Gun control laws do not make America safer for law biding citizens!

K, to make some comments about some myths. 1. Thousands of children die annually in gun accidents. False. Gun accidents involving children are actually at record lows, although you wouldn't know it from listening to the mainstream media. In the last year for which data was available, only 142 children under 15 years of age died in gun accidents, and the total number of gun-related deaths for this age group was 642. More children die each year in accidents involving bikes, space heaters or drownings. The often repeated claim that 12 children per day die from gun violence includes "children" up to 20 years of age, the great majority of whom are young adult males who die in gang-related violence. 2. Gun shows are responsible for a large number of firearms falling into the hands of criminals. False. There is no "gun show loophole." All commercial arms dealers at gun shows must run background checks, and the only people exempt from them are the small number of non-commercial sellers. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, at most 2 percent of guns used by criminals are purchased at gun shows, and most of those were purchased legally by people who passed background checks. 3. The tragedy at Columbine High School illustrates the deficiencies of current gun control laws. False. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold violated close to 20 firearms laws in amassing their cache of weapons (not to mention the law against murder), so it seems rather dubious to argue that additional laws might have prevented this tragedy. The two shotguns and rifle used by Harris and Klebold were purchased by a girlfriend who would have passed a background check, and the TEC-9 handgun used by them was already illegal. 4. States that allow registered citizens to carry concealed weapons have higher crime rates than those that don't. False. The 31 states that have "shall issue" laws allowing private citizens to carry concealed weapons have, on average, a 24% lower violent crime rate, a 19% lower murder rate and a 39% lower robbery rate than states that forbid concealed weapons. In fact, the nine states with the lowest violent crime rates are all right-to-carry states. Remarkably, guns are used for self-defense more than 2 million times a year, three to five times the estimated number of violent crimes committed with guns. 5. Waiting periods lower crime rates. False. Numerous studies have been conducted on the effects of waiting periods, both before and after the federal Brady bill was passed in 1993. Those studies consistently show that there is no correlation between waiting periods and murder or robbery rates. Florida State University professor Gary Kleck analyzed data from every U.S. city with a population over 100,000 and found that waiting periods had no statistically significant effect. Even University of Maryland anti-gun researcher David McDowell found that "waiting periods have no influence on either gun homicides or gun suicides." 6. Lower murder rates in foreign countries prove that gun control works. Seems to be your favorite point. False. This is one of the favorite arguments of gun control proponents, and yet the facts show that there is simply no correlation between gun control laws and murder or suicide rates across a wide spectrum of nations and cultures. In Israel and Switzerland, for example, a license to possess guns is available on demand to every law-abiding adult, and guns are easily obtainable in both nations. Both countries also allow widespread carrying of concealed firearms, and yet, admits Dr. Arthur Kellerman, one of the foremost medical advocates of gun control, Switzerland and Israel "have rates of homicide that are low despite rates of home firearm ownership that are at least as high as those in the United States." A comparison of crime rates within Europe reveals no correlation between access to guns and crime. Now I will make some comments on your comments. < > You Said: "That is a lie or an untrue generalization.". How is that a lie? Liberals are typically for gun control and against the death penalty. Deny it, then it is you who is lying. < > You Said: "That is not working now. We need Gun Control Laws. It is just that simple.". We aren't doing it, that is why it isn't working now! If we had a law that stated any violent crime commited with a weapon results in an automatic death penalty, then rather than having them sit on death row for a decade, you execute them publicly after their first and only appeal. Crimes involving weapons of any kind would be reduced dramatically. < > You said: "You've omitted the actual figures. The way that I see it, a jump in stabbings by TEN percent is preferable with a DECLINE of shooting by TWELVE percent. It more mathematically sound when put into proper context. Thank you for that." 350 stabbings went up 10% to 248 shootings went down 12%. Happy? < > You Said: "Really? England's and Australia's gun violence statistics are no where near as overwhelming as America's. Americans deserve to be as safe as the people in safer nations that have Gun Control Laws. Are you going to flee from this point again or address it?" I addressed this, it is myth #6. Also considering how we have massive amount of people in such small areas, like L.A. and NY, ofcourse violence will be high. We almost have more people than England in just California! <> You said: "Just because you have not seen this does not mean it does not happen. I am in Los Angeles where Bloods and Crips (not Crypts) buy guns legally all the time. I suspect that many of their guns are bought illegally, but there are many that are not and you are stereotyping a group of people of whom you know nothing about." Well, I do know about them, I work at a youth treatment center specifically for youth involved with gangs, drug, and violence, and I have done so for over 4 years. So yeah, I do know about it. You shouldn't assume so much about me. But yes, probably over 90% of guns used in gangs are purchased illegally. Don't know many gun shops that sell guns to a 17 year old, and considering the average gang member is under the age of 21, they would have to purchase them illegally. Sorry I misspelled the gang, I have only heard it, never wrote it. Ok, I have written a lot, even though I am passionate about this subject I am tired of writing. Every American has the right to own a gun. Making it harder for them to own them isn't helping them. Considering gang violence makes up more than 50% of violent crime in America, I think it is time we take a new approach and start killing killers. Law abiding citizens aren't shooting people and criminals don't buy guns from SportsMan's Warehouse. Gun control laws are just another right they are attempting to take from us by creating fear. Gun's don't kill people, people kill people. If anything we should have fast food control laws, considering heart disease is the #1 killer in America.