Study on "MYTHS ABOUT GUN CONTROL" from National Center for Policy Analysis in Dallas "A recently-produced study on `Myths About Gun Control,' published in Dallas, Texas by the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), is a thorough, definitive, statistically-documented refutation of the major arguments advanced by the gun grabbers in support of their un- supportable anti-gun positions, "John Michale Snyder, Public Affairs Director of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, stated. "It is our hope," Snyder continued, "that the in- formation contained in this publication will receive wide dis- tribution." People use guns a many as one million times a year to prevent crimes - more often then criminals use them to commit crimes, according to the study. "A criminal is three times more likely to be killed by his victim than by the police," said Morgan Reynolds, an NCPA Senior Fellow and a Texas A&M economist who coauthored the study. "Guns are used in violent crimes only 12 percent of the time - and most of those guns are stolen," reynolds said. "In fact, convicted criminals have said that the main reason they have guns at all is to protect themselves from other criminals. "Contrary to popular beliefs, guns are often useful in self-defense, and since criminals usually obtain their weapons illegally, the op- ponents of gun control are probably right when they say that gun con- trols simply disarm the victims." According to the study by the Dallas-based NCPA, the gun control debate has been dominated by widely believed myths. In debunking these myths, the study found that: - Americans use guns for self-protection about one million times a year, simply brandishing the weapon or firing a warning shot in 98 percent of the cases. - The crime rate in the Old West, when most people had guns, was lower than it is today in such Eastern cities as New York and Baltimore. - Cheap handguns - the so-called "Saturday Night Specials"-are in- volved in only one to three percent of violent crimes, and are used mainly by lower-income people for protection. - Despite contrary depictions on television and in the movies, so- called "assault weapons" rarely are used to commit crimes and no police officer ever has been killed with an Uzi machine gun. "Another myth is that if victims have guns, criminals simply will take them away and use them against the victim," said Reynolds. "In fact, that happens only one percent of the time." Reynolds said that people living in the same household rarely shoot each other "just because a gun happens to be lying around. About 90 percent of crime-of-passion domestic homicides are committed by people with a history of violence. When one spouse kills the other, it is often is the wife defending herself or her children againt her larger, more aggressive male partner." Reynolds received his Phd.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1971. He has published many articles in academic journals and is the author of a number of books, including CRIME BY CHOICE (1985). He has been a consultant to the National League of Cities, the U.S. De- partment of Labor and many private organizations. His coauthor, W.W. Caruth III, is a lecturer on firearms and gun control laws who has spoken nationwide on the subject. He is one of the authors of a study of the wounding capacity of all pistol bullets available to police, published in the FBI LAW ENFORCEMENT BULLETIN and in the RIFLE magazine. He has worked as a volunteer at the Dallas County Forensic Science Center. In an Executive Summary of the study, Reynolds and Caruth list a number of the myths about gun control followed by a brief synopsis of the argufment destroying the myth. Myth No. 1: Guns cause crime. A acreful review of 18 academic studies shows that there is no relationship between the number of guns and the amount of crime in the United States. International evidence tells a similary story. Myth No. 2: Gun control laws reduce crime. The Nation already had 20,000 gun control laws, and the police arrest 220,000 people a year on weapons violations. Yet the violent crime rate is at an all-time high. Moreover, considering that fewer than one percent of all guns are involved in a crime and only 12 percent of all violent crimes involve a gun, gun control laws could have only a modest effect on crime - even if they worked exactly as intended, which they don't. For example, New Jersey, Hawaii and Washington, D.C. experienced sharp murder-rate increases after passing tough gun control laws. Canada, Taiwan and Jamaica reported similar experiences. Myth No. 3: Guns are little help in defending against criminals. In fact, guns are a big help. Each year, potential victims kill from 2,000 to 3,000 criminals and wound an additional 9,000 to 17,000. Mishaps are rare. Private citizens mistakenly kill innocent people only 30 times a year, compared with about 330 mistaken killings by police. Criminals succeed in taking a gun away from an armed victim less than one percent of the time. Myth No. 4: Killing someone is the only reason to buy a handgun. The vast majority of gun owners cite protection from crime as one of the many reasons they own a gun. For a good reason. Americans use guns for self-protection about one million times a year. In 98 per- cent of the cases, they simply brandish the weapon or fire a warning shot. Myth No. 5: People who buy guns are more prone to violence and crime than any other people. Violence and crime are higher among black than white, lower-income than middle- or upper-income, young than middle-aged, single than married, and urban than rural in- dividuals-all contrary to the pattern of gun ownership. Myth No. 6: Criminals have guns mainly in order to commit crimes. The number of one reason criminals acquire guns if for self-protection against other criminals. Fewer than half of felons think handguns are important for use in committing crimes. Myth No. 7: Killing and other violent crimes were prevalent in the Old west because guns were so plentiful. Much of the violence on the frontier involved clashes with Indians, bandits and foreigners. Even so, the frontier was a lot safer than America is today. There was very little ordinary crime - less than in most cities in the East. Myth No. 8: Gun controls keep criminals from obtaining guns. In surveys of prisoners, a majority said that prior to imprisonment they had owned a handgun, but fewer than one in six guns had been purchased from a retail dealer. Myth No. 9: Required waiting periods would prevent some of the most vicious crimes. If the Brady Bill were law, it would not have saved Jim Brady. Nor would it have prevented the Killeen, Texas massacure or the slaughter at McDonald's in Stockton, California. However, an instand records check (to identify felons when they try to purchase guns from retail dealers) and better enforcement of existing laws (to turn criminals into convicted felons) might well prevent some vicious crimes. Myth No. 10: Most murders are committed by people killing friends or family members. The actual number is abouit one out of five. Most in-house-hold killings are not crimes of passion. They're the cul- mination of years of abusive behavior, and often it is the abuser who is killed. Myth No. 11: The availability of guns contributes to crimes of passion. In about 90 percent of "crime-of-passion" domestic homicides, the police had been called in previously to break up violence. In half the cases, the police had been called in five or more times. There is no evidence that a significant number of homicides occures simply be- cause a lethal weapon is handy. Myth No. 12: Automatic rifles and so-called "assault weapons" are too dangerous to be left in private hands. Over the past 50 years no civilian has ever used a legally owned machine gun in a violent crime. Despite their repeated use on "Miami Vice" and in the movies, no Uzi has ever been used to kill a police officer. Even gun control ad- vocates concede that so-called "assaault weapons" play a minor role in violent crime. Myth No. 13: Gun control laws are especially needed to prevent the purchase of "Saturday Night Specials." Inexpensive handguns are in- volved in only one to three percent of violent crimes, and criminals are no more likely to use one than any other type of handgun. Myth No. 14: People don't need guns for self-protection because they can rely on the police. About 83 percent of the population will be victims of violent crime at some point in their lives, and in any given year serious crime touches 25 percent of all households. Con- sidering that, effectively, there is only one police officer on patrol for every 3,300 people, the odds are likely to improve. The courts have ruled that government has no duty to protect individual citizens from crime. Myth No. 15: Gun ownership is not a constitutional right. The Second Amendment reflects the Founders' belief that an armed citizenry (called the "general militia") was a necessary precaution against tyranny by our own government and its army. The idea that government has a constitutional right to disarm the general citizenry is totally foreign to the intent of the Contitution's framers. Copies of the study may be obtained for $10.00 from the Center for Texas Studies, National Center for Policy Studies, 12655 North Central Expressway, Suite 720, Dallas, Texas 75243. Phone is (214) 386-6272.