Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns
From: [adametz dal] at [csusys.ctstateu.edu]
Subject: Handgun Control, Inc., Fact Card
Date: Fri, 25 Jun 1993 17:26:18 GMT

What, Sarah Brady lie?  Naww....

Seriously, everyone knows that the NRA puts out a FIREARMS FACT CARD
every year.  However, not too many people know that HCI also puts out
a "FACT" card.  I have an older one of these silly things, (circa 1986) and 
the majority of their "facts" are from organizations that have no involvement 
in law enforcement, "some-unnamed-source-in-the-police-department-told-us-this",
comparisons that have no business being compared, or have no evidence 
backing it up at all.  Not to mention the out-and-out lies.

Anyway, for your entertainment, here it is (any misspellings are mine)...

***************** HANDGUN CONTROL FACT CARD *******************

HANDGUN CONTROL WORKS

In 1983 handguns killed 35 people in Japan, 8 in Great Britain, 27 in
Switzerland, 6 in Canada, 7 in Sweden, 10 in Australia- and 9,014 in the United 
States.  All of these countries, except for the United States, have tough
handgun control laws.

Here at home, evidence shows that even state and local handgun control laws 
work.  For example, in 1974 Massachusetts passes the Bartley-Fox Law, which 
requires a special license to carry a handgun outside the home or business.
The law is supported by a mandatory prison sentence.  Studies by Glenn Pierce
and William Bowers of Northeastern University documented that after the law was 
passed handgun homicides in Massachusetts fell 50% and the number of armed 
robberies dropped 35%.

As further evidence, a 1977 law froze the number of handguns in Washington 
D.C., and independent studies (one by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the
other by a Justice Department analyst) showed that after the law took effect
handgun deaths in the District of Columbia fell 30%.  In addition, Chicago
police report that city's 1981 handgun control law has resulted in a 24% drop
in handgun homicides.

* Police in Palm Beach County, Fla., credit an ordinance enacted in 1984
requiring a 7-to-10 day waiting period for handgun purchases with reducing
homicides by 60% in the first quarter of 1985.

* In the 19 years that New Jersey has required a background check for handgun
purchases, 10,000 convicted felons have been caught trying to buy handguns.

The trouble is, state laws begin and end at state lines.  In New York for
example, studies have found that over 90% of the handguns used in crime come 
from states with weak handgun laws.  Clearly, we need a uniform FEDERAL law
to keep handguns out of the wrong hands.

THE SECOND AMENDMENT

The National Rifle Association has long claimed that the American people have
a Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.  Rarely, however, do they 
quote the amendment in it's entirety.  It reads: "A well-regulated militia
being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to 
keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

According to the American Bar Association, "In addition to the four decisions
in which the Supreme Court has construed the amendment, every federal court 
decision involving the amendment has given the amendment a collective, militia 
interpretation and/or held that firearms control laws are constitutional.  Thus,
arguments premised under the federal Second Amendment, or the similar 
provisions of the thirty seven state constitutions, have never prevented the
regulation of firearms."

Even more important, on October 3, 1983, the Supreme Court rejected an appeal
by the National Rifle Association to overturn the historic Morton Grove 
handgun control ordinance.  The Court's decision reaffirmed American's right
to control handguns.

GUNS DON'T DIE- PEOPLE DO

* In 1985, 8,092 were murdered with handguns; on an average day, 22 Americans
are killed in handgun fire; 1,200 were killed accidentally.

* In 1983, 14,724 Americans committed suicides with handguns.

* in 1984, more than 1.6 million handguns were produced in the United States.
Studies show that these 1.6 million handguns will eventually be involved
in 600,000 acts of violence.

* At least $500 million is spent annually on medical costs associated with
the treatment of individuals who have been shot.

* A new handgun is produced every 20 seconds.  Every 2.5 minutes, a handgun
injures someone.

* There are an estimated 60 million handguns in circulation today in 
America.   

********************************

The rest just deals with how to write our representatives.  I leave it up
to the reader to spot the multitudes of errors within.