Guns are not used in 92% of all violent crime
Total We have a violence problem, not a gun problem Violent crimes 1998 per the Department of Justice
8,116,200
No weapon 5,503,300 68%
Weapon 1,918,700 24%
Gun 670,500 8%
Knife 461,000 6%
Other 647,300 8%
Type not ascertained 140,000 2%
Don't know 694,200 9%

In the last 31 years the population has increased almost 70,000,000 million and firearm ownership has quadrupled, yet firearm accidents are at an all time low and homicide rates are lower per 100,000 than anytime in the last 32 years. Repeat criminals committed 75 to 90% of murders. Over 70% were good riddance killings.(criminals killing criminals). It has been estimated that as many as 20% of homicides are self-defense or justifiable in the final analysis. Since the FBI Uniform Crime Reports records justifiable homicide based on the preliminary determination of the reporting officer, rather than upon the final determination, the FBI data dramatically under-reports justifiable homicide. SOURCE Subtract Firearm used from Total murders to get non- firearm related murders.
---Year ---Total murders --- Firearm used
1991 ----21,676 ---------------14,373
1992 ----22,716----------------15,489
1993 ----23,180----------------16,136
1994-----22,084----------------15,463
1995 ----20,232----------------13,790
1996 ----16,967----------------11,453
1997 ----15,837----------------10,729
1998 ----14,088-----------------9,143
According to preliminary Uniform Crime Reporting Program figures released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, murder registered a 13-percent drop during the first 6 months of 1999, when compared
to figures reported for the same time period of the previous year.
Now it shows that firearm ownership has increased but crime is going down. This seems to indicate that there is no relationship between firearm ownership and crime.
The evidence is out there. gun control does not work. The only thing gun control accomplishes is to disarm the law abiding, who aren't the problem to begin with. Despite what the media would have us believe, crime is decreasing, The major lobbying group for gun control, hand gun control inc. has been caught falsifying crime status to scare the public into believing the threat is much greater than it actually is.
Overall crimes committed with guns account for approximately 8% of all crime. So why is all the attention being focused on guns? I think some questions we should be asking of those who wish to disarm The US citizens and abolish the second amendment are:
why do you really want to disarm us? why are you lying to us?
And, one questions we should be asking ourselves is: why are our children becoming so violent?
The answer to this question is the real answer to the violence in our society.

Believe it is long past time to get government out of our homes. We need to start teaching our children things like respect, and courtesy, old-fashioned maybe, but how many times have you heard,"when I was kid we took guns to school, we had classes in firearms safety, and no body ever shot anybody. (I was a cow boy a dying breed I guess)
Why are these same people who are calling for "gun control" also the same people who protest the death penalty for convicted murderers? why are they the judges who give these predators suspended or very lenient sentences? why are these people the ones who plea bargain crimes down to misdemeanors and allow these animals back on our streets? The next time you hear a sound bite about gun control maybe you should think about a few of these questions, and notice these media sound bites never seem to answer them. final notes for these politicians and their feel-good laws which are neither enforced or effective.

IT'S THE CRIMINALS STUPID NOT THE GUNS! Think about it and join the NRA or one of the other gun clubs that fight for our guns so what do ya think ?

I think we also have a media problem. I had to write a paper a couple years ago on the effect of the media on politics.... I chose to examine the media's emphasis on crime (NBC/CBS and a couple magazines) several years before the 1994 crime bill, to several years after. I also compared the coverage to the actual crime rate.

What I found was that in the early 90's, coverage was relatively low and rose sharply in 93/94, and continued to rise through 96 which was were I stopped researching. The most interesting part, however, was as the years progressed, the crime rate was declining!

Anyway, a large part of our national agenda, IMO, is set by what the media chooses to cover.

Being young and stupid... what is the crime bill?

By the way, a weapon is anything that can be used in a harmful manner. People want to ban guns because they're weapons... guess that they'll want to lose kitchen knives, pans, anything really related to sports...

Curtis

Being older and wiser,

here you go.... http://www.ncjrs.org/txtfiles/billfs.txt

the crime bill was passed in '94 and is in effect for 10 years, so it will expire if not renewed next year. it is the main reason you wont find a gunshop that sells pistols that hold more than 10 rounds. you can find guns with higher capacity magazines and they will be referred to as "pre-ban" guns because they were manufactured before the '94 crime bill went into effect.

i remember stocking up on 25 and 40 round clips for my 10/22 and mini-14 when i heard about that bill being passed. the prices on those magazines almost doubled overnight. i sold the 10/22 a few years ago but i still have the mini and all those extra clips.

Dont worry Voodoo, she uses that line all the time with me...

She may be older but she isnt always wiser...

Just usually....

so, does being older make one wiser? If so, I must be danged smart.

So the statistics about the decreasing violent crime rates don't parallel gun control???

"Now it shows that firearm ownership has increased but crime is going down. This seems to indicate that there is no relationship between firearm ownership and crime.
The evidence is out there. gun control does not work."

It seems to me that putting two and two together doesn't work very well for you. If overall gun ownership and the population is increasing but violent crime rates are decreasing then there must be some sort of reason. Like how about gun control??? Wasn't there an increase in that during this same time period??? Do ya think we could link those together???

I would argue that good old fashion values can only do so much. By your logic we should go by the same rules our grandparents had ~ but if they had a higher crime rate that wouldn't make much sense now would it.....so I'm limited to 10 rounds in my 9mm that I NEED to carry to the grocery store when I pick up milk or the .45 I hide under my pillow. That's going to certainly reduce the number of holes I put in my teenage daugther when she decides to sneak home one after going out with some friends. It's a shame isn't it.

It's already illegal to kill people regardless of what weapon is used. That should be enough. It seems foolish to think that a criminal will disregard laws against killing others, but adhere to gun laws.

rcl187 just showed his true colors

So if we have "gun control" we're all going to die? I'm not saying ban all the guns ~ I own several and am a very avid hunter. I just happen to believe that certain things do not have a role in our society. There is no need for a gun capable of holding more than 8 or 10 rounds or a person to pack heat "just because it's their right to do so". I don't need to shoot a guy in the face just because he wants to steal my wallet. So I give it to him ~ what am I out like $50 and a few credit cards/licenses and stuff that I can get replaced in a week.

Criminals will use whatever weapon they have thus if they cannot get a high powered semi-auto and a banana clip then they cannot sit and shoot 15 or 20 people. I'm a firm believer that ALL guns should be registered and check-ups should be done every 5 years or so to make sure they are where they should be.

If you want some "old school values" how about education and an opinion of your own. Not a bunch of crap taken off of some NRA website or something. Comparing basic US gun control to Genocide is crap...

I think, rcl, that you're offering your opinion. That's good.

My opinion is we should carry guns to protect ourselves and our property.

Just taking the opinion that "it's only $50... and so what" isn't good in the long run as it reinforces behavior in criminals that it's allowable to rob citizens. It also reinforces in them that we, the public will let them do this.

I also believe that sometimes we must do something unpopular in order keep things in line. It follows along the lines of teaching kids proper behavior, sometimes we don't like enforcing the consequences of bad behavior... but we must inorder to let them know that they shouldn't behave that way.


That's my opinion.

So if I get robbed I should piss myself, give the bad guy my belongings, and then just report it? Is that right? Or do I give up my belongings, THEN piss myself?
If it takes a week to replace your stolen belongings, how long does it take a rape victim to replace their sense of security?

I can't believe that people actually think that gun control will have much affect on anything. Just because it is illegal doesn't mean it won't be done. Guns will be a little harder to get a hold of, that's all. And by a little harder i mean it will take a week or two more. Correct me if I am wrong.