Since the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary at Newtown, CT, calls for “gun control” have been many calls for new gun control. Amongst those calling for new restrictions on American’s fundamental 2nd Amendment Rights is a trio of “pro-gun Democrat U. S. Senators. Before they actually vote on any gun-related bills, perhaps they should learn a little lesson on the effectiveness of gun control. But first, the senators in question:
West Virginia Senator John Manchin, who was just elected to a full 6-year term in the Senate, has called for restrictions that was in the Clinton-era “Crime Bill.” The irony, of course, was that Manchin was the only Senate Democrat to be endorsed by the NRA. He quite prominently touted his support by the NRA and even used guns in his commercials.
Another “pro-gun” Democrat that was elected to the Senate was Joe Donnelly, who won the Indiana Senate seat due to his opponent getting a politically terminal case of foot-in-mouth disease.
To complete this little trifecta, Virginia Senator Mark Warner has come out and supported the same Clinton-era gun control stances as Sen. Manchin and soon-to-be Sen. Donnelly. Unlike the other two, Sen. Warner will be up for election in 2014. Without Obama’s army of cultists, he may very well be endangered in 2014, assuming his opponent is even half-competent.
What is this gun control “success” story that the back-stabbing Bill of Rights hating trifecta should hear all snuggled in their beds?
To put it simply, the tale of what happens when you ban all handguns!
In 1997, the United Kingdom, in response to the Dunblane Massacre made handgun ownership outright illegal. This is the dream of the left. Even if all they can do it keep American slouching towards that goal, it is instructive of the alleged paradise they want us to live in. Two years after banning handguns, the number of handgun related crimes in the U.K. fell from 2,648 in 1997/1998 to a low 3.6685 in 1999/2000! By “fell” I mean “rose” 40%. But that’s not all! In the decade since then, gun crime rose by an average of 89% for the U.K. In some areas, the increase in gun crime was 598%!
Now, it is true that reporting methods have changed since the mid-’90’s, and some increase in the crime rates can be attributed to this, but even after adjusting for the statistical difference, there was no statistically relevant drop in gun crime. The current reporting methods have many peculiarities, such as when multiple guns are used in a crime (regardless of whether it is by one criminal or a gaggle of them), only one gun is reported. Additionally, a gun crime is not recorded unless it was “used,” resulting in gun crimes being underreported. Of course, the U.K. also has to deal with out-of-control knife crime, which just goes to show that violent thugs are going to be violent thugs regardless of which tool they use to commit their crimes.
In contrast to the failure of gun control in the U.K., California shows that more guns equals less crime. Gun sales have rising to 600,000 from 350,000 ten years ago. The hospitalizations due to gun injuries and firearm-related deaths actually decreased by double digits over the same period.
Gun control does not work. All it does is disarm victims and acts as a boon to criminals. Gun control will is not the answer to saving children. So please… think of the children!
