more here too:
http://offgridsurvival.com/guncontrolbans/One of the arguments you always hear from those who are against gun ownership, is that we need more laws to protect people from guns. You often hear them use buzz words like “high-powered” “cop killers” or “large capacity clips” to scare the public into thinking that we need more gun laws.
Do we really need more laws, or do we need to enforce the ones that are on the books?
There are already a number of “Gun Laws” on the books:
Guns in the Constitution You must be 18 years of age to buy rifles and shotguns and 21 years old to purchase a handgun. This law also covers the purchase of ammunition making it illegal for anyone under 18 to buy long gun ammo and anyone under 21 to but handgun ammo.
It is illegal to sell a gun that has it’s serial number removed, changed, or missing.
If someone buys multiple firearms in a single purchase, an official record is made to notify the ATF
It is illegal to sell or manufacture ammo that is explicitly made to shoot through body armor.
It is illegal for the following people to own firearms: felons, those convicted of domestic violence, mental defectives, citizens who renounce their citizenship, anyone who has been dishonorably discharged from the military, those addicted to any controlled substance, and illegal aliens.
And these are just a small number of the gun laws that have already been passed by congress. The list doesn’t take into account the many local and state laws that also prohibit where, when, and how you can carry a weapon.
What about gun safety?
This is another area that is often used by the media to scare people into thinking that “guns are bad.” But what do the actual numbers show?
According to the National Safety Council, accidental gun fatalities are at their lowest level since 1903.
Since 1930, the number of guns have quadrupled while the number of accidental gun related deaths has dropped by 80%.
In the U.S. guns cause 0.5% of accidental deaths, compared to motor vehicles which cause 37% …. Should we ban cars?
Do Gun Bans make people safer?
UN Gun Ban SculptureIf gun bans worked then cities like Chicago and New York would be utopias where crime has been wiped out and everyone skips through the streets giving each other high fives.
But what really happens when a city bans guns?
1966 New Jersey – New Jersey passes a law which local politicians call “the most stringent gun law” in the nation.
Results: Murder rate up 46%; Robbery rate doubles.
1976 Washington, D.C. – One of the most restrictive gun laws in the country goes into effect.
Results: Murder rate up 134%
1982 Chicago – City of Chicago passes a ban on handguns.
Results: Murders committed with handguns up 40%
1986 Maryland – Maryland passes a law banning small, inexpensive handguns knows as Saturday night specials.
Result: Murder rate increases by 20%
2005 Morton Grove Illinois – Morton Grove becomes the first city in Illinois to approve a gun ban for anyone other than police.
Result: The Cities crime rate jumps by 15.7%.
Do less restrictive Gun Laws make people safer? Let’s look at those numbers.
1987 Florida – Florida passes right-to-carry law
Result: Murder rate down 21%
1996 Texas – Texas passes right-to-carry law
Result: Murder rate 30% lower than before the law was passed.
2001 Michigan – Michigan passes right-to-carry law
Result: Murder rate down 4%.
And what did the Founders have to say?
founding fathers holding guns“A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government.”
– George Washington
“Americans have the right and advantage of being armed — unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.”
–James Madison
“The great objective is that every man be armed. Everyone who is able may have a gun.”
–Patrick Henry
“To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.”
George Mason
“And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms… The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”
–Thomas Jefferson
“The beauty of the second amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it.”
–Thomas Jefferson
“The Constitution shall never be construed….to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms”
Samuel Adams
“To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms, and be taught alike especially when young, how to use them.”
Richard Henry Lee
We should not forget that the spark which ignited the American Revolution was caused by the British attempt to confiscate the firearms of the colonists.
Patrick Henry
“Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people’s liberty teeth and keystone under independence.”
George Washington