GUNS, KIDS, & SCHOOLS: THE FACTS

                         ...what the media WON'T tell you!!
 

With each and every new gun-control proposal billed as just a "reasonable"
compromise, it is time to ask: What if those "reasonable" gun laws compromise the
safety of our children? Laws which bar responsible, law-abiding people from the
ready access of firearms do NOT make our children safer - they only serve to
place our children in greater jeopardy! Here's why:

* FACT: When ordinary citizens carry concealed handguns, violent crime drops.
The reduction corresponds very closely to the number of concealed handgun
licenses issued. On average, murder rates in states banning concealed-carry are
127% higher than in states having the most liberal carry laws. A 1% increase in
firearm ownership reduces violent crime by 4.1%. Urban areas benefit the most
from concealed-carry laws. (1)

* FACT: The benefits of concealed handguns are not limited just to those who
carry them for purposes of self-defense . "Citizens who have no intention of ever
carrying concealed handguns get...a 'free ride' from [armed law-abiding adults]... "
This is illustrated by the drop in murders of children which follows the adoption
of "right-to-carry" concealed-handgun laws. ("Right-to-carry" laws require the
issuance of a concealed-carry license to all qualified applicants.) "Arming older
people not only may provide direct protection to these children, but also causes
criminals to leave the area." (1)

             "ARM ALL THE TEACHERS?? HOW STUPID!!"

That, from the mainstream media and many of our politicians. But this an
emotional response, wholly unsupported by the facts. The point is NOT that ALL
adults should carry guns in school, but rather that all responsible adults in our
schools who wish to do so, be allowed to do just that!

* "...the recent rash of public school shootings ...raise[s] questions about the
unintentional consequences of laws...The possibility exists that attempts to outlaw
guns from schools, no matter how well meaning, may have produced perverse
effects." (2)

* FACT: Between 1977 and 1995, 15 shootings took place in schools in states
without right-to-carry concealed-handgun laws, and only one took place in a state
which had such a law. There were 19 deaths and 97 injuries in states without
right-to-carry laws, but only 1 death and 2 injuries in states with such laws. (2)

* FACT: The 5 school shootings which occurred during the '97-98 school year
took place after the 1995 Gun-Free School Zones law was enacted, banning guns
(including lawfully possessed concealed handguns) within 1000 feet of a
school.(2)

* FACT: Deaths and injuries from mass public shootings (like Jonesboro AR, and
Littleton CO) fall dramatically after right-to-carry concealed handgun laws are
enacted. Between 1977 and 1995, the average death rate from mass shootings
plummeted by up to 91% after such laws went into effect, and injuries dropped by
over 80%! (2)

* "People who engage in mass public shootings are deterred by the possibility that
law-abiding citizens may be carrying guns. Such people may be deranged, but they
still appear to care whether they will themselves be shot as they attempt to kill
others." (1)

Armed adults save lives!! That's how it worked before "gun-free" school zones
disarmed those adults, and marked school as easy targets for criminals.

Example: Armed with a hunting rifle, 16 year old Luke Woodham killed his
ex-girlfriend and her friend, then wounded 7 other students, in 1997 at a high
school in Pearl, Mississippi. Assistant Principal Joel Myrick retrieved a handgun
from his car, which he had forgotten to remove from the weekend, and interrupted
Woodham's shooting spree, holding him at bay until police arrived. Earlier that
morning, Woodham had stabbed his mother to death. (3)

Example: A similar script played out in 1998 in Edinboro, Pennsylvania, when
local merchant James Strand used his shotgun to "coax" 14-year old Andrew Wurst
into dropping his gun, and surrendering to police. Wurst had just killed one
teacher, wounded another and two classmates. (3)

Instead of dredging up the emotionally charged picture of a child killed with a gun,
let the anti-self-defense lobby show us pictures of all those children saved by the
presence of a gun when needed the most! They'll need LOTS more room to do
that: "Thousands of children are protected each year by parents or other adults
using guns to defend themselves and their families". (4)

                  GUNS AND JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

* Today's "easy accessibility" of guns is a myth. There are more gun laws now
than ever before, yet the prevalence of firearms in America - guns are present in
about 1 out of 2 households - has remained constant since 1959. (5)

* FACT: A July 1993 U.S. Department of Justice study found that "boys who own
legal firearms...have much lower rates of delinquency and drug use [than those
who obtained them illegally] and are even slightly less delinquent than nonowners
of guns." It concluded that, "for legal gunowners, socialization appears to take
place in the family; for illegal gunowners, it appears to take place 'on the street'
".(6) The study also found that:

* FACT: Children who get guns from their parents don't commit gun crimes (0%);
children who get illegal guns are likely to do so (24%).

* FACT: Children who get guns from parents are less likely to commit any kind
of street crime (14%) than children who have no gun in the house (24%), and are
dramatically less likely to do so than children who acquire an illegal gun (74%).

* FACT: Children who get guns from parents are less likely to use drugs (13%)
than children who get illegal guns (41%), or have no gun in the house (15%).

                         ACCIDENTS & SUICIDES

* FACT: In 1994, fatal gun accidents dropped 11% from 1993 figures, to the
lowest annual number since record-keeping began in 1903. They dropped even
lower by almost 7% in 1995. Motor vehicle accidents, falls, fires, drownings,
poisonings, suffocation, and other accidents all accounted for more deaths than did
firearm accidents.(7) In 1993, with an estimated 240 million guns in America (5),
there were 36 fatal gun accidents among children aged 0-5. (8)

* FACT: California has a "trigger-lock" law and saw a 12% increase in fatal
firearm accidents in 1994. Texas hasn't, and yet fatal gun accidents dropped 28%
that year. (7)

Gun-owning parents must be doing something right, despite the absence of
"trigger-lock" laws!

* FACT:"Trigger-lock" laws don't equal safety - education does! (9)
"Trigger-locks" do, however, render guns inaccessible for self-defense.

* FACT: Accident and suicide rates are unaffected by the passage of right-to-carry
handgun laws. (1)

* FACT: Suicide rates fluctuate independently of gun laws and gun ownership.
Banning guns will not affect the suicide rate, as other equally deadly implements
are substituted in their place. (10)

* FACT: "Every day, 15 American children are killed with guns" is the claim
made by Cease Fire and other anti-self-defense groups. But this is true ONLY if
one includes 24-year-old feuding drug dealers as "children"! (7)

                       CRIME & (NO) PUNISHMENT

The "politically-correct" assumption that crime is a function of the "easy"
availability of guns is not borne out by the facts. Unbiased researchers tell us that
just the opposite is true - more guns in the hands of ordinary law-abiding citizens
equals less crime.(1) Criminologists also tell us that rapid and certain punishment
drives the crime rate down.

* FACT: Federal prosecution of felons who used guns in the commission of
crimes is down 47% since President Clinton took office. (11)

* FACT: Of the 6,000 students caught at school with guns in the past 2 years, the
Clinton administration prosecuted only 13, nationwide. (11)

* FACT: During the last 2 years, the Clinton administration has prosecuted only
11 juveniles for illegal possession of handguns, 11 people for illegally transferring
handguns to juveniles, and 37 people for illegally providing firearms to felons,
nationwide. (11)

* FACT: It is a crime for a felon to buy a gun. Yet, despite President Clinton's
claim that 250,000 prohibited buyers have been turned away by the Brady Act, 3
years after its 1994 enactment, only 4 people had gone to jail for Brady violations.
ZERO Brady rejects were prosecuted by the Clinton administration in 1996, ZERO
in 1997, and ZERO in 1998. (11)

* If young adults are not made to face the consequences of their actions, and if
those who have committed no crime are scapegoated and punished instead, we can
only expect an escalation of problems now facing our society.

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                               REFERENCES

1. Lott J; "More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun-Control Laws";
University of Chicago; 1998

2. Lott J, Landes W; "Multiple Victim Public Shootings, Bombings, and
Right-to-Carry Concealed Handgun Laws: Contrasting Private and Public Law
Enforcement"; University of Chicago,Working Paper #73, 1999

3."How to Stop Mass Public Shootings"; Lott J; The L.A. Times 3/25/98

4. Lott J; "Gun Laws Can Be Dangerous, Too"' Wall Street Journal, 5/12/99

5. Kleck G; Targeting Guns; Aldine deGruyter Press; New York 1997

6. "Urban Delinquency and Substance Abuse"; U.S. Department of Justice, Office
of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; July 1993

7. National Center for Health Statistics

8. National Safety Council

9. Kopel D; "Children & Guns: Sensible Solutions"; Independence Inst. 1993

10. Suter E; "Guns in the Medical Literature: A Failure of Peer Review"; Journal of
the Medical Association of Georgia, Mar 1994

11. U.S. Department of Justice statistics