AS I SEE IT: Self defense cause enough to oppose gun controls By KEVIN L. JAMISON Special
to The Star |
AS I SEE IT: Self defense cause enough to oppose gun controls By KEVIN L. JAMISON Special
to The Star |
| An "As I See It" contributor (March
30, The Star) demands that self-defense advocates surrender
because the vote on Proposition B against licenses to carry concealed
weapons decided the matter for all time.
The only thing Missouri's Proposition B proved was that self-defense opponents could lie faster than we advocates could tell the truth. A major opposition argument was that it allowed concealed weapons in schools. The measure specifically prohibited concealed weapons in schools. If the measure was as defective as the opposition had claimed, they would not have been constrained to lie about it. "As I See It" contributor Norence A. Nelson ("Responsible gun owners must face reality") claims to have twice read John Lott's More Guns Less Crime, which finds that concealed weapons licenses cause crime to drop. The contributor, however, claims that the work relies on "estimated statistics." A search of the book uncovers no such phrase. The study relies on hard data from every county in America. It compares concealed weapons licensing policy with more variables than any other such study; the calculations always come out the same; more guns, less crime. The contributor claims that an ammunition company funded the study. If he had really read it once, much less twice, he could not have failed to notice the four pages detailing how the study was funded. The Olin Family Trust (not an ammunition company) gave a grant to the University of Chicago Law School, which alone decides what projects are funded. Slanders against the work are more distasteful when one finds that Lott began the project expecting to find more crime and accidents in states with concealed weapons licenses and was surprised to discover that he was wrong. The contributor suggests accidents exceed defensive use. I cannot recall a single shooting accident. I know many people who have prevented violent crimes through the display or use of a firearm. Eleven studies of defensive firearms use -- including one by the Clinton administration -- show 1.5 million to 3.5 million such instances per year. Self-defense is the reality, not that our neighbors are psychotics who cannot get their weapon out the door for lack of a government carry license. Kevin L. Jamison, an attorney, lives in Gladstone. He is affiliated with the Western Missouri Shooters Alliance. |
The Kansas City Star