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NATIONAL CENTER FOR POLICY ANALYSIS
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| Myths About Gun Control |
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Although firearms are used in about 12 percent of violent crimes, it is unlikely that any kind of gun control legislation could remove more than a handful of those firearms from felons' hands - and there is no evidence that the disarmed criminals using them would not then turn to other weapons. Most criminals do not obtain firearms through conventional sources. Thus, as opponents of gun control correctly contend, gun control measures in the United States, if anything, contribute to increased criminal violence because they deny guns to honest citizens but not to criminals. They might accurately be called victim disarmament laws.
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"Gun control laws might be accurately called victim disarmament laws." |
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Armed citizens pose a risk of punishment to criminals - perhaps more so than does the criminal justice system. Gun ownership may exert as much deterrent effect on violent crime and burglary as the criminal justice system does. The battle over gun control is not about controlling inanimate objects; it is about controlling people. To extend gun controls would make the nation better for criminals and worse for the rest of us.
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NOTE:
Nothing written here should be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the National Center for Policy Analysis or as an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill before Congress.
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