To: Los Altos Town Crier Editor From: Jeff Chan Subject: Gun control factual errors X-Reference: http://www.losaltosonline.com/latc/arch/2000/06/Comment/1letters/1letters.html Editor, Gary Cavalli's February 9, 2000 letter in favor of gun control contains several factual errors. First, gun ownership is the norm, and despite the efforts of revisionist historians it is a Constitutional right. According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms there are about 200 million privately-owned firearms in the U.S. On average every other home has a gun owner. FBI research shows 99.7% of guns are not used to commit violent crimes in any given year. So Mr. Cavalli's statement that "homes with guns are three times more likely to have a shooting as those without guns" is absurd on the face of it. It's also a prejudicial slam against responsible people who take steps to provide for their own defense. According to the U.S. Department of Justice more than 90% of felons surveyed in Federal prison get their guns illegally. [1] They do not buy them in stores or at gun shows; they are not subject to waiting periods, background checks, trigger locks, or whatever other impediments are placed on the law-abiding. Homicide and suicide rates are not comparable across cultures. America has higher knife and beating homicide rates than many other countries' overall rate. The suicide rate in Japan is approximately twice that of the U.S. [2] It is, however, worth noting that violent crime including armed robbery, assault and murder rose significantly within the United Kingdom and Australia after they recently confiscated private arms and banned effective self-defense. [3] Blaming guns for crime does nothing to address the root causes of crime such as poverty, illegal drugs, and joblessness. Worse, as has been amply demonstrated, depriving the lawful of the means of effective self-defense significantly encourages predation by armed criminals. References: 1. James D. Wright, The Armed Criminal in America, National Institute of Justice, Research in Brief November 1986 http://rkba.org/research/wright/armed-criminal.summary.html 2. David B. Kopel, The Samurai, The Mountie, and the Cowboy: Should America Adopt the Gun Controls of Other Democracies? New York: Prometheus Press. 1992 3. Crime and Justice in the United States and England and Wales, 1981-96, U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, 9/98. NCJ 169284 http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/cjusew96.htm Jeff Chan Los Altos webmaster@rkba.org