The Truth Is Everything

"I am nothing, truth is everything."
Abraham Lincoln

This Page Last Updated 05/13/2014

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"Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws."
Plato (429-347 BC)

Even in this "Information Age", I find so many mistruths, misconceptions and some outright lies concerning the issues of concealed carry, accidental discharges and the total failures of gun control to affect the criminal mind and the career criminal's access to guns.

"The spirit of truth and the spirit of freedom -- they are the pillars of society."
Henrik Ibsen  (1828-1906)  Source: Pillars of Society, 1877

There are many issues related to firearms that have a lot of misinformation written about them in the media and on the Internet.  I will try to straighten out the kinks.

Before I get to the fifteen topics I have listed below, I have something to say about gun control laws in general.  Laws are passed to help control the actions of those who are willing or inclined to do unethical and immoral things for monetary or personal gain.

The decent, honest, caring and upright citizens need no laws to make them behave in a civil and courteous manner.  The citizen who conducts his/her life within moral and religious boundaries set forth by the Ten Commandments of God, needs no law to keep from doing wrong.

"In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act."
George Orwell  [Eric Arthur Blair] (1903-1950) British author

Since laws are intended to control the misdeeds of the unscrupulous, why do most gun control laws curtail the ownership, use, carry, sale and transportation of lawfully owned firearms?  Most traditional gun control laws affect only those who obey the law in the first place.  That is a wrong-headed approach.

The bottom line is the fact that upright and righteous gun owners don't commit crimes, so why are we subjected to laws that are designed to control the unscrupulous violent criminal thug?  The honest gun owner needs no such laws and the dishonest violent criminal thug obeys no such laws.

The focus upon violent crime MUST be taken off of the firearms and onto the violent criminal thug.  Laws meant to reduce acts of violence committed with firearms must specifically punish the criminal for possessing a gun or using a gun during the commission of their criminal activity.

Furthermore, actual sources of guns that are used during the commission of a crime should be focused upon, rather than focusing restrictive legislation upon all gun sales that include the law abiding, upright and honest citizen.  The actual sources of guns that are used during the commission of a crime are listed below.

"Truth never envelops itself in mystery, and the mystery in which it is at any time enveloped is the work of its antagonist, and never of itself."
Thomas Paine  (1737-1809)

The average American citizen gets all their firearm knowledge from the media, the movies and Saturday morning cartoons.  These are not the best sources of truthful and accurate information about firearms.

I get very agitated when the evening news on any major network, morning talk shows and afternoon talk shows, come out with some off the wall, left wing bozo as an expert on gun control, who wouldn't know the difference between an ejector rod and a hammer spur.

Whenever the television shows come out with a gun control advocate, it is very clear that the person knows nearly nothing about firearms, how they operate, their capabilities and their limitations and I end up yelling at the television in frustration.

I have had the distinct displeasure of heated discussion on the topic of gun control and the Second Amendment with opponents who tenaciously refuse to consider facts. These people who insist that guns are always evil and that therefore, gun owners must also be bad people, are simply not worth arguing with.

If one holds unsound and faulty presuppositions with sufficient tenacity, facts will make no difference at all and one will be able to create a world entirely of one's own, totally unrelated to reality and totally unable to be touched by reality.

"Sit down before fact as a little child, be prepared to give up every preconceived notion, follow humbly wherever and whatever abysses nature leads, or you will learn nothing."
Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)

Such a condition (which philosophers call solipsistic, psychiatrists call autistically psychotic and defense lawyers call insanity) is in a way equivalent to death because all connections with the real living world have been severed. If facts make no difference at all to someone because of their strongly held faulty and unsound presuppositions, they might as well cease to exist. The opinion of any person such as this, is of no value or worth to society.

"The mortalist enemy unto knowledge, and that which hath done the greatest execution unto truth, has been a preemptory adhesion unto authority."
Sir Thomas Browne  (1605-1682)
Source: Religio Medici, 1642

"Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open."
Sir James Dewar  Scientist (1877-1925)

This is my opportunity to get out the truth.

Bookmarked subjects on this page:

"It is error alone which needs the support of government.  Truth can stand by itself."
Thomas Jefferson  (1743-1826), US Founding Father, drafted the Declaration of Independence, 3rd US President
Source: Notes on the State of Virginia, 1782

"He who does not bellow out the truth when he knows the truth makes himself the accomplice of liars and forgers."
Charles Peguy  (1873-1914) French poet, essayist and editor

"Freedom of expression is the well-spring of our civilization... The history of civilization is in considerable measure the displacement of error which once held sway as official truth by beliefs which in turn have yielded to other truths.  Therefore the liberty of man to search for truth ought not to be fettered, no matter what orthodoxies he may challenge."
Felix Frankfurter  (1882-1965) U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Source: Concurring Opinion, Dennis et al. v. U.S. (1951)

Firearm Accidents

There seems to me to be quite a bit of misinformation about accidental deaths that occur because of the mishandling of a loaded firearm.

The decline in accidental deaths related to firearms is truly one of the greatest success stories of all, yet the myth persists.

Gun accidents have declined 94%, even though the number of firearms in the country has more than quintupled!!!!

From 1991 to 2011 the negligent handling of a loaded firearm that resulted in death went from 1,441 in 1991 to just 600 in 2011.  That alone is a decline of 58%.

"Truth is incontrovertible, ignorance can deride it, panic may resent it, malice may destroy it, but there it is."
Sir Winston Churchill  (1874-1965) Prime Minister of England

The evening news and the newspapers always sensationalize a tragic accidental death.  This sensationalism makes it seem like unintentional death with a gun is a leading cause of death.

THE TRUTH

The highest rate of accidental death involving firearms occurred in the year 1904.  FIREARM ACCIDENTS HAVE DECREASED NINETY FOUR PERCENT (-94%) SINCE THEN.

Since 1930, the United States population has more than doubled.  The number of firearms in U.S. homes has quintupled.  Firearm accidents have DECREASED IN THIS SAME TIME PERIOD BY EIGHTY PERCENT (-80%).

Currently the rate of accidental deaths involving firearms is at 0.2 per 100,000 citizens.  More children choke to death on pencils and drown in buckets of water, than die from the mishandling of a gun.  And that's the truth.  Like it or not and I'm hoping you're encouraged by these statistics.

Today, the odds are a million to one, against a child in the U.S. dying in a firearm accident.  The really unfortunate part of this phenomenal success story is that almost nobody knows about it.  Gun accidents can be totally, unequivocally and absolutely eliminated forever, if only everyone would read the following two (2) pages and obey everything on them.  And that is the truth.

I am a Certified Firearm Instructor and I wrote everything on this Web site myself.  I know of which I speak.  Unlike most of the media talking heads.  Please see my two most popular pages on the subject of gun safety.

Safety Rules

For Kids Only

"Search for the truth is the noblest occupation of man; its publication is a duty."
Anne Louise Germaine de Stael  (1766-1817) French author

Concealed Carry

There seems to be a commonly held myth that allowing concealed carry in public is a dangerous policy.  This is indeed not the case at all.  In fact, those who choose to lawfully carry a concealed firearm in public and obtain training and a permit to do so, are among the most law abiding and honest people I know.

"Fear can only prevail when victims are ignorant of the facts."
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), US Founding Father, drafted the Declaration of Independence, 3rd US President

Many anti-gun advocates erroneously predicted that allowing law abiding gun owners to freely obtain concealed carry permits, would lead to gun fights in the streets.  They said it would lead to an escalation of minor arguments into gun fights in our neighborhoods.

The truth is that just the opposite has happened.  Wherever "Shall Issue" concealed carry laws have been adopted, crime involving firearms has decreased.  Sometimes, this decrease has been dramatic, sometimes the decrease has been slight, but crime has almost never risen after "Shall Issue" concealed carry laws were adopted.

In the early 1980's only eight of the fifty U.S. States were shall-issue states.  In shall-issue states, that means that the state will issue a concealed carry permit as long as training and background checks are completed.

"Shall Issue" concealed carry, means that the local licensing agency will issue the concealed carry permit, as long as the applicant does not have any criminal record.  40 of the 50 states are "Shall Issue" states, 10 states are "May Issue" states.

At least four (4) of the "Shall Issue" states allow concealed carry with only a driver's license that shows your age of at least 21 years.

I find it interesting to note that according to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports, the states that allow lawful Citizens to carry concealed are the states with the lowest number of violent crimes.

For example, the state of Vermont, where one only has to have a clean record and be at least 21 years old to carry a concealed gun, has 22 times fewer incidence of violent crime per 100,000 Citizens than Washington D.C., which has had a total ban on firearms since the mid-seventies.

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.

"The main thing is to have a soul that loves the truth and harbours it where he finds it. And another thing: truth requires constant repetition, because error is being preached about us all the time, and not only by isolated individuals but by the masses. In the newspapers and encyclopedias, in schools and universities, everywhere error rides high and basks in the consciousness of having the majority on its side."
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe  (1749-1832)  German writer

Gun Show Sales

There is a pervasive rumor going around, that gun shows are actually arms bazaars for street thugs.  Again, this is a falsehood that really needs a big dose of truth.

"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored."
Aldous Huxley  (1894-1963) Author

The truth is so very important to an issue like this one.  There is a wide array of bills that are using up the valuable time and resources of our Congress and our state legislatures for absolutely nothing!!!

These bills seem to be aimed at a long time goal of anti-gun advocates.  Namely banning the sale of all firearms between law-abiding and honest individuals.

Remember that since the Gun Control Act of 1968, it is illegal for a convicted felon to possess a firearm in any way whatsoever.

Federal law already requires background checks on anyone who buys a firearm from dealers at gun shows.  Federal law already imposes a 10-year prison sentence on criminals who even attempt to buy guns, at gun shows or anywhere else for that matter.

A National Institute of Justice study of convicted felons in state prisons found that criminals bought firearms at gun shows so rarely that it was not possible to even report those sales as a separate category.

The U.S. Department of Justice released a study of 18,000 state prison inmates that showed only 0.7% of guns used in crime were originally purchased at gun shows.

Many of these firearms used in criminal activity, were bought through a "straw purchase".  A "straw purchase" is where a legal gun buyer illegally acting as a surrogate for the criminal, purchases a gun for them.  This act in itself is unlawful and is punishable by prison time.

In fact 86.2% of guns used by convicted state inmates were not even obtained at a retail level, but rather through friends, family and illegal sources.  Only 13.8% of the guns used in crime were bought at all nationwide retail outlets COMBINED.

Federal law requires that any person who is engaged in the business of selling firearms, must have a Federal Firearms License (FFL) and conduct the NICS background checks.

The "unlicensed dealers" at gun shows are normally those who sell books, clothing, videotapes, knives, holsters and other equipment.

Individuals who occasionally sell or trade firearms from their personal collections, need not be licensed.  Neither are they required to conduct an NICS background check.  This is true whether the sale occurs at home, at a range, gun club or anywhere else.

Occasional and irregular sales of firearms between friends and family should not be banned or heavily regulated.  These types of sales have been going on since the 1300's.

Felons are already prohibited from possessing firearms.  Burdening the honest and obedient gun owner will not prevent felons from buying illegal guns.  And that's the truth.

"The man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them; inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to the truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors."
Thomas Jefferson  (1743-1826), US Founding Father, drafted the Declaration of Independence, 3rd US President
Source: Letter to John Novell, June 11, 1807

Guns "Going Off"

There is still quite a bit of misconception still floating around about stories of guns "going off" by themselves.

Let me make this truth perfectly clear:

Firearms do not fire by themselves!!!

I hope that was clear enough.  Guns do not and cannot simply "go off" by themselves.  That is the same as insinuating that a book of matches caused a building to burn down all by themselves.  It would also be the same thing as putting blame on a pencil for a misspelled word, or to put the blame for obesity upon silverware.

Guns need human interaction in order to work.  Wouldn't it be nice if the kitchen floor would wax itself, or a load of laundry would wash and dry itself?  The gun will never work without someone firing it.

On the news, I occasionally will see someone charged with a criminal act, trying to convince the Assistant District Attorney or the jury that the gun he had in his possession just "went off by itself".

Again, I find myself hollering at the television in frustration.

A gun is only a machine that is used to store, aim and launch ammunition.  It launches a small piece of metal (bullet) at very high speed.  The human being interacting with the gun is the one that determines why, when and where this bullet goes.

Guns Don't "Go Off" During Cleaning

I have heard a few times on television and in newspapers that after a shooting in a home, the shooter claims that the gun discharged while he was cleaning it.

Again, let me reiterate what I have already said.  Guns do not fire without first being loaded with ammunition, all safeties (if they exist) being switched off and the trigger being pulled.  If someone was injured, the gun was also pointed at someone while all these circumstances occurred at the same time.

The claim that a "gun fired while I was cleaning it" is total bull crap.  What happened was the trigger was pulled on a loaded gun, with all safeties switched to 'Fire' and then the firearm was pointed in a dangerous direction resulting in an injury.  If the gun was a revolver, the situation gets even more unlikely.  The cylinder was swung open and loaded, then closed, then the revolver was pointed in a dangerous direction and either the hammer was drawn backwards thereby cocking it, or the trigger was pulled with a double-action trigger pull weight of probably more than eight pounds.

If that was unintentional and negligent, it was performed by the most inept and incompetent firearm owner I have ever seen.  You do not clean a gun by loading it, switching the safety to 'Fire', pointing it in a dangerous direction and then pulling the trigger, that's called shooting it!!!

The very first step in cleaning a gun is to open the action.  This very first step in cleaning would prevent a gun from being fired in the first place.  Upon the opening of the action, if the gun was mistakenly left loaded, it would become evident at that point. Then the gun should be unloaded and the ammunition should be removed from the area before cleaning begins.  Problem solved.

After the action is open, the second step would be to push a solvent soaked brush down the full length of the barrel.  You cannot do this if the gun is loaded.  If the gun is a revolver, the excuse really doesn't hold water, because the cartridge would be readily visible within the open cylinder.  So, in short, cleaning a firearm while it's loaded is simply not possible.

The excuse that the gun fired while it was being was cleaned is a total line of BS.  The police know this, the Assistant District Attorneys know this, firearm instructors and gun enthusiasts know this, but much of the general public does not.

When the news reports that a gun fired while it was being cleaned, the public at large just swallows that misrepresentation as the truth.

The truth on this one, is that the shooter pulled the trigger of a loaded gun and if someone was injured, the gun was also pointed in a dangerous direction.  That's called shooting at someone with a gun, not cleaning it.

The gun cannot fire from being cleaned.  And that is the truth.

The Wild, Wild West

There is a pervasive misconception about western and mid-western cities of the late 1800's.  This misconception is widely held and I would like to dispel this rumor right here.

There certainly was a certain degree of violence among the people living in the West during the later half of the 19th century, but the majority of these were due to clashes with Indian tribes, bandit gangs and foreign nations.

From 1870 to 1885, the rates of violent acts were higher in the major cities of the East than those of the West.  Areas of the Mid-West and West were much safer and much more civilized, in general than we are today.

For example, in the populated cities of Virginia City, Nevada, Leadville, Colorado and Dallas, Texas, there were no recorded homicides at all, despite a high rate of gun ownership.

In these same 15 years (1870 to 1885) there were an average of three (3) homicides per year in the major railroad cities of Abilene, Dodge City, Wichita, Caldwell and Ellsworth.

In fact, Dodge City, Kansas, the subject of many movie "Westerns" only exceeded five (5) shooting deaths in a single year (1876).

The misperception that these cities were seedbeds of hundreds of gun fights a month, comes from people watching too many movies and too much television.

The truth of the matter is that there was not very much ordinary street crime in the "Wild, Wild West" because a high portion of the public at large, freely carried firearms.  And what sane person is going to rob a country store, when the proprietor is carrying a Colt Single Action Army pistol on his hip?

The truth is told.

Sources:

Terry L. Anderson and P. J. Hill, "An American Experiment in Anarcho-capitalism: The Not So Wild, Wild West," Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. III, No. 1, pp. 9-29.

Robert R. Dykstra, The Cattle Towns (New York: Knopf, 1968), p. 44.

Charles F. Eckhardt, "Debunking the Wild West Fantasy," Guns & Ammo, September 1973, pp. 36-37.

W. Eugene Hollon, Frontier Violence: Another Look (New York: Oxford University Press, 1974).

Lawful Gun Owners

I realize that this may very well be pointless to state, but I feel like I must do so anyway.

Gun control laws are observed and obeyed by gun owners who by their very nature abide by the law.  These lawful firearm owners do not commit any crimes.  In fact 99.8% of all firearms in America are not used to commit any crimes in any given year.

My question to the anti-gun activist is; if lawful, honest and upright gun owners do not commit any crime, then why is gun control legislation aimed at law-abiding gun owners?  This is a question we all would like to have answered.

We realize that lawful gun owners don't commit crime, but what can be done?

Simple answer.  Listen up America.  We simply add strict penalties onto a crime wherever a firearm is present or used.  For example.  If a career criminal commits a robbery and has a firearm with him, but does not brandish it, add five (5) years without parole onto the robbery sentence.

If he brandishes the firearm during the commission of that robbery, he gets ten (10) years added on to the original sentence.

If he fires the gun during the commission of the robbery, he gets fifteen (15) years of prison time added to his sentence.

If he injures OR kills somebody during the commission of that crime with the firearm, he gets twenty (20) years of prison time added to the sentence.

This added prison time would be "real time" of course.  No "good behavior", no early release, no parole, no BS.  This prison time MUST BE ADDED to the criminal's sentence if he chooses a firearm to commit a crime with.  That is the ONLY WAY.

Remember one thing, law abiding gun owners do not commit any crimes.  And that's the plain truth.

Afraid Of Guns?

Human beings have always feared the unknown.  It is a completely natural phenomenon.  Fear of the unknown is one of the foundations of the human psyche that has perpetuated the human race for quite a while now.

Fear is an understandable emotional toward an object or a concept that has the potential to be deadly and something in which one is completely unfamiliar.  There's nothing to be ashamed of in that respect.  However, please be aware of the fact that the first guns appeared before the halfway point of the 12th century.

According to some historians, the first guns that used gun powder to send projectiles happened during the Siege of Seville in the year 1247, but it was actually in the 1100's in China when Chinese fire lances were shortened and improved for firing projectiles.  At this writing it's 2014.  The first guns were used about eight hundred eighty five (885) years ago, about the year 1129.  When the gun was first introduced to Europe, the majority of earth's inhabitants would think the planet was flat as a pancake for another two hundred fifty (250) years.  It's well past time to get over our fear of firearms.

According to other historians, hand-cannons were first used at the Battle of Ain Jalut in the year 1260.  So whether it was the improved Chinese fire lance of the early 1100s, the  Siege of Seville in 1247 or Battle of Ain Jalut in the year 1260, the fact remains that guns are not new.  In fact, the wheel-lock musket was invented around the year 1500 reportedly by Leonardo Da Vinci himself.

Most people who are not completely familiar with firearms, get most of their knowledge from television dramas, movies, the evening news and Saturday morning cartoons.  These are not the best sources of truth concerning firearms.

We have grown up watching cheesy detective shows on television where the hero fires a .38 special snub-nose revolver at the bad guy's car and the car explodes and jumps fifteen (15) feet into the air.

The truth is that the small hole that the detective's gun would have put in the radiator is quite unimpressive.  So the show's creators plant explosive charges in the vehicle and have the car hit a ramp at the same time for the dramatic result.

When we grow up watching this farce on television, it is no wonder that there is a pervasive fear of firearms in America.  This irrational and yet pervasive fear of firearms is so prevalent that it even has a name.  It's called Hoplophobia.  It is a general, yet irrational fear of guns.

A firearm is simply a device that stores and discharges a small piece of metal at very high speed.  It does nothing without human interaction.  And it will NOT make a vehicle jump into the air and explode into a fireball.

What we MUST DO  is to replace fear of firearms with knowledge.  Once we are familiar with the true capabilities of guns along with their limitations and understand how they work, we can substitute irrational fear with confident knowledge.

If you are one of those people who are afraid of guns, you too can replace this fear with knowledge.  Call your local gun club and sign up for their next basic gun safety and education course.  The fee is usually less than forty dollars ($40) and some clubs even will teach you for free, if you become a member.

There has never been an accidental death at an NRA Basic Firearm Education course.  The National Rifle Association has been teaching firearm safety and marksmanship since 1871 and I have been certified by them to teach those courses.

My opinion is that most gun control advocates actually have a senseless fear of guns.  This fear gradually develops into enmity or animosity.  This hatred of guns is the only foundation that gun control activists stand on.  Because they certainly don't stand upon truth or common sense.

Self-Defense
VS 
Crime

Because of the pervasive misinformation about guns used in crime and guns used for self-defense, I feel I really must make this point crystal clear.

Guns are used about two hundred fifty eight times (258X) more for defensive purposes, than for murdering people in the United States.

Furthermore, firearms are used more than five times (5X) more for self-defense than for committing ANY crime with.

This is a pretty well-known fact, that the leftist and elitist media seems quite content to ignore.

According to one of the most comprehensive studies done on guns and crime by the University of Florida in 1993, Americans use firearms approximately 6,000 to 7,000 times per day for self-defense.  That works out to approximately two point two million (2,200,000) to two and a half million (2,500,000) defensive uses of firearms per year.

In 2010, there were 14,748 murders, 65.7% of which were committed with firearms.  That means there were 9,689 gun-related murders in the United States in 2010 and 5,059 murders committed with some other method.

Let's analyze the facts:

1. 26.54 murders are committed with firearms everyday.

2. 6,027 to 6849 times a day, firearms are used for self-defense.

3. Firearms are used 258 times more for self-defense than for murder, DO THE MATH

In about 13 or 14 out of 15 instances of self-defense, the defender's gun is not fired.

When confronted with an armed and determined potential victim, the criminal will back off about 93% of the time.  According to most studies done on the subject, the criminal will retreat in at least 9 out of 10 instances.  But don't fool yourself, today's street savvy punks will smell your fear like a dog and will attack you, if they feel you are reluctant to fire on them to save yourself or your family.

These self-defense instances include protection from animal attacks, store robberies, rapes, home invasions and others.

Americans utilize self-defense with their firearms about 2.5 million times a year, while murders committed with guns, don't exceed 1/258th of that total.

And that is the truth!!!

How about it, ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CNN, let's tell the truth for a change, and not cloak the facts with emotionalism and elitist "political correctness".

Sources

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/tables/10shrtbl07.xls

The Second Amendment

The Second Amendment

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

Without much doubt, I think the issue that needs the most clarification is the original intention and meaning of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution which is embodied in the Bill of Rights.  I have a page totally dedicated to straightening you all out on the Second Amendment, so if you'd like something more on this, see my 2nd Amendment page.

Please feel free to visit my "Links" page and take a look at all the Second Amendment links I have listed there.  Those sites go much deeper into the Right To Keep And Bear Arms than I will here.

Quite a few uninformed people think that the Second Amendment refers to the National Guard's right to have firearms.  This erroneous misconception seems to be prevalent in many political roundtable talks.

The National Guard was created by the Militia Act of 1903, this act is also known as the "Dick Act" after its author.  Subsequent national defense acts brought the National Guard under control of each State and then under control of the Federal Government.

The National Guard was formed 116 years after the Second Amendment was ratified.

The argument from the anti-gun side that the first part of the Second Amendment refers to the National Guard holds no water at all.  That is because when the Second Amendment was ratified, the militia of the United States consisted of all able-bodied males between the ages of 16 and 60.  Later on, this was changed to males 18 to 45 years of age.

The term "well regulated" in the late 1700's meant that something was in proper working order, something that was calibrated correctly and something that was functioning as it should.  When the term is applied to the militia of the time, it meant that the militia should be properly trained, exercise regularly and that they be able to carry out their tasks in an expedient and efficient manner.

It did not mean regulation by legislative action.

The term "the right of the people to keep and bear arms" means just what it says.  The term "the people" is used throughout the founding documents (first, second, fourth, ninth and tenth amendments in the Bill of Rights) and nowhere does it mean anything other than the general population of the United States.  Allow me to quote:

"Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birth-right of an American. . . . The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the People." 
Tench Coxe, Pennsylvania Gazette, February 20, 1788.

The original intention of the Second Amendment is the single most important aspect of this argument.  Please take a look at the "Quotes" page to see for yourself, what the Founding Fathers thought and meant when considering the Second Amendment's meaning.

Another thing that the everyday American does not realize is that in all of our nation's founding documents, "Powers" or "Authority" are granted to States or the Federal Government and "Rights" are always guaranteed to the general population of the United States.

The Second Amendment was never intended to solely reflect a State's power to form its own militia, but it was also intended as a self-imposed restriction upon government.  In fact, the entire Bill of Rights are self-imposed government restrictions.

Yes, you see, the Bill of Rights is actually a listing of negative liberties.  Please allow me to explain myself:

Our Founding Fathers knew all to well, as we also know today, that government always seeks to gain more control, power and authority for itself.

They did not trust a powerful central government that had a limitless degree of control over its Citizens.

"I hope, therefore, a bill of rights will be formed to guard the people against the Federal government as they are already guarded against their State governments, in most instances." 
Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1788. ME 7:98

The Bill of Rights is actually a listing of rights that are retained by the people to protect themselves from their own government.  These rights are enumerated in the Bill of Rights in order to protect the people from a government gone awry.  They are limitations on government power over the people, rather than rights granted to the people by government.  If you don't believe me, start studying real history and not the revisionist crap that is spewing from current academia who are more interested in "political correctness" than the truth.

The best that the anti-gun person can come up with in regards to a Second Amendment argument in their favor is the Miller case of 1939 that was heard in the United States Supreme Court.

In the Miller case, the defendants Jack Miller and Frank Layton were not present and neither was their legal counsel.  Therefore, there was no opposing view available for the Supreme Court Justices to review and consider.

Using the Miller Case of 1939 as an argument for gun control is a misinterpretation of the decision itself.

They were charged with violation of the National Firearms Act of 1934, which is actually a tax law and not a ban on machine guns or short barreled shotguns.

For more info on Miller, go to my "Second Amendment" page.

For research on the Second Amendment, take a look at my "Links" page first.

The 1939 Miller case in whole, is not a case that supports the views of gun control advocates.  However gun control advocates have taken blurbs from the case and twisted them to their own liking.  Please read the review of the Miller case on my "Second Amendment" page.  If anything, Miller supported the rights of American citizens to own and carry military firepower.

The Criminal Mind

I would suppose that the central purpose of laws that regulate the possession, transfer, usage and transportation of firearms is intended to curtail the use of guns during the commission of crimes.

Congressmen and state legislators continually cite the "availability of firearms" as a "cause" of crime.  And inevitably they propose and pass laws that regulate the ownership and possession of firearms.

For a moment, let's see things from the perspective of the criminal mind.

Federal statistics show that 85% of all violent crime in the United States is committed by only 7% of the criminal population.

This small 7% segment of the criminal population is the most hardened, angry, violent and barbaric humans that walk the earth.

This 7% component of the criminal population are ready and willing to commit the most heinous and vicious crimes known to mankind.  They are willing to risk their lives everyday to perpetrate their own wicked and degenerate brand of violence.

They reportedly commit on average more than 200 crimes each year, according to statistics I have seen.  They readily commit much more serious crimes than firearm violations and never, ever, ever concern themselves with dutifully obeying laws that control gun ownership.

Since the Gun Control Act of 1968, it has been illegal for a convicted felon to be in possession of a firearm, but it is convicted felons who make up this most violent 7% of the criminal element.

This most violent segment of criminals obtain the guns they use to commit crimes with, through family members, friends, illegal drug transactions, robberies, home invasions, straw purchases and the black market.  Law abiding and honest gun owners are not peddling their cherished gun collections on every street corner.

All these sources of illegally purchased firearms exist for the sole purpose of providing guns to criminals.  In the world of the violent criminal, the illegally purchased gun is a valuable tool that enables them to commit their crimes more effectively.

What does all this mean?

It very basically means that gun control laws have no affect whatsoever on the mind of the violent criminal, when he/she considers obtaining a firearm to use to commit crimes with.

In fact, common sense dictates that strict gun control laws and gun bans actually create more black market sources for firearms than those that would normally exist.

Don't get me too wrong here.  I think that there should be logical and rational laws surrounding firearm ownership and possession.  The laws that I think should be in place consist of two (2) distinct types.

1.)  Point of Sale procedures to make sure that convicted felons, sexual predators and the mentally incompetent cannot purchase a firearm at a retail sporting goods store or gun shop.  The National Instant Check System is close to what I have in mind.  The prospective buyer's name and Social Security Number should be checked against a world-wide criminal database.  This Point of Sale instant check must be in place only because religion and morality has not played a large role in America for the last 40 years.

2.)  The other type of law that should exist to curtail the use of firearms in crime are the laws that specifically add additional penalties to a crime if a firearm is in the criminal's possession.

The mind of the most violent criminal segment is not affected by laws that regulate firearms.  A criminal who readily commits violent crime, will ALWAYS be able to get a hold of a firearm, even during something as Draconian as a total ban on gun ownership.

If you don't believe me, take a quick look at the illegal drug trade as an example.

Cocaine, heroine, crack and marijuana are illegal in every corner of the country.  But because of the colossal demand for these illegal drugs, they can be found to some degree in nearly every city and town in the country.

That is because there are a few million people who are willing to break the law to obtain them.  The very same principle existed during Prohibition in the 1920's.  Alcohol could be readily obtained because people were demanding it.  The same thing exists in the illegal gun trade.

Therefore, gun control laws affect only those who obey them.  They have had no affect on the criminal mind.  Gun control laws also create illegal black markets for guns where they don't exist without them.

One (1) in every thirty four (34) American adults is either in prison, in jail, on probation or out on parole.  Did you get that, or did you not read it thoroughly?  1 in every 34 Americans is either in jail, in prison or out on parole, or currently on probation.

We don't have a 'gun problem' in the United States, we have a morality problem.  See my "Share the Solution" page for more details.

Straw Purchases

Many of the guns that have been used in crime were provided to the perpetrators by friends and family members.  In fact, the actual number according to the U.S. Department of Justice is 39.6%.

SaveTheGuns.com believes that there should be much more severe penalties imposed upon people who knowingly provide firearms to criminals.

According to well known statistics, 86.2% of firearms that were used to commit crime with, were supplied to the criminal illegally, by friends, family members or illegal sources like robberies or through the drug trade itself.

If someone knowingly provides a firearm to a criminal who then commits a crime with it.  The penalties for such activities should be treated very, very seriously.

To the best of my knowledge, providing a firearm to a known felon does not in itself result in a felony punishable by as many as five (5) or ten (10) years in prison.

85% of all violent crime is committed by only 7% of the criminal population, almost all of which are already felons.  In fact more than 89% of adults convicted of murder already had criminal records as adults and were therefore disallowed from legally owning firearms in the first place.

Increasing the penalty for providing a firearm to a known felon will reduce the possibility of a known felon obtaining a firearm.

JUST MORE COMMON SENSE FROM SAVETHEGUNS.COM.

We can fight crime where guns are used without diminishing the original intention of the Second Amendment.  I just wish that state legislators and congressional law makers would listen to us pro-gun people and not just turn us off, like they have been doing.  We know guns, and we have something pithy, concise and meaningful to say about them and how to diminish their use in criminal activity.

Doctors Vs Gun Owners

There has been a very disturbing movement among medical professionals to advocate the eradication or at least the abridging of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.  According to the following well known statistics, it seems as if the medical industry should take a closer look in the mirror and then determine who is more dangerous to the American public.

Number of physicians in the US: 700,000.
Accidental deaths caused by physicians per year:  120,000.
Accidental deaths per physician:  0.171
(U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services)

Number of gun owners in the US: 80,000,000.
Number of accidental gun deaths per year (all age groups) 802 (in 2001).
Accidental deaths per gun owner: 0.0000100

Statistically, doctors are thousands of times more dangerous than gun owners.

FACT: Not everyone has a gun, but just about everyone has at least one Doctor.  Please alert your friends to this alarming threat.  We must ban doctors quickly before this gets out of hand.  Of course I'm not serious, but the statistics are serious.

How Felons Get Guns

Let me make this very misunderstood point quite clear:

If state and federal lawmakers can come up with legislation to charge previously convicted violent criminals with a felony with an irrevocable long prison term for even making an attempt to procure a firearm, it would receive widespread support by the law-abiding gun owning community.

Let me make another point very clear:

Laws that regulate the possession and sale of firearms, only apply to purchases made at a legal and licensed retail outlet.  Can you imagine an illegal drug dealer asking one of his addicts for his firearm permit, when he tries to buy drugs with a stolen gun?

How ridiculous!!!  How about a gun-running unlicensed and illegal black-market firearm dealer?  Would they provide a means for a comprehensive background check while making a sale?  How absurd!!!  All 25,000+ local, state and federal gun control laws affect only those who obey the law and purchase firearms through properly licensed retailers or through some other lawful and honest means.

Most Second Amendment supporters who aren't absolutists believe that violent felons, the criminally insane and the mentally incompetent should not have free and unencumbered access to firearms at retail.  I quite frankly am not a Second Amendment absolutist.  I don't believe that previously convicted felons, career criminals, rapists, thugs and the mentally incompetent should have free access to firearms at retail.

I have found over my many years of working to preserve the integrity of the Second Amendment that those who support gun control legislation are really decent, caring and involved individuals that want to do something about crime, but in actuality, don't have a single clue what they're talking about or how to go about it.  The misinformation and sometimes downright lies coming from the anti-gunners greatly influence these caring people who don't know anything about firearms, lawful gun owners or how felons actually obtain their firearms.

Most law-abiding gun owners want something to be done about the violent felon's access to firearms, but at the same time, we want to be left alone and unaffected.  I believe we can divide and conquer gun control supporters by continually stating the following statistics.

Here's the truth, as plain as I can make it.  These statistics come from the United States Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Source:  http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/fuo.pdf (Table 9)

This study is fifteen pages long and I cannot possibly include all the different statistics in this one section of this Web page.  You simply wouldn't be interested enough to read it all anyway.  So I have decided to use current inmates in State prisons who are in prison and were in possession of a firearm during their current offense, who were recidivist offenders.  Unfortunately this particular set of statistics was done for 1997 and is many years old, but it likely has not changed very much.  If you're following along in the study, once again, I'm using Table 9.

Where recidivist convicted criminals actually got the guns they used to commit a crime with in 1997.

22.8% got the gun from a drug dealer or through 'off the street' sales.

17.9% borrowed or rented the gun from a family member or friend.

13.5% bought or traded the gun from a family member or friend.

10.9% got the gun from a theft or burglary.

8.8% got the gun from a fence or 'black market' source.

7.8% got the gun from a family member or friend through other means not listed.

6.9% of the guns used came from an unknown source.

6.0% got the gun they used fraudulently from a retail store.

3.7% obtained the gun they used fraudulently through a pawnshop.

1.1% got the gun from a flea market, by not informing the seller that they are prohibited by law from owning one, thereby obtaining ownership through fraud and fabrication.

0.7% of the offenders, the lowest recorded source in the study, got it from a gun show.  It really makes you think why gun shows are getting so much unnecessary attention huh?

So to briefly recap the actual sources of firearms that were used during the commission of a crime by recidivist felons in State prison, 42.4% of them got their guns off the street or some other illegal source.  39.2% of them obtained the guns they used from their friends or family members, who presumably knew they were already felons.  11.4% of the convicted felons in State prisons bought or traded for the gun they used in some type or form of retail outlet and the remaining 6.9% were either unknown or did not comprise a source category that was high enough to be listed.

So let's see here:

42.4% off the street or illegal source, drug trade, burglaries, black market and theft.

39.2% from family and friends

11.4% fraudulently from some type of retail source

6.9% not listed or unknown (due to some rounding, this comes out to 99.9%)

And That's The Truth!!!

Prevent your guns from being used to murder someone.  Ten point nine percent (10.9%) of firearms used to commit a crime come from burglaries and thefts from both homes and retailers.  More than 1/10 of all guns used in crime come from burglaries and we should do everything possible to make certain our firearms do not end up being used to rob or murder our fellow citizens and neighbors.

So, with these statistics in mind, how can we keep guns from getting into the hands of criminals who are prone to violent behavior?  How can we curtail the actual sources of crime guns, affect the criminal mind, leave the honest gun owner out of the loop and support the intention of the Second Amendment?

A quite simple three-prong effort will suffice nicely.  This effort of mine will leave law abiding gun owners totally out of the loop and will gain the full support of concerned gun owners and NRA members everywhere.

1.)  Add penalties to a violent crime of rape, robbery or murder for 5, 10, 15 and 20 years if a gun is present, brandished, fired or used to injure, respectively during the commission of the violent crime.  (who cares about the resulting prison overcrowding?  Not me.  Maybe the ACLU.)  Adding specific firearm-related enhancements to a violent crime is part of the answer.  More often, in reality, the gun charges are dismissed, in order to obtain an easier criminal conviction.

We clearly need to add at least five (5) years onto a home burglary charge per firearm if a gun was stolen during the home burglary.  Often you'll hear this type of penalty referred to as a 'firearm enhancement'.  Such firearm enhancements can be the most effective tool in affecting the mind of the violence-prone felon.  Adding a non-negotiable prison term of five (5) years for each firearm stolen in a theft or burglary will make the thugs think twice before taking that gun they found in your bedroom.

Criminals will use guns less often if just brandishing one, will cost them ten (10) years of freedom if they choose to commit a violent crime with it.  Additionally criminals will steal firearms from a home less often if taking one unlawfully from a private residence or gun dealer would add five (5) years onto a prison sentence for the burglary itself.  Specifically punishing criminals for stealing, possessing, brandishing and shooting firearms is the right answer.  Further burdening the honest gun owner is never going to accomplish anything.


2.)  Add severe penalties to an individual who knowingly provides a firearm to a known convict.  Be them a friend, acquaintance, family member, neighbor or drug dealer.  Remember that almost 40% of guns used during the commission of crime come from family and friends according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

These penalties should be severe enough that someone would refrain from giving a firearm to his/her own brother or sister if he/she had been convicted of a crime in the past and could likely intend on using the gun to commit a crime.

13.5% of the firearms actually used during the commission of a crime are purchased or traded from a friend or family member of the felon who is already aware of his status of being a felon.  17.9% of the guns used during the commission of a violent crime are borrowed or even rented from a friend or family member who again is aware of him/her being a felon.  The largest source, 22.8%, or more than 1/5th of all guns used during the commission of a crime, come from drug dealers or totally unregulated on-the-street sales.

These sources need to have the focus and attention of legislators.  They should not be focusing upon firearm possession, sales, transfers, transportation and carry in general that would include honest, upstanding and law abiding citizens who have chosen to exercise their constitutional rights to own and carry arms under the Second Amendment.

3.)  Make licensed firearm retailers require and confirm at least two (2) accepted methods of identification in order the thwart the criminal's attempts at falsifying documents at the time of sale.  There should be no substitute for positive identification during the purchase of a firearm.  The National Instant Check System (NICS) is used in every state that does not require a permit to purchase a firearm at retail.  So between NICS, some state required permits to purchase and positive identification of the purchaser, sales to felons at retail should be nearly eliminated.  There are perhaps one percent (1%) or less of BATFE licensed (FFL) firearm dealers who do not follow firearm sale guidelines or keep good records of firearm sales.  This very small portion of firearm retailers should be punished appropriately.

A three pronged approach such as this, that completely leaves the law abiding gun owner alone is best.  I have never been an absolutist in defending the right to keep and bear arms.  It's my opinion that the violent felon, the criminally insane and the mentally incompetent should not have lawful access to firearms at retail.  But it's also my position that the law abiding, honest and upright firearm owner should never be harassed or unnecessarily inconvenienced in the name of reducing acts of violent crime.

Gun Control Doesn't Work

I would like to take the time here in this section of my Web site to state some real-world statistics that clearly and unequivocally show evidence that states with strict gun control legislation as a rule have more violent crime than states with almost no gun control.

After reading the hard evidence that I have compiled, you will say with absolute certainty that gun control laws are never obeyed by criminals inclined toward violence.

I have taken the 2001 Uniform Crime Report published by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and have dissected it.  The following statistics clearly show that the states with the highest number of violent crimes and the highest rates of violent crime per capita are curiously the states that have strict laws concerning the ownership, use and transportation of firearms.

The vast majority of murders in the United States occur during robberies outside the home, where concealed carry laws would be most effective.  Another stat that I find very interesting is that 85% of all acts of violent crime are committed by only 7% of the criminal population.  A small segment of the criminal population are doing the most killing.

Here are some of the statistics that I found that fully support my position that gun control laws serve only to burden the law abiding gun owner and are never obeyed and observed by the most violent among criminals.

•  Of the handful of states that had concealed carry laws prior to 1987, each and every one of those states are in the bottom 25 states in rates of violent crime.  MOST OF THE CONCEALED CARRY STATES AS OF THIS WRITING ARE IN THE SAFEST HALF OF ALL OF THE 50 STATES!!!
  
  

• Of the ten states with the lowest rates of violent crime, only ONE STATE, Hawaii restricts concealed carry.  Of the ten safest states, nine of them are concealed carry states.  How do you like them potatoes????
  
  

• Of the 25 safest states with the lowest rates of violent crime, 20 of them or 80% are "shall issue" concealed carry states.
  
  

• 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!!!  Pay attention here!  601 crimes per capita in states that prohibit concealed carry and 193 crimes per capita in states that have allowed concealed carry the longest.

These truthful and accurate statistics conclusively show that the safest states are those with the least restrictions on the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The anti-gunner can try to twist facts and color their studies as they will, but these are the facts. Something that the far left media elite will never let the general public find out about.

Upon final examination of the statistical analysis that I have done, I must say that the top 35 most violent states read like a "who's who" of states with strict gun control laws. The following listed states are all in the top 35 states for murder, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault and are the most restrictive in terms of gun control laws.  If gun control worked to reduce acts of violent crime, the following fourteen states would be the lowest in terms of violent crime.

Washington D.C. #1
Maryland #2
New Mexico #3
Illinois #7
California #8
Delaware #9
Missouri #14
New York #16
Massachusetts #20
Kansas #24
New Jersey #25
Ohio #29
Rhode Island #33
Nebraska #35

The five safest states per capita in the United States are:

North Dakota #50
Vermont #49
Maine #48
South Dakota #47
New Hampshire #46

Just in case you are a liberal anti-gun blockhead with your head in the sand, these five safest states in the U.S. have very little gun control.  In fact, in the state of Vermont, one can carry a concealed firearm in public with a clean record and proof of age.  In the state of Maine, one can carry a handgun openly in an exposed holster on the hip as a police officer does.  Let's see, very little crime and very little gun control go hand in hand.  Of course it's not that simple, but this clearly shows that restrictive gun control laws do not affect the criminal mind or their access to firearms.

Bearing these above statistics in mind, one can only come to the quite logical conclusion that those who are willing or inclined to commit the most heinous acts known to mankind do not concern themselves with gun control laws.  However, they do not seem to want to be shot by an armed victim.  Hmm imagine that...

I HAVE SAID IT BEFORE, BUT IT BEARS REPEATING AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE.  EACH STATE DESPERATELY NEEDS TO ENACT HABITUAL OFFENDER LEGISLATION SUCH AS "THREE STRIKES AND YOU'RE OUT".  FURTHER RESTRICTIONS ON GUN OWNERSHIP WILL BE IGNORED BY THE VIOLENT AND OBEYED BY THE LAWFUL.  WAKE UP!!!

I'M SICK AND TIRED OF SEEING PEOPLE ARRESTED FOR CRIMES OF RAPE, ROBBERY AND MURDER WITH TWENTY OR MORE CONVICTIONS!!!!  IF THESE IDIOTS CANNOT CONTROL THEIR OWN ACTIONS, LOCK THEM UP OR SUBJECT THEM TO CAPITAL PUNISHMENT!!!!

WE MUST FOCUS OUR LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES UPON IMPOSING ADDITIONAL PENALTIES TO A CRIME IF A GUN WAS POSSESSED, BRANDISHED, FIRED OR USED TO INJURE.

WE MUST ALSO FOCUS ON CURTAILING THE SOURCES OF FIREARMS ACTUALLY USED DURING THE COMMISSION OF A CRIME.  LAW ABIDING GUN OWNERS ARE NOT POISED ON STREET CORNERS PEDDLING THEIR CHERISHED COLLECTIONS TO VIOLENT THUGS.

THE MINDSET THAT SAYS THAT RESTRICTIONS UPON FIREARM SALES TO HONEST CITIZENS WILL REDUCE ACTS OF VIOLENT CRIME IS MISINFORMED AT BEST AND IS FEEBLE-MINDED IDIOCY AT WORST.

WE MUST PUNISH CRIMINALS FOR ILLEGALLY OBTAINING FIREARMS IN THE FIRST PLACE.

AN ADDITIONAL FIVE (5) YEARS IN PRISON PER GUN PLUS A $5,000 FINE FOR ROBBERIES AND BURGLARIES WHERE GUNS ARE STOLEN IS A GOOD START.

If you have a topic that you would like me to address on this Truth Is Everything page, please feel free to E-mail me.

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