Gallup Poll: Banning Semi-Auto Weapons Not That Effective

Discussion in 'Politics' started by pspr, Dec 19, 2012.

  1. pspr

    pspr

    #1     Dec 19, 2012
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  2. Lucrum

    Lucrum

    Myth: The Brady Bill caused a decrease in gun homicides

    Fact: All violent crime (including gun and non-gun murders) fell during the same period, 1992 to 1997. However, the percent of homicides committed with guns stayed the same. In 1992, 68% of murders were committed with guns; in 1997, it was still 68%.278 Thus, the decreased gun homicide rate was part of an overall declining crime rate, not an effect of the Brady Bill.
    Fact: Gun possession by criminals has risen in the Brady years – 18% of state prisoners (was 16% before Brady) and 15% for federal prisoners (was 12% before Brady) are caught with firearms.279
    Fact: The Brady Bill is not enforced. In 2006, of 77,000 Field Office referrals for instant background check violations (25,259 of which NICS identified as buyers with felony records), 0.4% (273) were ever charged with a crime and 0.1% (73) were convicted.280
    Fact: The Brady law has so far failed to appreciably save lives.281
    Fact: Violent crime started falling in 1991, three years before passage of the Brady law. The Brady law did not apply in 18 states, yet violent crime in those states fell just as quickly.282
    Fact: A majority of Americans agree that the bill is worthless. 51% believe the act has been ineffective at reducing violent crime, and 56% believe it has had no impact on reducing the number of homicides in the U.S.283



    279 Firearm Use by Offenders, Bureau of Justice Statistics, November 2001
    280 Enforcement of the Brady Act, 2006, Regional Justice Information Service, study funded by Bureau of Justice Statistics, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.
    281 Dr. Jens Ludwig, Dr. Philip J. Cook, Journal of the American Medical Association, August 2000
    282 Gun Licensing Leads to Increased Crime, Lost Lives, Prof. John Lott, L.A. Times, Aug 23, 2000, based on both the FBI Uniform Crime Statistics for 1990s and the U.S. Justice Department Crime Victimization Survey
    283 Portrait of America survey, August 2000
     
    #2     Dec 19, 2012
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