Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns
Subject: FYI:NRA '94 FactCard
From: [victor dura] at [channel1.com] (Victor Dura)
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 94 06:40:00 -0500
1994 NRA Firearms Factcard
SECOND AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION
"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."
Like all rights protected by the Bill of Rights, the right to keep and
bear arms is individually possessed by the American people. The 20th
century concept of a "collective right" is fraudulent because the
Framers understood the concept of a "right" to apply only to individuals
and used the word "states" when collective meanings were intended.
In 1990, the Supreme Court confirmed in U.S. v. Verdugo-Urquidez, that
the right to keep and bear arms, like rights protected by the First,
Fourth, Ninth, and Tenth Amendments, is an individual right held by "the
people," which the court defines as all "persons who are part of a
national community."
The National Guard, established in 1903 and subject to federal control,
could not have been the type of body envisioned by the framers, even if
the goal were to protect only an organized state militia. Under federal
law, the "militia" consists of all able-bodied males of an age to serve,
and some females and older men. (10 U.S.C. 311)
All five relevant Supreme Court decisions have recognized that the
Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms.
No Supreme Court decision has ever held this right to be "collective."
FIREARMS FACTS: GENERAL
NUMBER OF GUNS IN U.S.: Approx. 200 million firearms, including 65-70
million handguns
GUN OWNERS IN U.S.: 60-65 million, 30-35 million own handguns
FIREARMS USED FOR PROTECTION 11% of firearms owners, 13% of handgun owners
CRIMINAL MISUSE OF FIREARMS YEARLY: Less than 0.2% of firearms, Less than
0.4% of handguns
Over 99.8% of U.S. firearms and 99.6% of U.S. handguns will not be
involved in criminal activity in any given year.
NRA voluntary firearm safety programs have helped reduce accidental
firearms fatalities 67% over the last 50 years, while firearms ownership
has risen 140%, and handgun ownership has risen 200%.
WHY AMERICANS OWN FIREARMS
(Based on 1978 Decision Making Information surveys, with handgun data
confirmed by 1978 Caddell survey.)
Primary Reasons to Own/Use Firearms, Projected Number of Americans
(Approx. 65 million owners of 200,000,000 guns)
Number:
HUNTING 51%; 33,000,000
PROTECTION 32%; 21,000,000
Used Gun for Protection: 11%; 7,000,000
TARGET SHOOTING: 13%; 8,500,000
COLLECTING: 4%; 2,600.000
Primary Reasons to Own/Use Handguns Projected Number of Americans (30-35
million owners of 65,000,000 handguns)
HUNTING: 10%; 3,500,000
PROTECTION: 58%; 21,000,000
Used Gun For Protection: 13%; 4,600,666
TARGET SHOOTING: 18%; 6,300,000
COLLECTING: 14%; 5,000,000
FIREARMS AND SELF-DEFENSE
Survey research indicates that there are about 2.1 million protective
uses of firearms each year, far more than the number of criminal gun
uses reported by the FBI. Most self-defense uses do not involve
discharge of the firearm. In only 0.1% of defensive gun uses is a
criminal killed, and in only 1% is a criminal wounded. A Department of
Justice-sponsored survey found that 40% of felons chose not to commit
at least one specific crime for fear the victim was armed, and 34%
admitted being scared off or shot at by armed victims.
Department of Justice victimization surveys show that protective use of
firearms lessens the chance that rape, robbery and assault attempts will
be successfully completed and reduces the chance of injury to the
intended victim.
CRIME RATES LOWER IN STATES THAT ALLOW LAW-ABIDING CITIZENS TO CARRY
FIREARMS
States with favorable concealed carry laws have lower rates of crime
than states with restrictive concealed carry laws. Overall, the
homicide rate for states with restrictive carry laws is 19% higher, and
the robbery rate is 28% higher, than for those states that allow
carrying.
States which have recently changed their laws have experienced
reductions in homicide rates. Since 1987, when Florida enacted a
favorable CCW law, the homicide rate has dropped 21%, even while the
national rate has risen 12%.
BIASED MEDIA POLLS DON'T TELL THE REAL STORY
Media polls conducted by national polling firms use biased questions and
limit the responses of those questioned. A Luntz Weber Research &
Strategic Services poll reflects an accurate view of public opinion,
using open ended questions which allow respondents to express their real
opinions, rather than be directed toward a desired result. When given
the opportunity, Americans reveal that they do not believe that gun
control is effective at fighting crime; they prefer criminal justice
reform, stiffer penalties, better enforcement and solutions aimed at
the core causes of crime. Some of the significant findings of the
Luntz Weber survey are:
Which of the following proposals do you believe would be more likely to
reduce the number of violent crimes?
Mandatory Prison 70%
More Gun Control 25%
What do you think is the most important cause of violent crime in the United
States today?
Drugs/Alcohol 36%
Breakdown of Family Values 13%
Poverty 8%
Guns 8%
Judicial System 5%
In your opinion, what do you think is the single most important thing that
can be done to help reduce violent crime in the United States today?
Preventative programs 30%
Prosecution/Penalties 20%
Stronger Values 16%
Better Enforcement 16%
Gun Control 9%
Other than for the police and military, all guns should be outlawed.
Total Disagree 78% Total Agree 21%
Strongly 58% Strongly 14%
Somewhat 20% Somewhat 7%
12 LEADING CAUSES OF DEATH IN U.S.
National Center for Health Statistics (1991 latest figures)
ALL CAUSES 2,169,518
Heart Disease 720,862
Cancers 514,657
Strokes 143,481
ACCIDENTS 89,347
Motor Vehicle 43,536
Falls 12,662
Poisoning (solid, liquid, gas) 6,434
Drowning (incl. water transport drownings) 4,685
Suffocation (mechanical, ingestion) 4,195
Fires and flames 4,120
Surgical/Medical misadventures* 2,473
Other Transportation (excl. drownings) 2,086
Natural/Environmental factors 1,453
Firearms 1,441
Chronic pulmonary diseases 90,650
Pneumonia and influenza 77,860
Diabetes 48,951
Suicide** 30,810
HIV Infections (AIDS) 29,555
Homicide and legal intervention*** 26,513
Cirrhosis and other liver diseases 25,429
* A Harvard University study suggests 93,000 deaths annually
related to medical negligence_excluding tens of thousands more deaths
from non-hospital medical office/lab mistakes and thousands of hospital
caused infections.
** Approximately 60% involve firearms.
*** Approximately 60% involve firearms. Criminologist Gary Kleck
estimates 1,500-2,800 self-defense and justifiable homicides by
civilians and 300-600 by police annually.
CAREER CRIMINALS AND JUSTICE SYSTEM FAILURES
(Based on U.S. Department of Justice victimization surveys and Uniform
Crime Reports, felon surveys, James D. Wright et al., and Gary Kleck.)
For every 100 violent crimes reported, only four criminals go to prison
for a violent crime.
In 1991, every 72 seconds a felon received early release from prison in
the United States.
Annually, over 60,000 criminals convicted of a violent crime (homicide,
rape, robbery, aggravated assault, etc.) never go to prison. Over 30,000
are never even sentenced to any jail time. Of the 50,000 violent
criminals who will be put on probation this year, more than 9,000 will
be re-arrested for a violent crime within three years in the same state.
Of the more than 400,000 offenders put on probation this year, 170,000,
or 42.5%, will be re-arrested on a felony charge within three years.
75-80% of U.S. violent crimes are committed by career criminals, many on
some form of conditional or early release (30-35% of career criminals
are re- arrested with previous criminal charges still pending.) Most
career criminals' crimes are drug related.
Out of prison, an active career criminal commits between 187-287 crimes
per year, costing society about $430,000, vs. less than $20-25,000 per
year cost of imprisonment and less than $75,000 for cost of a new prison
bed.
Youthful violent criminals account for most of the recent crime
increases. Yet, criminologists note, "nearly everything that leads to gun-
related violence among youths is already against the law. What is needed are
not new and more stringent gun laws but rather a concerted effort to rebuild
the social structure of inner cities."
REAL CRIME SOLUTIONS TARGET CRIMINALS
NRA CrimeStrike, established to advance real solutions to the crime
problem while protecting the rights of all honest citizens, has worked
to make changes such as:
Support for "Three Strikes and You're Out" proposals that require
anyone convicted of a third violent felony go to prison for life.
CrimeStrike was crucial to the success of this initiative in Washington
state, and currently seeks its passage in California, Florida, Michigan,
North Carolina, South Carolina, Indiana and Washington, D.C.
CrimeStrike is leading the fight for "truth in sentencing" legislation
to require that a criminal serve at least 85% of time sentenced.
Currently, many criminals are released after serving as little as
one-third their sentences.
The "Victim's Bill of Rights" amendment to state constitutions protects
the rights of victims by ensuring that they are allowed to participate
in court proceedings and that they are informed before a criminal is
paroled or given early release. CrimeStrike worked to enact these
reforms in five states across the nation, with more targeted.
U.S. COMPARED WITH FOREIGN COUNTRIES
All criminologists studying the firearms issue reject simple comparisons
of violent crime among foreign countries. (James D. Wright, et. al .,
Under the Gun, 1983) "Gun control does not deserve credit for the low
crime rates in Britain, Japan, or other nations.... Foreign style gun
control is doomed to failure in America; not only does it depend on
search and seizure too intrusive for American standards, it postulates
an authoritarian philosophy of government fundamentally at odds with the
individual, egalitarian . . . American ethos." (David Kopel, Foreign Gun
Control in American Eyes, 1987)
Gun laws and firearms availability have no relationship with murder or
suicide rates. Most states bordering Canada have homicide rates similar
to their northern neighbors, despite much higher rates of firearms
availability. While the American homicide rate is 4-8 times that of most
European nations, and firearms are frequently involved in American
murders, America's violent crime rates are even higher for crimes where
guns are less often (robbery) or infrequently (rape) involved. The
difference is violence, not firearms, and America's system of revolving
door justice.
England now has twice as many homicides with firearms as it did before
adopting its repressive laws, yet its politicians counter rising crime
by increasing strictures on rifles and now on most shotguns. During the
past dozen years, handgun-related robbery rose 200% in Britain, five
times as fast as the rise in the U.S.
Japan's low homicide rate is accompanied by a suicide rate much higher
than that of the United States, despite Japan's virtual gun ban. And
Japan's low crime rate is attributable to police-state type law
enforcement which would be anathema to Americans.
Comparisons of homicide in Seattle and Vancouver, B.C., ignore the fact
that non-Hispanic whites have a lower homicide rate in Seattle than in
Vancouver, and that Vancouver's homicide rate, and handgun use in
homicide, did not go down following Canada's adoption of a "tough" gun
law.
SEMI-AUTOMATICS & SO-CALLED "ASSAULT WEAPONS"
In a deliberate effort to have public policy made by deception, anti-
gunners invented the "assault weapon" issue, noting that the public
could not readily distinguish full-auto firearms _ which have been
sharply restricted by federal law since 1934 _ from semi-auto firearms.
There is no evidence that a legally-owned "machine gun" has ever been
used in crime by a civilian. Semi-autos are very difficult to convert
to full auto and such conversion is a federal felony. Semi-autos which
are "easy to convert" are not approved by the BATF for sale to the
public.
There is no evidence that semi-autos are disproportionately used in
crime. Rifles, including semi-autos, are involved in only 3% of
homicides, and the percentage is declining. Data from states and big
cities show that military look-alikes constitute 0-3% of guns used in
crime and constitute only 11/2% of guns seized by police. Semi-auto ban
legislation could affect 10-15% of the guns owned by Americans.
Since only 1% of guns used in violent crimes are traced, and even that
1% is not randomly selected, BATF traces tell nothing about the types of
guns used by criminals, making the Cox "study" worthless.
The anti-gunners have spoken: Claiming that handguns are not protected
by the Second Amendment because they have no "militia" purpose, they now
want to ban rifles and shotguns which do. Their ultimate goal is total
gun prohibition.
NOTABLE GUN LAW FAILURES
No gun law in any city, state or nation has ever reduced violent crime,
or slowed its rate of growth, compared to similar jurisdictions. Since
enacting a virtual handgun ban in 1976, Washington, D.C.'s murder rate
has risen 200%, with a 300% rise in handgun-related homicide, as handgun
use went from less than 60% of killings to 83%.
Since it became a felony to go outside New York City to evade its
virtual handgun ban, the city's homicide rate has risen three times
faster than the rest of the country's. With less than 3% of the U.S.
population, New York City annually accounts for more than one-eighth of
the nation's handgun- related homicides.
Gun rationing schemes have failed miserably. South Carolina limited
handgun sales to individuals to one per month in 1975. Since then South
Carolina's violent crime rate has far outpaced the U.S. rate.
NRA Institute for Legislative Action 11250 Waples Mill Road Fairfax,
Virginia 22030 NL3N0015 Rev. 1/94 150M
Downloaded from GUN-TALK (703-719-6406) A service of the National Rifle
Association Institute for Legislative Action Washington, DC 20036
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