Michigan Chapter
Enforce existing laws
- The Second Amendment Sisters strongly support active enforcement of existing laws against violent crime.
Murder is criminal, whether it is committed with a gun, a knife, poison or a car. And we have laws against it. Owning a gun is not a crime, unless you are a felon.
Washington, D.C. learned that gun control increases violent crime:
- Before the gun control ordinances were enacted, their murder rate was 27 murders per 100,000 people. That's high, but similar to other U.S. cities of comparable size.
- After severe gun control laws were implemented in 1976, their murder rate jumped to 80 per 100,000 people, which was significantly higher than any other city in the nation.
Orlando, Florida, learned that armed, informed women deter crime:
When the police department instituted a program in 1967 to train women in the use of firearms for self-defense, instances of rape fell by 88%.
Surveys of criminals indicate that they fear encounters with armed civilians significantly more than encounters with police. In areas of high firearms ownership, criminals tend not to confront civilians but rather attempt crimes which do not involve interaction with their victim, like choosing to steal an unoccupied and unattended car rather than to attempt a carjacking. This is because there is a good chance the civilians are armed, and the criminals value their own lives! Increased levels of firearm ownership have this general deterrent effect on crime -- more people than just the firearms owners are protected. In this way, armed citizens protect unarmed ones, without ever having to draw their guns!
Crime Control, Not Gun Control
By far, the majority of violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders. In State correctional facilities, fully 90% of felons convicted for weapons offenses had prior convictions. 44% of felons convicted for weapons offenses had prior convictions for violent crimes. In federal correctional facilities 75% of felons convicted for weapons offenses had prior convictions. 26% of felons convicted for weapons offenses had prior convictions for violent crimes. (Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics: Selected Findings, Firearms, crime, and criminal justice: Weapons Offenses and Offenders, [Adobe Acrobat Reader required], 1995, page 6, citing survey data published in 1991.)
In Boston, by enforcing the existing laws such as a 10 year penalty for felons found to be in possession of a firearm, as well as employing aggressive intervention strategies, youth gun-homicide was reduced to zero in 1996 and 1997.
Albuquerque announced that it will try parts of Boston's program, and cites another clear statistic: Boston's total homicide rate was reduced by 60% in six years, without adding gun control laws.
The following is an excerpt from Gun Facts by Guy Smith:
Myth: Gun Laws are being enforced.
Fact: Since President Clinton took office federal prosecution of gun-related crimes have dropped more than 44 percent. ( *Source-Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University covering 1992 through 1998.)
Fact: Of the 3,353 prohibited individuals that obtained firearms, the government only investigated 110- or 3.3% of these individuals. (*Source-General Accounting Office (GAO) 2000 audit of the National Instant Check System between 11/30/98 and 11/30/99.)
Fact: Despite 536,000 prohibited buyers caught by the National Instant Background Check, only 6,700 people (1.25%) have been charged for these firearms violations. This includes 71% of the violations coming from convicted or indicted felons. (*Source- Bureau of Justice Statistics, Federal Firearms Offenders and Background Checks for Firearm Transfers, June 4, 2000. ) None of these were prosecuted by the Federal government in 1996,1997,or 1998 (*Source- U.S. Justice Department statistics, 1999.)
Fact: Some of the reasons listed for not prosecuting known gun criminal include "minimal federal interest" and "DOJ/U.S. Attorney policy". (*Source- Bureau of Justice Statistics, Federal Firearm Offenders and Background Checks for Firearm Transfers, June 4, 2000.)
Fact: 1/2 of the referrals of violent criminals were closed without investigation or prosecution. (*Source- General Accounting Office report on the Implementations of NICS, February, 2000.)
Fact: The average sentence for a federal firearms violation dropped from 57 months to 46 months from 1996 to 1998. (*Source- Ibid.)
Fact: In 1998, the government prosecuted just eight children for gun law violations. (*Source-Ibid.) In that same year there were:
- 8 prosecutions for juvenile handgun possession.
- 6 prosecutions for handgun transfer to juveniles.
- 1 prosecution for Brady Law violations.
Fact: 18-20 year olds commit over 23% of all gun murders. (*Source- United States Treasury and Justice Department Report, 1999.) None of these criminals are allowed by law to purchase a handgun, and the Federal government does not enforce this law.
Fact: Project Exile in Richmond, Virginia prosecutes felons caught with guns using Federal laws that require mandatory imprisonment. The first year result was a 33% drop in homicides for the Richmond Metro area in a year where the national murder rate was climbing. (*Source-FBI Uniform Crime Statistics, 1999.) This shows that enforcement works And according to Andrew McBride of the Richmond Justice Department Office, these cases are as easy to prosecute as "picking change up off the street."
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