From: Robert Hettinga <rah@shipwright.com>
Date: Sat, 13 Dec 1997 03:01:35 +0800
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
Subject: Only criminals don't support concealed-carry laws
Message-ID: <v04002700b0b7355c5b1f@[139.167.130.248]>
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Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 08:18:04 -0800
To: Robert Hettinga <rah@shipwright.com>
From: Somebody
Subject: Only criminals don't support concealed-carry laws

>.>
> ===============================================
> NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY
> 2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100
> Washington DC 20037
> ===============================================
> For release: December 9, 1997
> ===============================================
> For additional information:
> George Getz, Deputy Director of Communications
> Phone: (202) 333-0008 Ext. 222
> E-Mail: 76214.3676@CompuServe.com
> ===============================================
>
>
> The evidence is clear: Only criminals don't
> support concealed-carry laws, say Libertarians
>
>         WASHINGTON, DC -- If you want to reduce crime, allow more
> people to carry more concealed guns, the Libertarian Party said today.
>
>         And that opinion is confirmed by a new Cato Institute study,
> which found that violent crime rates dropped dramatically in the 24
> states that have passed "concealed-carry" laws -- which allow ordinary
> citizens to carry concealed weapons.
>
>         "At this point, the only people who don't support
> concealed-carry laws are criminals," said Steve Dasbach, the party's
> national chairman.
>
>         In those 24 states, concealed-carry laws force local police to
> grant most citizens a concealed weapon permit after meeting certain
> qualifications. Usually, that includes getting fingerprinted, passing a
> criminal background check, and taking a gun safety course.
>
>         "For years, gun-control advocates claimed that laws allowing
> concealed weapons would lead to murder and mayhem," said Steve Dasbach,
> chairman of the Libertarian Party. "But the exact opposite is true:
> Concealed weapons actually save lives."
>
>         The Cato Institute study, timed to coincide with the 10-year
> anniversary of Florida's controversial concealed-carry law, found that
> in the 24 states with concealed-carry laws, murders dropped by 7.7%,
> rapes fell by 5.2%, robberies decreased by 2.2%, and aggravated
> assaults were reduced by 7%.
>
>         And in states where politicians continue to outlaw concealed
> weapons?
>
>         "There's blood in the streets," Dasbach said. "After accounting
> for all other factors, the study calculated that in 1992 alone, 1,414
> more people were murdered than would have been if concealed-carry laws
> were in effect."
>
>         And the carnage doesn't end there: An additional 4,177 people
> were raped, 11,898 more were robbed, and 60,363 more assaulted solely
> as a result of the increased criminal activity that apparently comes
> with concealed weapons bans, the study said.
>
>         "But who is surprised that violent street thugs prefer to prey
> on people who can't shoot back?" Dasbach asked. "By refusing to approve
> concealed-carry laws, politicians in other states have painted a target
> on the back of America's most vulnerable citizens."
>
>         The study also shoots a hole in two other gun-control myths,
> Dasbach said. One is that concealed-carry laws will resurrect the "Wild
> West," turning ordinary Americans into trigger-happy gunslingers.
>
>         "The study found that the number of concealed-carry
> permit-holders convicted of murder committed in public is exactly zero,
> and less serious crimes are extremely rare," he said. For example, only
> one in 5,000 Floridians have had their permits revoked for crimes
> involving a firearm.
>
>         The other myth: That accidental shootings will become
> commonplace.
>
>         "The number of accidental deaths increased so slightly (less
> than half of 1%) that implementing concealed-carry laws in every
> remaining state would result in less than one additional death per year
> - -- far less than the number of lives saved because of the reduced
> murder rate," said Dasbach.
>
>         "In other words, the real danger comes not from concealed
> weapons, but from the lack of them," he said.
>
>         Dasbach emphasized that although concealed-carry laws are a
> major step in the right direction, they're not the perfect solution for
> Libertarians.
>
>         "Right-to-carry laws are only a partial victory because
> Americans shouldn't have to seek government permission to exercise any
> Constitutional right. Imagine what would happen if politicians dared to
> require every journalist to pass a writing test to get a permit to
> cover city hall, or tried to force ministers to demonstrate a basic
> knowledge of religion before giving a sermon," he said.
>
>         But requiring a permit is better than the alternative, he said:
> Sentencing innocent people to death because they can't legally defend
> themselves.
>
>         "Denying terrified Americans the right to carry a gun is like
> putting them at the front of the line on Death Row," he said. "At they
> very least, politicians should have the decency to stop disarming
> America's most vulnerable citizens: Crime victims."
>
>
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>
> The Libertarian Party
http://www.lp.org/
> 2600 Virginia Ave. NW, Suite 100                          voice:
202-333-0008
> Washington DC 20037                                         fax:
202-333-0072
>

__________________________________________________________________________
<somebody's.sig>


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-----------------
Robert Hettinga (rah@shipwright.com), Philodox
e$, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
The e$ Home Page: http://www.shipwright.com/
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