Meeting at the downtown Phoenix Burton Barr Library for the first ever Gun Safety Forum, law enforcement officials, doctors, lawyers, authors and more than 300 attendees packed the auditorium for a careful examination of the issues on Saturday, April 21, 2001. In stark contrast to a violence forum held last October, which focused on gang crime, casualties from the war on some drugs and suicides, this grass roots event delved into crime prevention, safety rules for handling guns, and the benefits society receives from an armed populace.
Research consistently shows that one out of every two or three American homes contains firearms.
Numerous scholarly studies put the numbers of crimes prevented by private arms at 2.5 million annually. These are important issues for all people. But a less well appreciated aspect is keeping guns safely in the hands of individuals, free from confiscation plans, bureaucratic entanglements, and anti-rights advocates who want to consolidate power solely under government monopoly control. It was rewarding to see the Forum address those fundamental human rights issues. A philosophy panel at the end of the Forum specifically targeted civil rights topics.