Minuteman Monthly Newsletter Issue 43 February 2005 Minuteman Monthly Newsletter Subscribers, The months of December and January were great for visitation statistics. www.SaveTheGuns.com has surpassed two million hits and we had almost 30,000 page views in December and are on a pace to hit at least 20,000 pages in January as I write this. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Year 2004 Statistics Year 2004 year ending visitation statistics and income/expenditure statement is in. 106,499 visitors looked at 235,684 pages during the year 2004 at www.SaveTheGuns.com. Income and expenditures were a very disappointing venture however. Total income for the year 2004 was $351.34 and total expenditures were $428.49. This made 2004 a total loss in income of $-77.15. That's $77.15 of my family's grocery money that I used to "SAVE-THE-GUNS" in the year 2004. Out of the 106,499 visitors, a very big and hearty thank you, goes out to the four (4) visitors who made a special contribution to my efforts to help save your firearms. I'm not embarrassed by my net loss of income for the year. Just the contrary actually. In had 6,104 children log into my "For Kids Only" page and learn how to be safe around firearms. I had 5,368 visitors log into my "Safety Rules" page and look at my 49 rules for proper gun safety. I'm making a difference, I'm just not making any money at it. www.SaveTheGuns.com/contributions.htm If any of you have any ideas whatsoever on how I can actually make more money than I spend in 2005, please give me a quick e-mail with your suggestions. info@savetheguns.com. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I want to start out this month's issue of the Minuteman Monthly recapping a bit of what I said last month. That is that I think the best way to change the mind of someone with anti-gun leanings, is to take them shooting. Furthermore, taking them shooting is better than rattling off statistics like a machine gun. However, it is only second to statistics, facts and figures. I have found in my pro-Second Amendment activism over the last twenty years, that people who are anti-gunners, for the most part, don't have a clue what they are talking about and cold hard statistics are a good way to give them a clue. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SAVETHEGUNS.COM QUOTES OF THE MONTH "On every question of construction (of the Constitution) let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invent against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed." Thomas Jefferson June 12, 1823 "(The Constitution preserves) the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation...(where) the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms." James Madison, The Federalist, Number 46 "The highest number to which, according to the best computation, a standing army can be carried in any country, does not exceed one hundredth part of the whole number of souls; or one twenty-fifth part of the number able to bear arms. This proportion would not yield, in the United States, an army of more than twenty-five or thirty thousand men. To these would be opposed a militia amounting to near half a million of citizens with arms in their hands, officered by men chosen from among themselves, fighting for their common liberties, and united and conducted by governments possessing their affections and confidence. It may well be doubted, whether a militia thus circumstanced could ever be conquered by such a proportion of regular troops." James Madison, The Federalist, Number 46, January 29, 1788 "No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation." --General Douglas MacArthur "[I]t is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand. Religion and virtue are the only foundations...of republicanism and of all free governments." John Adams (1735-1826) Second President of the United States. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SAVETHEGUNS.COM GUN SAFETY TIP OF THE MONTH ALWAYS obey range rules and a Range Safety Officer. A Range Safety Officer has everyone's best interest in mind. Don't feel angry if a Range Safety Officer corrects something you are doing wrong. There are quite a few gun safety rules and they all must be obeyed at the same time. Don't get all bent out of shape and angry if a Range Safety Officer at a gun club gets on you for doing something against club rules. He or she is held somewhat responsible for the safety of all shooters at the range. Even the very best of us could use a second pair of eyes watching for any type of safety violations. Even if the Range Safety Officer seems a little "over the top", try to be courteous and at least acknowledge his or her efforts. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DID YOU KNOW? Did you know that I make commissions when you buy anything from the advertisements I carry at www.SaveTheGuns.com? The next time you need to buy something online, whether it be ink-jet ink, a birthday gift from E-Bay or military surplus items from CheaperThanDirt.com, please use the advertisements that I carry to go to those sites when you are ready to make a purchase. I have just recently became affiliated with a few more companies like Overstock.com, Target and Wal-mart. Please watch for some new advertisements and check them out for some bargains. http://www.savetheguns.com/let's_go_shopping.htm +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ MINUTEMAN MONTHLY NEWSLETTER AIMING POINT This month, as you might have guessed from my introductory paragraph is concerning what I believe is the second most powerful tool we can use in pro-gun activism. Statistics ladies and gentlemen, statistics... Instead of going into a long and involved explanation, I will simply list what I have and you can read them and use them as you wish. Statistics, Facts and Figures... **Self defense with a firearm occurs anywhere from 5,000 to as many as 6,800 times a day in the United States, depending upon the study you trust. **In about 93.3% of the incidences of self defense with a firearm, the gun is not fired. **In about 6.7% of the time, the defender's gun is discharged at least once before the criminal gets the hint and leaves the area. **Between 20% and 25% of the time, anyone shot once dies as a result. Today, the survival rate of a single gun shot wound is 75% to 80%. **There are about one hundred sixty times (160X) more defensive uses of firearms than murders using firearms each year. (40 murders committed with a firearm each day and about 6400 self defense uses of firearms each day.) **The FBI reports that about 11% of all gun owners and 13% of handgun owners have utilized one of their firearms for purposes of self defense. **About 14% of all homicides involve complete strangers. 86% of the time, the murder victim knows the person who killed them. **The number of homicides that involve more than one victim is very low. Each year it is less than 1%. **99.8% of all firearms and 99.6% of all handguns in the United States are not used to commit a crime with in any given year. **39.6% of all guns used to commit crime with, were supplied by friends or family of the perpetrator. **39.2% of all guns used to commit crime with, were obtained illegally through the drug trade, on the street and through robberies and burglaries of homes and businesses. **8.3% of all guns used to commit crime with, were obtained fraudulently through lawful and licensed channels of commerce like sporting goods stores and gun shops. **3.8% of all guns used to commit crime with, were obtained fraudulently through pawn shops. **1.0% of all guns used to commit crime with, were obtained through yard sales and flea markets. **0.7% of all guns used to commit crime with, were obtained at a gun show. **Only about 5% of honest and upstanding American firearm owners are members of the National Rifle Association. **Accidental death with a firearm has declined 91% since its all-time high figure in 1903 as a percentage of U.S. population, even though firearm ownership has quintupled in the same time period. **There have been new lows in accidental death with a firearm set in 15 of the last 19 years. **The current rate of accidental death with a firearm, as a percentage of all deaths is just 4/10ths of one percent (0.4%). **There were 182 accidental deaths involving firearms in children ages 0 to 19 in the year 2001. That is historically quite low, but it is a 3.4% increase over the year 2000. **35 of the 50 states in the United States allow concealed carry of firearms. Two of them without any permit needed and three of them with open carry allowed. Residents of Vermont and Alaska do not need to apply for a permit to carry a concealed firearm for personal protection. **The state of Vermont has twenty two times (22X) fewer incidences of violent crime per 100,000 citizens than Washington D.C. where handguns are banned. **In More Guns, Less Crime (1998), the University of Chicago's John Lott examined the impact of concealed carry permits. Using data from all 3,054 U.S. counties between 1977 and 1992, he found that after controlling for other factors, concealed handgun laws reduce murder by 8.5 percent, rape by 5 percent and assaults by 7 percent. **86.2% of the firearms used to commit crime with in any given year are not purchased through any type of retail transaction, but are obtained illegally through robberies, burglaries, on the street, through the illicit narcotics trade or from family and friends of the perpetrator. **The National Guard was formed 116 years after the ratification of the Second Amendment. **85% of all violent crime is committed by only 7% of the criminals. If we incarcerated or executed the most violent 7% segment of the criminals, we would then reduce violent crime by a whopping 85%. **The average career criminal commits approximately 200 crimes a year. **0.171% of the physicians each year cause an accidental death. 0.0000188% of American gun owners have an accidental discharge that results in death each year. Gun owners are a lot safer to be around than physicians. Doctors are about nine thousand times (9000X) more dangerous than gun owners. **Of the most violent 6 states plus the District of Columbia, that prohibit concealed carry, they average 601 violent crimes per year, per 100,000 citizens!!! Of the 7 states that have had "shall issue" concealed carry laws the longest (prior to 1987), they average only 193 violent crimes, per 100,000 citizens!!! **Incidents of violent crime average about 1100 per 100,000 Citizens in States with strict gun control laws, including the District of Columbia. Violent crime rates in States that are only covered by the Brady Law are about 110 per 100,000 Citizens. Tough gun control laws makes your state ten times (10X) more violent. **Current "smart gun" technology works reliably about eighty percent (80%) of the time. If you ever need a "smart gun" to help save your life, you better be good at prayer. **It takes about five minutes to send a short e-mail to an elected representative. In one week's time, one can send 2016 e-mails at five minutes each. Can you send just one this week about the Citizen's Self Defense Act of 2005 in the United States House of Representatives H.R. 47. **90% of runaway and homeless children had no father in the home. **85% of men and women currently serving time in prison had no father in the home. **85% of children with behavioral disorders had no father in the home. **80% of all convicted rapists had no father in the home to guide them toward true religious morality. **75% of all drug-addicted adolescents live in fatherless homes. **The average American child receives 37 seconds of interaction with their father each day on average, which is the second worst rate in the world. Only Great Britain is worse than that. **0.00% of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America thought government should strictly control privately held firearms. **The United States Department of Justice found that, in 1989, there were 168,881 crimes of violence for which police had not responded within 1 hour. **Each year, about 192,000 cases of self-defense are women who are defending themselves from sexual abuse. **in Warren v. District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department, 444 A.2d 1 (D.C. App. 1981), the court stated: `[C]ourts have without exception concluded that when a municipality or other governmental entity undertakes to furnish police services, it assumes a duty only to the public at large and not to individual members of the community. Basically, you're responsible for protecting yourself and in Washington D.C., you can't use a handgun. **In 1988, in America's largest 75 counties, 89% of adult murderers had adult criminal records. **Approximately 3.1 Billion dollars is saved in victim costs for every 1% increase in nationwide firearm ownership. The above statistics have been taken from a host of sources over the five (5) years that I have owned and operated www.SaveTheGuns.com. Each statistic is researched and trustworthy. They have been obtained by a myriad of sources such as the National Safety Council, the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports, an array of books by Massad Ayoob (for sale on the Web site), as well as books by John R. Lott Jr. and others. Any of these books may be easily obtained from my Amazon.com link found in the left hand border of every page at www.SaveTheGuns.com. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ As usual, you may copy, paste, print, post, forward or otherwise use this newsletter in any way you wish, as long as you mention somewhere where you got it. www.SaveTheGuns.com Thank you for registering as a Minuteman Monthly Newsletter Recipient. If you don't want this newsletter or the legislative alerts anymore, just send me an e-mail with "Unsubscribe MMM" in the subject line to: info@savetheguns.com