"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." Interesting
facts:
States with right-to-carry
laws have lower overall violent crime rates, compared to states without
right-to-carry laws. In states whose laws respect the citizen's
right-to-carry guns for self defense the total violent crime is 13% lower,
homicide is 3% lower, robbery is 26% lower and aggravated assault is 7%
lower. (Data: Crime in the United States 1996, FBI Uniform Crime Reports)
Right-to-carry license
holders are more law-abiding than the general public. In Florida, for
example, the firearm crime rate among license holders, annually averaging
only several crimes per 100,000 licensees, is a fraction of the rate for
the state as a whole. Since the carry law went into effect in 1987, less
than 0.02% of Florida carry permits have been revoked because of gun
crimes committed by license holders. (Florida Dept. of State) Research
reports printed in "More Guns, Less Crime", John R. Lott, Jr.,
the John M. Olin Visiting Law and Economics Fellow at the University of
Chicago, examined data ranging from gun ownership polls to FBI crime rate
data for each of the nation's 3.045 counties over a 1977 too 1994 time
span. Lott's research amounts to the largest data set that has ever been
put together for any study of crime, let alone for the study of gun
control. Among Prof. Lott's findings:
While arrest and conviction
rates being the most important factors influencing crime.... non
discretionary concealed-handgun laws are also important, and they are the
most cost-effective means of reducing crime.
Non discretionary or
"shall-issue" carry permit laws reduce violent crime for two
reasons. They reduce the number of attempted crimes because criminals
can't tell which potential victims are armed, being able to defend
themselves. Secondly, victims who do have guns are in a much better
position to defend themselves. Concealed carry laws deter crime because
they increase the criminal's risk of doing business.
States with the largest
increases in gun ownership also have the largest decreases in violent
crime. And, it is high crime, urban areas, and neighborhoods with large
minority populations that experience the greatest reductions in violent
crime when law-abiding citizens are allowed to carry concealed
handguns.
There is a strong
relationship between the number of law-abiding citizens with permits and
the crime rate--as more people obtain permits there is a greater decline
in violent crime rates.
For each additional year
that a concealed handgun law is in effect the murder rate declines by 3%,
rape by 2% and robberies by more than 2%.
Murder rates decline
when either more women or more men carry concealed handguns, but the
effect is especially pronounced for women. An additional woman carrying a
concealed handgun reduces the murder rate for women by about three to four
times more than an additional man carrying a concealed handgun reduces the
rate for men.
The benefits of concealed
handguns are not limited to those who carry them. Others get a free ride
from the crime fighting efforts of their fellow citizens.
The benefits of
right-to-carry are not limited to people who share the characteristics of
those who carry the guns. The most obvious example of this
"halo" effect, is the drop in murders of children following the
adoption of non discretionary laws. Arming older people not only may
provide direct protection to these children, but also causes criminals to
leave the area.
The increased presence of
concealed handguns "does not raise the number of accidental deaths
or suicides from handguns."
