10 Pro-Gun Myths, Shot Down

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21. Debunking the article

1. In the past few weeks there have been bills introduced to effectively ban gun and require their turn-in and authorize the police to inspect homes without warrants.

2. All of those gun murders still had a human pulling the trigger. There are more people killed by hands and feet than are killed by all rifles combined, which includes so-called assault weapons.

3. Among Texans convicted of serious crimes, those with concealed-handgun licenses were sentenced for threatening someone with a firearm 4.8 times more than those without. That statement, from the article is a flat-out lie. The Texas Department of Public Safety tracks and publishes, online, the data. http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/rsd/chl/reports/convrates.htm
Here is the data for 2011, for that offense:

Offense..................................................Total Convictions in TX.....Convictions of CHL holders...CHL Convictions as % of Total
Aggravated Assault With a Deadly Weapon--2,765-----------------------------3-------------------------------0.1085%
Rates are similar for all other years.

In states with Stand Your Ground and other laws making it easier to shoot in self-defense, those policies have been linked to a 7 to 10% increase in homicides. What they are omitting is that there has been an increase in justifiable homicides. IOW more criminals are getting shot while they are committing crimes. I do not consider that to be a bad thing.

4. Mass shootings stopped by armed civilians in the past 30 years: 0 That is a lie. There have been several, at least seven that I know of. Yes, I can provide a list.
Pearl MS school shooting stopped by armed citizen 1997
Edinboro, PA school shooting 1998
Appalachian School of Law shooting, 2002
New Life Church Shooting 2007
Winnemuccca, NV bar shooting, 2008
Golden Food Market Shooting 2009
Plymouth, PA bar shooting 2012

5. For every time a gun is used in self-defense in the home, there are 7 assaults or murders, 11 suicide attempts, and 4 accidents involving guns in or around a home. That study counts only bodies. It does not count cases in which the burglar flees from the armed resident. I personally know several people who have pointed a gun at a burglar but didn't shoot as he ran away. That has happened to me. But article is not willing to accept those as valid self-defense.

6. A Philadelphia study found that the odds of an assault victim being shot were 4.5 times greater if he carried a gun. His odds of being killed were 4.2 times greater. That study does not separate out criminals from the law-abiding. Only people with CCWs can legally carry guns in public in PA. They never state if any of the people shot had CCWs. Guns are not bullet magnets. Bullets don't curve in the air and home in on someone with a gun. So the person with the guns had to be someone whose behavior made them a target. Mostly that would be criminals settling disputes.

7. In 2010, nearly 6 times more women were shot by husbands, boyfriends, and ex-partners than murdered by male strangers. Again they don't separate out the criminals from the law-abiding. It is very dangerous for a woman to have a violent criminal for their signifigant other. Peaceful couples rarely suddenly murder each other. Almost alway they already have a history of violence.

8. Violent video games. I don't have any solid information on them, so I can't have an informed opinion. Personally I don't like them.

9. More guns are being sold, but they're owned by a shrinking portion of the population. I haven't really cared about that measure, so again I don't have an informed opinion.

10. An investigation found 62% of online gun sellers were willing to sell to buyers who said they couldn't pass a background check. All online gun sales have to be shipped to an FFL who must complete all Federal paperwork.
20% of licensed California gun dealers agreed to sell handguns to researchers posing as illegal "straw" buyers. How is a dealer supposed to know if someone is a straw buyer? All he can do is check ID and call NICS to verify legality.

I will be gone for the weekend. Back on Monday.