(excerpted from)

                             THE LIBERATOR ONLINE
                                       
   May 4, 1999
   Vol. 4, No. 9
   http://www.self-gov.org/liberator/maintain.html


Ammunition for the Right to Bear Arms

   In the wake of the Littleton, Colorado massacre, anti-rights
   activists are rushing to demonize guns and gun ownership.

   That gives libertarians a great opportunity to point out some
   overlooked facts about the benefits of gun ownership. Here are a few:

     * Guns save the lives of vast numbers of children -- and adults --
       each year. In the largest study of its type ever done, Dr. John
       Lott and David Mustard of the University of Chicago examined crime
       statistics in every U.S. county from 1977 to 1992. They found
       abundant, unequivocal evidence that gun ownership is a major
       deterrence to violence. In the 31 states that have "shall issue"
       laws -- where any adult without criminal records or evidence of
       mental illness is permitted to carry a concealed gun -- crime
       rates are far lower than in states where there are no such laws.
       Their research shows that, using the most conservative estimates,
       those states reduced their murder rate by an average of 8.5%,
       rapes by 5%, aggravated assaults by 7% and robbery by 3%.
       Those statistics have human faces. According to Lott and Mustard,
       if the states that didn't have "shall issue" laws had instead
       adopted them in 1992, the country would have been spared 1,500
       murders, over 4,000 rapes, 60,000 aggravated assaults, and 12,000
       robberies -- per year.
       By denying citizens the right to carry guns, some local and state
       governments are creating the equivalent of hundreds of Littleton
       massacres every year. (Wall Street Journal, 8/28/96)
     * In 1993 research conducted by liberal criminologist Dr. Gary Kleck
       found that U.S. gun owners use their weapons 2.45 million times a
       year to ward off criminal attack. That's once every 13 seconds.
       Most of the time, the guns weren't fired -- just showing the
       weapon was enough to send criminals fleeing. Without guns,
       homeowners and their families would be at the mercy of murderers,
       rapists, burglars, and other thugs. Guns allow even the weak and
       elderly a chance to defend themselves against crime. (Kleck
       survey, reported in "Stopping Power" by J. Neil Schulman.)
     * A three-year study by the National Institute of Justice surveyed
       1,800 prisoners and confirmed that criminals strongly fear meeting
       armed resistance by potential victims. If a criminal knows he may
       be met with a gun, he is far less likely to violate a home or
       commit an assault. (Reported in "Guns, Crime, and Freedom" by
       Wayne LaPierre.)
     * In the 1950's, children had far greater access to guns than today.
       Guns could even be ordered through the mail. Yet there was no
       serious problem with illegal guns in schools.
     * It is also vital to remember why the Founding Fathers were such
       strong proponents of gun ownership. It was not for hunting or even
       for protection against crime. It was because they feared that an
       unarmed public could easily become the victim of a tyrannical
       government. They believed that an armed public would provide the
       single greatest protection against government tyranny.

       

     "No freeman shall be debarred the use of arms..."
     
     --Thomas Jefferson, 1776