Mayor’s Column

The tragedy that occurred in Colorado was a shock to our nation. This type of violence never makes sense and leaves us shaking our heads. What is also tragic, are the attempts made to politicize this horrific event.

The immediate outcry is that guns should be banned. We are kidding ourselves if we really believe that banning anything solves the problem. Perfect examples are the war on drugs or the prohibition of alcohol. Do we really think that criminals will not get handguns if it’s against the law? Maybe we should ban fertilizer and ammonia next since the two can easily be used to make a bomb. It’s stupid and unrealistic.

As of 2009, the U.S. population was about 307 million. Based on production data from manufacturers there were approximately 300 million firearms owned by civilians in 2010. Of those, about 100 million were handguns. Almost 50 percent of households in the U.S. have a firearm. With that level of public acceptance, it’s ludicrous to think that passing a law will change that behavior. It will however, make all those law-abiding citizens criminals.

When polled, 67 percent of gun owners stated that they own firearms for protection against crime and target shooting. 41 percent were hunters.

So, is it realistic to think that owning a gun can help defend you against criminals? A survey by the Journal of Quantitative Criminology indicates that U.S. civilians use guns to defend themselves and others from crime about 1 million times a year. About half of those instances are to frighten away intruders who are breaking into their homes.

A survey of male felons in 11 state prisons dispersed across the U.S. had some interesting results:

34 percent had been “scared off”, shot at, wounded or captured by an armed victim

40 percent had decided not to commit a crime because they “knew or believed that the victim was carrying a gun.”

69 percent personally knew other criminals who had been “scared off, shot at, wounded or captured by an armed victim.”

How about the flip side of this? A study by the Justice Department over a 10-year period found:

42 percent of Americans will be the victim of a completed violent crime (assault, robbery, rape) in the course of their lives.

83 percent of Americans will be the victim of an attempted or completed violent crime.

52 percent of Americans will be the victim of an attempted or completed violent crime more than once.

Across the country there have been various attempts to ban various types of firearms. Washington D.C. was one of the first cities to ban handguns; the Washington D.C. law was recently struck down by the Supreme Court. During the years that the ban was in effect, the murder rate was 73 percent higher than at the outset of the law, while during that same period the national murder rate averaged 11 percent lower.

Take into consideration the Chicago handgun ban. The percentage of murders committed with handguns has average 40 percent higher than it was before the law took effect in Chicago.

Florida’s right to carry law became effective in 1987. About 5.4 percent of the population over the age of 21 in Florida has an active carry permit. Since the outset of the Florida law, their murder rate has averaged 36 percent lower that before the law took effect. The U.S. murder rate has averaged 15 percent lower during the same period.

Statistics, however, can be deceiving and can also be manipulated so rather than base any conclusions on them, lets do something unique and use something which is totally lacking in our government these days. Common sense.

I will start by saying that I own a few handguns. The process of getting a permit to purchase a handgun in New Jersey is pretty thorough. You get fingerprinted, the state police does criminal background checks, you need references, etc. Once you clear all that is where the problem begins.

You take your permit to purchase to a gun store, pick out a gun and can leave. There is no training requirement. I know some of my “gun friends” won’t like this, but it is stupid to allow someone to purchase a gun and not get fully trained on how to use it. Instead of focusing our efforts on banning guns, we need to focus on teaching people how to use them safely. In my case I elected to take training to educate myself. It shouldn’t be optional.

So if we approach gun ownership from a common sense perspective there are things we can do to make it better. First, gun laws need to be consistent from state to state. At a minimum, someone who carries a license from their home state should not become a criminal when they cross a state line. Background checks need to be standardized for all states. Gun safety training should be mandatory to purchase a firearm. If you intend to carry the weapon (impossible in NJ) then additional training should be required. There is no need to allow the public to own fully automatic weapons or high capacity magazines. People who shoot for sport don’t need those and neither do the folks who hunt.

The event in Colorado was horrible, but it was the shooter not the gun who committed those acts. That guy would have gotten weapons whether they were legal or not. For once lets hold people accountable for their actions, not think that we can legislate the problem away.

Jon Shevelew