The truth about guns

Thanks to the generosity of Gnarly Dan, I was able to attend the Friends of the National Rifle Association (FNRA) fundraiser banquet in Anchorage this past weekend. For those of you who don’t know, this organization is a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment and raises money to educate folks about and promote shooting sports as wholesome, family outdoor activities. It also serves as a grant source for shooting ranges and other shooting-related activities.

All the money raised in Alaska by the FNRA stays in Alaska to fund the aforementioned activities. One quick point here — this particular organization, with this annual fundraising banquet, raised the fifth largest amount of money in the nation among FNRA chapters last year. That’s right, out of more than 1,000 other FNRA fundraiser banquets across this great land, the Anchorage banquet ranked fifth in dollars raised. That’s saying something when you consider the population base for this banquet compared to the same for cities like Atlanta, Detroit, Dallas and other multi-million-population-based cities.

While at the banquet, I picked up a booklet the FNRA had available for free distribution. The booklet is titled “Gun Facts, Version 5.1” and contains some interesting information and busts some myths about so-called assault weapons, firearms ownership in other countries, licensing and registration, ballistic fingerprinting, microstamping, crime and guns, and myriad other topics.

I thought it might be educational to look at some of the myths commonly promoted in today’s anti-gun media and see what the real truth is about that particular thought. We have all heard repeatedly that “assault weapons” are favored by criminals. That’s one of the most commonly cited reasons the anti-gun crowd uses in its repeated attempts to ban this type of firearm. According to “Firearm Use by Offenders,” a Bureau of Justice Statistics publication dated November 2001, criminals are as likely to carry a single-shot handgun or derringer as an assault weapon. Other statistics cited state that, nationwide, between 1980 and 1994, a total of 2 percent of confiscated firearms were assault weapons and that less than 2 percent of criminals who committed violent crimes used an assault weapon.

Another myth about assault weapons is that they can be readily converted into machine guns. The simple fact is that all firearms that can be easily converted into machine guns are already prohibited by law.

Here’s another myth: countries with strict gun control have less crime. The facts show just the opposite. According to United Nations information as of 2005, Scotland was the most violent country in the developed world, with people three times more likely to be assaulted than in the United States. In the US, we’re looking at a gun ownership rate of just under half of all households having a firearm. In Scotland, the number of households with a firearm is about one-10th of the U.S. figure, or about 5 percent.

Another anti-gun myth promoted in the media is that registration of firearms works to reduce crime. The facts show otherwise. New Zealand repealed its gun registration law in the 1980s after police acknowledged that the law did nothing to prevent or solve crimes. Australia has also publically acknowledged the worthlessness of gun registration. Our next-door neighbor, Canada, is currently considering a total repeal of its gun registration laws because the statutes have done nothing to reduce crime. In fact, six Canadian provinces — British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Nova Scotia and Ontario — are refusing to prosecute firearms owners who refuse to register their guns under the Canadian federal laws. The most common-sense argument against registration is simply that criminals don’t register their guns, so why should law-abiding citizens be forced to?

The argument was made in Maryland and New York that ballistic imaging, if made mandatory, would help police solve many crimes. The laws were enacted. Here are the facts: since ballistics imaging laws were passed in both Maryland and New York, not a single prosecution based on matched casings or bullets has been reported. The cost of these failed programs to Maryland taxpayers is more than $2.5 million per year and in New York, the cost exceeds $4 million per year. Good use for taxpayer money in these tight economic times, huh?

Another favored media anti-gun statement is that only police should have guns. According to “Armed and Considered Dangerous: A Survey of Felons and Their Firearms” by Wright and Rossi and published in 1986, “… most criminals are more worried about meeting an armed victim than they are about running into the police.” That might explain why violent crime statistics have been dropping nationwide over the past decade as more and more states pass concealed carry laws for their residents.

Property crimes are a concern here in the Valley. I find it interesting that, after the burglary of the church in Big Lake a decade or so ago when the preacher shot and killed both burglars in self-defense, there were no burglaries in the area for two years or more. The comment I heard most often back then was if the preachers in Big Lake are carrying guns and are willing to use them, what are the regular folks apt to do? If criminals viewed every community in that same light, we’d all be a whole lot safer.

Howard Delo is a retired fisheries biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. You can leave him a message by emailing sports@frontiersman.com.