Guy Smith's Gun Facts
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Myth: Children should be kept away from guns for their own safety.

FACT: 0% of kids that get guns from their parents commit gun-related crimes while 21% of those that get them illegally do. *Source- U.S. Justice Department, "Urban Delinquency and Substance Abuse", 2000.

FACT: Almost twice as many kids (24%) commit any type of street crime if they get guns illegally, as opposed to kids given guns by their parents and taught the proper way to use them (14%). *Source-Ibid.

FACT: Almost three times as many kids (41%) take drugs if they also obtain guns illegally, as compared to kids given guns by their parents (13%).


Myth: Gun registration will help police find suspects.

FACT: There is registration in Hawaii, Chicago, and Wahington D.C. Yet there has not been even a single case where the laws have been instrumental in identifying someone who has committed a crime. *Source-David B. Kopel, The Samurai, the Mountie, and the Cowboy: Should America Adopt the Gun Controls of Other Democracies 231, n.210(1992). Criminals very rarely leave their guns at the scene of the crime. Would-be criminals also virtually never get licenses or register their weapons.


Myth: Registration does not lead to confiscation.

FACT: It did in Canada. The handgun registration law of 1934 is the source being used to confiscate (without compensation) over 1/2 of the handguns in 2001. *Source-Dr. Paul Gallant and Dr. Joanne Eisen, "Civil Disobedience In Canada: It Just Happened To Be Guns", Idaho Observer, August 2000.

FACT: It did in Germany. The 1928 Law on Firearms and Ammunition (before the Nazis came to power) required all firearms to be registered. When Hitler came to power, the existing lists werre used for confiscating weapons.

FACT: It did in Australia. In 1996, the Australian government confiscated over 660,000 legal weapons from their citizens.

FACT: It did in California. The 1989 Roberti-Roos Assault Weapons Control Act required registration. Due to changing definitions of "assault weapons", many legal firearms are now being confiscated by the California government.

FACT: It did in New York City. In 1967, New York City passed an ordinance requiring a citizen to obtain a permit to own a rifle or shotgun, which would then be registered. In 1991, the city passed a ban on the private possession of some semi-automatic rifles and shotguns and 'registered' owners were told that those firearms had to be surrendered, rendered inoperable, or taken out of the city.

FACT: It did in Bermuda, Cuba, Greece, Ireland, Jamaica, and Soviet Georgia as well.


Myth: More than 1,300 children commit suicide with firearms each year.

FACT: This statistic includes "children" ages 18-19 (hardly kids).

FACT: Worldwide, the per capita suicide rate is fairly static (in fact, the suicide rate of the U.S. is lower than many industrial countries, including many that have banned private gun ownershop). This indicates a certain fraction of the population will commit suicide regardless of the tools available. Will we ban razor blades and bridges?

FACT: The firearm and non-firearm rate of suicide among children age 15 and under was virtually unchanged in the states that passed and maintained "safe storage" laws for four or more years. *Source-John Lott," Accidental Deaths, Suicides, and Crime Safe Storage Gun Laws", Yale Law School, 2000


Myth: "Assault weapons" are a serious problem in the U.S.

FACT: In 1994, you were eleven times more likely to be beaten to death than to be killed by an "assault weapon". *Source-FBI Uniform Crime Statistics, 1994. This was before the Federal assault weapons ban.

FACT: "Assault weapons" are used in only 2-3% of crimes involving firearms.*Source- Justice Department Analysis, 1990.

FACT: Even weapons misclassified as "assault weapons" (common in the Federal and California assault weapons confiscations) are used in less than 1% of all homicides. *Source- FBI Uniform Crime Statistics, 1993.

FACT: Police reports show that "assault weapons" are a non-problem: For California:

- Los Angeles: In 1998, 3% of weapons confiscated by the police were classified as "assault weapons". in 1998, of 538 documented gun incidents, only one (0.2%) involved an "assault weapon".

- San Francisco: In 1998, only 2.2% of confiscated weapons were "assault weapons".

- San Diego: Between 1988 and 1990, only 0.3% of confiscated weapons were "assault weapons".

For the rest of the nation:

- Between 1980 and 1994, only 2% of confiscated guns were "assault weapons".

- Just over 2% of criminals that used guns used "assault weapons".

- Only 1% of police officers murdered were killed using "assault weapons".


Myth: The Second Amendment is a collective right, not an individual right.

FACT: The second amendment was listed in a Supreme Court ruling as an individual right.*Source-Dred Scott, Casey v. Planned Parenthood, U.S. v. Cruikshank and others.

FACT: The Supreme Court specifically reaffirmed that the right to keep and bear arms did not belong to the government. *Source- United States v, Miller

FACT: In 22 of the 27 instances where the Supreme Court mentions the Second Amendment, they quote the rights clause and not the justification clause.

FACT: James Madison, considered to be the author of the Bill of Rights, wrote that the Bill of Rights was "calculated to secure the personal rights of the people". He never excluded the Second Amendment from this statement.

FACT: Patrick Henry commented on the Swiss militias model (still in use today) noting that they maintain their independence without " a mighty and splendid President" or a standing army. *Source- Stephen P. Halbrook, " Where Kids and Guns Do Mix", Wall Street Journal, June 2000.


Myth: The "militia " clause is to arm the National Guard.

FACT: The first half of the Second Amendment is called the "justification clause". Justification clauses appear in many state constitutions, and cover liberties including right to trial, freedom of the press, free speech, and much more. Denying gun rights based on the justification clause means we would have to deny free speech rights on the same basis. *Source- Eugene Volokf, Prof. Law, UCLA