5 Facts About Guns, Schools, And Violence

[WhiteFeather]

info to back up summary on HOT LINKS in article

PLEASE SHARE info with Reps & make copies to edcuate people

http://reason.com/reasontv/2013/01/1...d-gun-violence

5 Facts About Guns, Schools, And Violence

In the wake of December’s horrific mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, Vice President Joe Biden is chairing a panel of experts that will make gun-control recommendations to President Barack Obama by the end of the month. The president has said that enacting new restrictions on guns will be one of his highest priorities.

No one wants to ever again see anything like the senseless slaughter of 26 people – including 20 children - at a school. But as legislators turn toward creating new gun laws, here are five facts they need to know.

1. Violent crime – including violent crime using guns – has dropped massively over the past 20 years.

The violent crime rate - which includes murder, rape, and beatings - is half of what it was in the early 1990s. And the violent crime rate involving the use of weapons has also declined at a similar pace.

2. Mass shootings have not increased in recent years.

Despite terrifying events like Sandy Hook or last summer’s theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado, mass shootings are not becoming more frequent. “There is no pattern, there is no increase,” says criminologist James Allen Fox of Northeastern University, who studies the issue. Other data shows that mass killings peaked in 1929.

3. Schools are getting safer.

Across the board, schools are less dangerous than they used be. Over the past 20 years, the rate of theft per 1,000 students dropped from 101 to 18. For violent crime, the victimization rate per 1,000 students dropped from 53 to 14.

4. There Are More Guns in Circulation Than Ever Before.

Over the past 20 years, virtually every state in the country has liberalized gunownership rules and many states have expanded concealed carry laws that allow more people to carry weapons in more places. There around 300 million guns in the United States and at least one gun in about 45 percent of all households. Yet the rate of gun-related crime continues to drop.

5. “Assault Weapons Bans” Are Generally Ineffective.

While many people are calling for reinstating the federal ban on assault weapons – an arbitrary category of guns that has no clear definition – research shows it would have no effect on crime and violence. “Should it be renewed,” concludes a definitive study, “the ban’s effects on gun violence are likely to be small at best and perhaps too small for reliable measurement.”

The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting is as horrifing a crime as can be imagined. It rips at the country’s heart and the call to action is strong and righteous. But as Joe Biden and his panel of experts consider changes to gun laws and school-safety policies, they need to lead with their heads and not just their hearts.

Over the past dozen years, too many policies – the Patriot Act, the war in Iraq, the TARP bailouts – have been ruled by emotion and ideology.

Passing sweeping new restrictions on Second Amendment rights won’t heal the pain and loss we all feel but just may create many more problems in our future.

Written by Nick Gillespie. Produced by Amanda C. Winkler. Additional camera work by Joshua Swain.

About 2.30 minutes. Scroll below for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason TV's YouTube channel to receive automatic notifications when new material goes live.

[indiandave]

Good information. Thanks for posting!

[BandanaBandit1]

I cant understand why some people (antis) dont understand these simple facts?

Great post btw.

[Lee-online]

I cant understand why some people (antis) dont understand these simple facts?

Great post btw.

They don't want to understand or acknowledge them, they want to ban guns.

[eistea15]

Great post very fact oriented!!!!!! And totally true.

[WhiteFeather]

I cant understand why some people (antis) dont understand these simple facts?

Great post btw.

They don't want to understand or acknowledge them, they want to ban guns.

Feeling is what the use to sway the debate, because the Fact is.

As Lee-online points out, they want to ban all guns as the end goal, right now they are just trying to reduce the amount by picking off the low hanging fruit first

[libra8]

I posted this video on the Lower Marion United against gun violence facebook page. Here is their response.

Lower Merion United wrote: "Thanks xxxxxx. We're open to discussion and relevant facts from all sides of the issue. We are advocating for new, common sense legislation that allows for resposible people to own guns, but helps keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. One law that could easily be enacted in Pennsylvania to help do this is mandatory reporting of lost or stolen guns and the Commonwealth's reporting to NICS of those people court-ordered for mental health care. Universal background checks and stronger enforcement of laws against intentionally lying in a background check is another. Gov. Corbett's new enactment of stiffer penalties against straw purchases will help, too."

I'm ok with this. Flame suit on.

[WhiteFeather]

I posted this video on the Lower Marion United against gun violence facebook page. Here is their response.

Lower Merion United wrote: "Thanks xxxxxx. We're open to discussion and relevant facts from all sides of the issue. We are advocating for new, common sense legislation that allows for resposible people to own guns, but helps keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. One law that could easily be enacted in Pennsylvania to help do this is mandatory reporting of lost or stolen guns and the Commonwealth's reporting to NICS of those people court-ordered for mental health care. Universal background checks and stronger enforcement of laws against intentionally lying in a background check is another. Gov. Corbett's new enactment of stiffer penalties against straw purchases will help, too."

I'm ok with this. Flame suit on.

Common sense
lesson one

Till they are ready to hold law breakers fully accountable their illegal actions to arm the bad guys. ( including government OPs like fast n furious)

whats the point of putting more laws on the books?

send a couple of these links back, maybe they can buy a clue from these, as most of these anti-gun people want a neat little hardware solution to a complex problem human problem.

PA Firearms Laws & PA Commission on Sentencing Reports
http://www.acslpa.org/html/pa_firear..._commissi.html

A Sample Case Study On How The Criminal Justice System ‘Plays’
Let’s Make A Deal With A Straw Purchasers.
http://www.acslpa.org/StrawPurchases...10-04-K_1_.pdf

How Local Lost and Stolen firearm laws are enacted
http://www.acslpa.org/html/how_local...olen_fire.html

Analysis & Commentary

This video will show how “unscrupulous” the debate over gun control is and how misled the public is in blindly accepting the “good faith” of those who propose it. This clip will show that that the measure being debated does not work according to their own experts and yet it is pushed for political reasons such as career advancement and posturing for the legislature. It is up to YOU to decide if YOU want the safety of your family to be decided by this kind of debate. IF you do not then you need to make plans to join with us in Harrisburg and make your voice heard!

Here is a blast from the past from ceasefirePA sticking there fingers in the ears and shouting louder at the message they don't want to hear.

http://forum.pafoa.org/general-2/626...s-problem.html
Philly Police officer that understands the problem

Don't know IF any one got a copy of this email from the anti-gunner "cease fire" organization in early april 2007 complaining about a Philly police officers opinion in a newspaper.

A commonsense statement from a law-enforcement officer.
Please see the letter to the editor from the Philly Inquirer below that has Cease Fire upset. Then write to the paper and let them know that you agree with Detective Fox. Quit punishing the law-abiding citizens. Stop the "Catch & Release" programs for criminals and keep them in jail. And don't forget to thank Detective Fox for speaking the truth.


----- Original Message -----
From: CeaseFire PA
Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2007 11:00 AM
Subject: Please write in today



Dear Friends,


Please take a few minutes today and write a letter to the editor in response to the following opinion piece, which appears in today's Inquirer. In particular, we are asking people to respond to the comment we've highlighted in bold and red, below.


We are dismayed that someone so high up in the Philadelphia Police Department would suggest that this is an either-or situation, and hope to set the record straight with a flurry of correspondence.


If you want a few ideas on what to say, you can visit these websites:
www.handgunsanity.org or www.ceasefirepa.org or www.pathcoalition.org.



Submissions to the main letters section may be e-mailed to Inquirer.Letters@phillynews.com; mailed to Readers Editor, The Inquirer, Box 41705, Philadelphia, Pa. 19101; or faxed to 215-854-4483.o:

CeaseFire PA is sending a response on behalf of the organization, but the more people the editors hear from, the better. We'd appreciate you copying us on your correspondence, as well.




ONE READER'S VIEW
Letters | Put the blame where it lies: The killers
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opini...ders_View.html

We have to stop pointing the finger everywhere but at the very people who prey on us each day. Over time we have allowed our value system to erode. We refuse to hold people accountable for their actions and constantly make excuses for their inexcusable behavior. The incessant cry for tougher gun laws is a good example. Until we're ready to strictly enforce the current laws there is no reason for tougher ones.

Yes, there is a need to work on the social ills at the core of much of the unrest, but that does not mean we should accept those ills as a reason to excuse the behavior. Those engaged in this violent lifestyle know exactly what they're doing. They also know it is wrong. And they also know there are no serious consequences for their actions. It's not a matter of not knowing right from wrong, it's a matter of weighing the risk. And today they face very little risk.

Time after time these budding killers are arrested with guns, only to be returned to the streets with a slap on the wrist. Is it any wonder we have trouble getting witnesses to speak up? Instead of holding vigils at murder scenes, groups like Men United for a Better Philadelphia and Mothers in Charge should throw a ring around the Criminal In-Justice Center and demand that our judges hold the criminals accountable.

More than 80 percent of Philadelphia's cold-blooded killers have criminal records. Most of those records are lengthy, many for violent crimes. Every one of those arrests represents an opportunity to send a clear message, before they take another life.

Joseph Fox
Chief of Detectives
Philadelphia Police Department
Philadelphia

ANY LAW, only applies to the people that obey them , then its up to the enforcement to send a message to law breakers.

They are coming for your guns people, using the letter of the law to disarm you and all of US

Common sense
lesson two

Since numerous pages of past gun control legislation hasn't work toward its stated purpose for enactment.

what existing firearm laws are they willing to repeal first
before even speaking of enacted newer ones?

common sense would indicate IF past words on paper don't work what make them think newer version of magic words written on paper will work any better?