to undergo a competency test - involving a basic training course at an accredited training institution and a background assessment by the SA Police Service (SAPS).

The SAPS will issue competency certificates to successful applicants, who will then be entitled to own firearms.

One self defense firearm

Four other firearms for sporting or hunting uses

Police interview three acquaintances before deciding competency to own a gun

Must install a safe or strongbox that meets police specifications for gun storage .

 

BAHAMAS

With a gun homicide rate of 22.2 per 100,000 in the latest reporting year

No constitutional right to gun ownership

“Black” rifles with permit only

Only licensed gun owners may legally own, possess or transfer a firearm or ammunition

Licenses will state the quantity and type of ammunition that can be possessed

Firearms applicants must provide a “genuine” reason to have a firearm

A license background check is required which includes mental and addiction records

Gun owners must apply and re-qualify for their firearm ownership license annually

No private gun sales

5 years prison + $10,000 fine for illegal possession

BELIZE

With a gun homicide rate of 15.31 per 100,000 in latest reporting year

No constitutional right to gun ownership

In Belize, only licensed gun owners may legally own, possess or transfer a firearm or ammunition – the license states the number of guns that can be owned

Gun owners must apply and re-qualify for their firearm ownership license every year

A license background check is required which includes medical and mental records

Firearms applicants must provide a “genuine” reason to have a firearm

No “black” rifles or other semi automatic firearms, including shotguns

Handguns with license but nothing over 9mm or .38

No rifles larger than 7.62mm

No “extended” handgun magazines

National registry for possession and transfer of every privately owned firearm

The government has written regulations for lawful and safe storage of guns ammo ammo owned by licensees

Five years in prison for first offense of illegal weapons and seven years for subsequent violations

 

Another Mistake in The New York Times

By John Lott:

Since the tragedy in Tucson, the New York Times has started an all-out campaign for gun control, with a relentless number of pieces -- news, editorials, and op-eds. In its advocacy, even the news stories are heavily biased by selectively quoting only academics who support pro-gun control positions. These seemingly unbiased sources are then contrasted with opposing views from clearly biased people on the other side, such as an NRA spokesman or a right-wing politician. The implied conclusion: scientific evidence favors gun control, but self-interest stands in the way.

Take two recent news stories by Michael Luo (here and here). He quotes seven academics who agreed with the New York Times position, but no one on the other side was even interviewed. Talk about misrepresenting academic opinion. The overwhelming majority of studies actually supports the claim that more guns mean less crime. Among peer-reviewed studies in academic journals, criminologists and economists studying right-to-carry laws have produced 18 national studies showing that these laws reduce violent crime, 10 indicate no discernible effect and none finds a bad effect from the law. One would never guess that 294 academics from institutions as diverse as Harvard, Stanford, Northwestern, the University of Pennsylvania, and UCLA released an open letter to Congress during 1999 warning that new gun laws were “ill advised.”

A frequent claim in these recent New York Times articles has been that more guns mean more gun deaths (see also here). As evidence, the Times articles usually bring up comparisons across states or a selective set of countries, showing that where people possess more guns, there are also more deaths from guns.

On the face of it, this argument seems very straightforward: the guns must be causing the additional deaths. Yet, a closer look at the numbers reveal that an overwhelming proportion of gun deaths are suicides, not homicides, and that rural areas generally have high suicides. What is driving the correlation is simply the factors linked with rural areas (hunting and gun ownership) and suicides (relatively more unmarried men and isolation).

Simply taking away guns doesn't prevent suicides. If there are guns around, some people will use them to commit suicide. But if guns are not handy, there are still a long list of alternative ways to end one’s life. So, more guns available will enable more gun suicides, but there is no evidence that eliminating guns would reduce total suicide.

There are many reasons that different states or countries have different crime rates, and comparisons across places at one point in time simply won't properly account for them. The UK has a low murder rate relative to the U.S. today, and many attribute it to their lack of gun ownership. But before the UK imposed its first gun laws back in 1920, it compared even more favorably to the United States despite extremely widespread gun ownership.

The New York Times pieces stayed far away from this point. It is no wonder, because no place - not a single one -- that has banned guns has seen its murder rate fall. In the US, murder and other violent crime soared in DC and Chicago after their handgun bans were enacted back in 1977 and 1982, respectively. Conversely, after the Supreme Court recently struck down their bans and gunlock law, murder and violent crime rates in DC and Chicago have fallen. The same pattern has occurred across the world, even for island nations that don't have neighbors to blame for gun smuggling.

One columnist, Nicholas Kristof, claimed that in the seven years after Australia banned some types of handguns and rifles "the firearm homicide rate was almost halved." But note that he does not point to overall homicides. He has good reason to avoid that statistic, as there was no decline in overall homicides during that period. Criminals simply shifted to other ways of killing their victims.

A couple of articles in the Times point to a University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine survey claiming that those who carry guns are far likelier to get shot—and killed—than those who are unarmed. This fails to ask why people carry guns in the first place. Of course, individuals who are threatened and at higher risk tend to carry guns more frequently. The study also includes criminals and gang members among those carrying guns. Furthermore, the survey only included people in Philadelphia who had been shot during assaults, which means that it totally ignored the vast majority of defensive gun uses. That issue has been addressed by other academic studies, though, with the majority of refereed academic studies finding a benefit from law-abiding citizens carrying concealed handguns.

Other attacks are more flippant. A Texas congressman suggesting that people carry concealed handguns after Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' wounding is dismissed by Timothy Egan: "Gohmert has enough trouble carrying a coherent thought onto the House floor. God forbid he would try to bring a Glock to work." No effort is made to look at how careful permit holders actually are. In 2009, 164 out of 402,914 Texas permit holders had their permits revoked, a rate of 0.04 percent, and most are trivial. Or that "It defies logic, as this case shows once again, that an average citizen with a gun is going to disarm a crazed killer," but he made no attempt to discuss why civilians with permitted concealed handguns so regularly stop not only multiple victim public shootings but also violent crimes of all types.

With multiple mistakes per article, the New York Times would never want to compare its error rate to the rate of mistakes by permit holders. But then these biases are so obvious and over the top that accuracy really doesn’t seem to be their goal. Is it really that hard for the Times to quote any academics who disagree with their position?

John R. Lott, Jr. is a FOXNews.com contributor. He is an economist and author of the revised third edition of "More Guns, Less Crime" (University of Chicago Press, 2010).

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/02/04/john-lott-new-york-times-172831995/