Gun Facts: Does Availability of Guns Cause Crimes?

This is the first of a series of blogs that will touch on something sensitive to a lot of gun-aficionados like myself... it's the topic of Gun Control. I found an interesting document from www.gunfacts.info called, "Gun Facts - Your Guide to Debunking Gun Control Myths". On it are "facts" collected by a group of advocates, headed by Mr. Guy Smith, a self-proclaimed Civil Libertarian. In his Introduction, he stated the purpose of this document...

The goal of Gun Facts is to provide a quick reference guide for civil libertarians on gun control issues. Use Gun Facts when composing arguments for debates, writing letters to editors, emailing to your representatives, and sending statements to the media. The problem Gun Facts addresses is the lack of intellectual honesty by gun control advocates. Over many decades they have presented “information” to the media and the public that is at best inaccurate and at worst fraudulent. Gun Facts is dedicated to debunking gun control myths and providing citable evidence. Common gun control myths are listed in the pages that follow. For each myth, one or more facts are presented to refute the gun control claim and the source of the information is fully cited.

The document talked about a lot of things from assault weapons to accidental deaths. It showed "statistics" that debunked common myths about guns. I will start this series with a question that most of us want to know....

"Does Availability of Guns Cause Crimes?"   

Here is what the document says...

Myth: The availability of guns causes crime

Fact: Though the number of firearms owned by private citizens has been increasing steadily since 1970, the overall rate of homicides and suicides has not risen. As the chart shows, there is no correlation between the availability of firearms and the rates of homicide and suicide in America.

source: Targeting Guns: Firearms and Their Control, Gary Kleck, Aldine de Gruyter, 1997. (With supporting data from the FBI Uniform Crime Statistics, 1972 to 1995.)

Fact: Handgun ownership among groups normally associated with higher violent crime (young males, blacks, low income, inner city, etc.) is at or below national averages.

source: Targeting Guns: Firearms and Their Control, Gary Kleck, Aldine de Gruyter, 1997. (Ownership tables derived from the annual “General Social Survey.”)

Fact: The most significant correlation between the use of guns in the commission of crimes occur when parents (27.5% of inmates) abuse drugs or have friends engaged in illegal activities (32.5% with robberies and 24.3% for drug trafficking).

source: Firearm Use by Offenders, Bureau of Justice Statistics, November 2001

Fact: Five out of six gun-possessing felons obtained handguns from the secondary market and by theft, and “[the] criminal handgun market is overwhelmingly dominated by informal transactions and theft as mechanisms of supply.”

source: The Armed Criminal in America: A Survey of Incarcerated Felons , James D. Wright, Peter H. Rossi, National Institute of Justice (U.S.), 1985 

Fact: The majority of handguns in the possession of criminals are stolen, and not necessarily by the criminals in question.

source: Targeting Guns: Firearms and Their Control, Gary Kleck, Aldine de Gruyter, 1997.

Fact: In 1968, the U.K. passed laws that reduced the number of licensed firearm owners, and thus reduced firearm availability. U.K. homicide rates have steadily risen since then. Ironically, firearm use in crimes has doubled in the decade after the U.K. banned handguns.

sources: A Century of Change: Trends in UK Statistics since 1900, Hicks, Joe; Allen, Grahame (SGS), Social and General Statistics Section, House of Commons; and Weapons sell for just £50 as suspects and victims grow ever younger, The Times, August 24, 2007

Fact: Most violent crime is caused by a small minority of repeat offenders. One California study found that 3.8% of a group of males born in 1956 were responsible for 55.5% of all serious felonies. 75-80% of murder arrestees have prior arrests for a violent (including non-fatal) felony or burglary. On average they have about four felony arrests and one felony conviction.

source: The Prevalence and Incidence of Arrest Among Adult Males in California, Robert Tillman, prepared for California Department of Justice, Bureau of Criminal Statistics and Special Services, Sacramento, California, 1987

Fact: Half of all murders are committed by people on “conditional release” (i.e., parole or probation). 81% of all homicide defendants had an arrest record; 67% had a felony arrest record; 70% had a conviction record; and 54% had a felony conviction.

sources: Probation and Parole Violators in State Prison, 1991: Survey of State Prison Inmates, Robyn Cohen, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1995; and Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 1998, Brian Reaves, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, November 2001

Fact: Per capita firearm ownership rates have risen steadily since 1959 while crime rates have gone up and down depending on economics, drug trafficking innovations, and “get tough” legislation.

source: Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 1998, Brian Reaves, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, November 2001

Thoughts from the author: Criminals are not motivated by guns. They are motivated by opportunity. Attempts to reduce public access to firearms provide criminals more points of opportunity. It is little wonder that high-crime cities also tend to be those with the most restrictive gun control laws – which criminals tend to ignore.

As someone who took a post-grad course in designing & implementing surveys, I know how important surveys are. I also know how easy it is to manipulate them to your needs. When confronted with data like this, try to think critically & please take these "facts" as simply interesting read... not as bible-truth!


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