A friend once said something that really stuck with me. He said there is nothing so comforting as a closely held bias. As you scratch your head, wondering how so many can't understand the facts about guns and crime, keep that idea in mind.
The U.S. has a reported 20,000 gun laws - federal, state and local. Everything from mandatory background checks by the FBI, to licensing, registration, waiting periods, and bans on “bad” guns.
President Obama ordered the CDC to review the gun laws. It’s conclusion: It could find no evidence that gun control laws reduce crime.
Yes, I make a living talking and writing about firearms. I’ve spent 50 years studying the subject, reading the studies, digging into the data rather than believe the media spin, not depending on what either the anti or the pro sides say ... but looking at the DATA. IOW, I’m a professional at this. Here are a few things I know to be true.
Crimes with guns have dropped drastically in the last 20 years. - FBI
Accidental gunshot deaths are at an all-time low. - National Safety Council.
Accidental gunshot deaths of children are at an all-time low. - CDC and NSC
FAR more people use guns in self defense than are murdered with guns. - National Crime Victimization Survey, research by Gary Kleck at Florida State as well as John Lott’s work.
Two thirds of deaths with guns are by suicide, yet Japan - with virtually no guns - has a much higher suicide rate than the U.S.. Access to firearms does not appear to be the critical factor.
The U.S. is NOT the leader in gun deaths. Not even close. It actually is about in the middle of all countries when comparing rates... not that this actually is relevant to anything other than another talking point from the gun ban industry.
There are possibly 300,000,000 guns in the country. There are (round numbers) about 10,000 non-suicide deaths by gunshot per year. Within that are self defense shootings and shootings by the police. Even allowing those to remain, about .003 percent (three thousandths of one percent) of U.S. firearms are used to kill someone.
Criminals and crazies and terrorists would be the last ones to obey gun laws. You would need to remove the 99.997 percent of guns from the law abiding first. Only way to do that would be door-to-door searches of every home, every room, every closet, every attic, every storage unit. Goodbye Fourth Amendment.
Obviously a nonstarter.
It’s hard to let go of the myths you have been taught, even in the face of clear data. It requires one to be open to the possibility that what you “know” to be true simply isn’t. That’s more than difficult. It’s frightening to many. Many people hang onto bogus “knowledge” for the comfort as much as any other reason.
And the “Why do you need...?” crowd continues to not understand the science — the data — because to accept the facts exposes they have been duped by bumper-sticker slogans, a purposely-misleading media, and “studies” funded by Bloomberg’s promised $50,000,000 dedicated to the gun-ban movement.
Do what you can to calmly present the evidence, backed by data (use www.gunfacts.info as a source), but realize that for many, it's going to be too uncomfortable for them to change their anti-gun rights views. Just focus on the ones who appear open to learning. ~ Tom
Tom Gresham
Author, outdoorsman, gun rights activist, and firearms enthusiast for more than five decades, Tom Gresham hosts Tom Gresham's Gun Talk, the first nationally-syndicated radio show about guns and the shooting sports, and is also the producer and co-host of the Guns & Gear, GunVenture and First Person Defender television series.
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