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From: [c--n] at [shell.portal.com] (Jeff Chan)
Subject: SF/CCW reform letter
Date: Sat, 10 Jul 1993 07:12:45 GMT
>Date: Fri, 9 Jul 93 23:30:58 PDT
>From: [c--n] at [shell.portal.com] (Jeff Chan)
>To: [70277 2502] at [compuserve.com], [ca firearms] at [shell.portal.com],
> [firearms politics] at [cs.cmu.edu],
> [l--er--t] at [dartmouth.edu], [p--i--t] at [whitehouse.gov],
> [vice president] at [whitehouse.gov]
>Subject: SF/CCW reform letter
Here is the final form of my letter urging CCW reform in the wake
of the SF murders. I faxed it to 95% of the CA legislature and
50+ media outlets. So far I've only heard back from one paper
(Palm Springs Daily Desert News) which will be printing it.
Thank you to all those who helped with comments & data, especially
Clayton Cramer and David Kopel. (Oops!, I forgot to list them
as authors of the paper....)
Jeff C.
----
Jeff Chan
P.O. Box 897
Mountain View, CA 94042
(510) xxx-xxxx days
(415) xxx-xxxx evenings
(415) xxx-xxxx fax
[c--n] at [shell.portal.com]
(Via FAX)
July 8, 1993
Guns in the Right Hands
Like everyone else I'm appalled and saddened by the recent murders
in San Francisco. Like everyone else I'd like a truly effective way
to prevent this kind of tragedy. Though it seems a quick and easy
fix, more gun control is not the solution.
California's gun control laws are already among the most restrictive
in the nation, from a 15 day waiting period on the purchase of all
guns (longer than the Brady Bill proposes) to a ban on certain semi-
automatics. The failure of gun control to prevent crime is obvious.
Like most people, I'd like to see no guns in the wrong hands.
Unfortunately even with a total firearms ban criminals would still have
access to stolen, smuggled or illegally constructed guns. Even the
suggestion of door-to-door searches would not eliminate guns or violent
crime.
There is another alternative. The media almost never reports the
successful use of firearms. However, guns in the right hands are used
to stop around 1 million crimes a year. Most of these are home defense
uses.
Though they happen often across the nation, crimes stopped by citizens
legally carrying concealed firearms are even less frequently reported.
Mass murders have already been prevented by armed citizens. For
example, shortly after the murders at Lubys in Killeen Texas, a
civilian with a concealed handgun permit stopped a robbery and
potential mass murder at an Anniston Alabama restaurant. Jacquie
Miller knows the life-saving value of her pistol, having faced a
murderer in Louisville, Kentucky. Ken Norton Jr. used his
legally-carried concealed pistol to stop an armed robbery at a
restaurant last year in Southern California.
Violent crime is much less common in places where firearms in private
hands are common. With machine guns in many homes, Switzerland has
very little violent crime, in part because its citizens are not
defenseless. In Israel, terrorists attempting to attack a cafe were
thwarted by armed civilians.
Here in the U.S. in 1987, Florida made concealed carry permits
available to licensed, trained citizens who passed a background check.
By 1991 Floridas murder rate had dropped 30%. Violent crime also
declined in Oregon, Georgia, Utah, Idaho and other states that have
liberalized firearms carry permits.
While the notion of gun control may be appealing, we are constantly and
tragically reminded that it is not effective. Instead of offering more
misguided gun control laws, perhaps now the legislature will consider
the example of other states. California should consider measures to
allow its citizens to defend themselves in the face of violent crime.
Perhaps we should stop trying to wish crime away and start letting
people save their own lives.
[signature]
Jeff Chan
Cc: media, California legislature, Governor Pete Wilson
References:
Birmingham (Alabama) Post-Herald, Thursday, December 19, 1991
Independence Issue Paper #14-93, "Concealed Handgun Permits for
Licensed, Trained Citizens: A Policy That is Saving Lives"
(30 pps. plus references, dated June 18, 1993)
Independence Institute
14142 Denver West Parkway, Suite 101
Golden, CO 80401
303-279-6536
--
Jeff C.
Internet: [c--n] at [shell.portal.com]
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