From: [c d t] at [sw.stratus.com] (C. D. Tavares)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns
Subject: Re: pro-to-anti conversion
Date: 17 Aug 1993 18:16:17 GMT

INDEPENDENCE ISSUE PAPER No. 4-91
Independence Institute
14142 Denver West Parkway #101
Golden, CO  80401
303-279-6536

              WHY GUN WAITING PERIODS THREATEN PUBLIC SAFETY

                             By David B. Kopel

                    E. PEOPLE IN NEED OF "COOLING-OFF"

     Criminologist Gary Kleck points out that for a "cooling-off" period to
prevent homicide, a number of conditions must be fulfilled: 1. The gun the
killer used was the only one he owned, or the only one he could have used in
the crime; 2. The killer acquired the gun from a source that would be
expected to obey gun control laws (a licensed dealer); 3. The gun was
purchased and used in the homicide in a time period shorter than the
"cooling-off" period. Discussing an analysis of 1982 Florida homicides, Kleck
found that 0.9 % (about 1 in 100) homicides fit all three criteria. He
estimated that nationally about 0.5% (1 in 200) would fit all three criteria.
Nevertheless, Kleck suggested that a waiting period would not prevent even 1
in 200 homicides. For the homicide to actually be prevented, several other
conditions would all have to be fulfilled: 1. The killer was the kind of
person who would not have been willing to kill even after waiting; in other
words, the killing was an isolated act, rather than the culmination of a long
history of assaults by the killer; 2. The killer would not have acquired and
successfully used a gun that did not require cooling off (such as a long gun,
in most states); 3. The killer would not have been able to complete the
homicide with any weapon other than a gun; 4. The killer would not have been
able or willing to obtain a gun from a non-retail source. Considering all the
necessary criteria, Kleck did not find any Florida homicides which a
cooling-off period clearly would have prevented. [88]  While supporting a
background check, Kleck concluded that a cooling-off period would in itself
do no good. Hence, he thought the waiting period to offer no advantage over
the instant check.

88. Gary Kleck, _Guns and Violence_ (Hawthome, New York: Aldine, 1991,
forthcoming) chapter 8. The study of 1982 data Kleck reviewed is Ted
Mannelli, "Handgun Control," Report to the Executive Office of the Governor,
State of Florida (Tallahassee: University of Florida, 1982) (unpublished).

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