http://planettimes.com/features/opinion/2000/march/drlaura.shtml

One Person’s Opinion

Dr. Laura tells her listeners she?s decided to pack a gun

Dave Duffy March 8, 2000

The showdown between the Federal government and the American people over
gun rights may have tilted in favor of the people recently when the
nation?s third most popular radio talk show host, Dr. Laura
Schlessinger, told her audience she was taking shooting lessons and
intended to arm herself with a handgun as a self-protection measure.
Her declaration barely preceded Bill Clinton?s announcement that he
wants to hire hundreds of more BATF agents to crack down on gun dealers
he said were selling guns to criminals.

Schlessinger?s pronouncement is important not only because her millions
of listeners trust her judgment, but because she is an acknowledged
champion of the rights of children, who the Government claims are among
the prime victims of accidental shootings. Her gun lessons coincide
with those of a growing number of other Americans, especially American
women, who are taking advantage of liberalized state concealed handgun
permit laws and arming themselves in spite of new efforts by the Federal
Government to pass more laws restricting the purchase and use of
handguns. Not only is new federal gun legislation pending in Congress,
but all Democratic and some Republican Presidential candidates say they
will push for tighter federal gun control if elected.

Ironically, Schlessinger?s talk show originates in California, a state
that, thanks to another high-profile woman, Senator Dianne Feinstein,
has very restrictive gun laws and places tight restrictions on the
ability of citizens to obtain concealed handgun permits. Like
Schlessinger, however, Feinstein knows how to shoot and, in fact, has
obtained one of the state?s hard-to-get concealed handgun permits for
herself.

Many of Schlessinger?s listeners live in states that in recent years
have made it comparatively easy for law abiding citizens to obtain
concealed handgun permits, thanks largely to FBI statistics that show
violent crime, including murder, assault, and rape, drops significantly
whenever such laws are enacted.
Women have been applying for the concealed handgun permits at a high
rate. According to John Lott, a University of Chicago economist whose
book, More Guns, Less Crime, is the largest gun study ever undertaken,
women constitute the greatest growth of gun ownership, with an increase
of over 70 percent during the 18 years his study covers.

Although women are still outgunned by men two to one, Lott said “The
National Crime Victimization Survey data show that providing a woman
with a gun has a much greater effect on her ability to defend herself
against a crime than providing a gun to a man.” “Rapists, ” Lott said,
“are particularly deterred by handguns.”

To date, 31states have Right to Carry, also called “shall issue”
concealed handgun laws, which means law enforcement officials must issue
a concealed handgun permit to a citizen that has met certain criteria,
such as being law abiding and having taken a gun safety class.

Nearly 80 million private citizens own more than 230 million guns in
America. It works out to approximately one in every two households
being armed. One third of the guns are handguns. Guns are used
approximately 2,000,000 times a year to ward off a crime; in 98 percent
of the cases, the mere act of brandishing the firearm is enough to stop
the crime.

FBI statistics show that violent crime, including murder, rape, and
assault, declined dramatically in the 31 states that had adopted the
“shall issue” laws. According to Lott, had the counties in the
remaining states adopted such laws for one year he studied, 1992,
murders in the United States would have declined by 1,400, rapes by
4,200, robberies by 12,000, and aggravated assaults by 60,000.

Regarding accidental deaths due to handguns, which is a subject Dr.
Schlessinger would be concerned about, in 1988, the last year for which
complete data is available, total accidental gun deaths in the United
States was 200,with 22 occurring in the “shall issue” states and 178 in
the remaining states. In a typical year, about 30 people are
accidentally shot and killed by citizens who mistake them for an
intruder; by contrast, police accidentally kill 330 innocent people
annually.

Regarding mass shootings at schools, another topic that would no doubt
be of interest to Dr. Schlessinger, in states that have “shall issue”
laws, according to Lott?s study, mass shootings were virtually
eliminated in four to five years.
America?s most recent notorious mass school shooting, at Columbine High
School, took place in Colorado, a state with no “shall issue” handgun
law. Other recent but smaller school shootings took place in New
Mexico, a state with no “shall issue” law, and Oklahoma, a state with a
“shall issue” law. In countries where there is widespread ownership of
guns, there are few if any school shootings. In Israel, for example,
which arms its classroom teachers, mass shootings at schools is zero.

I?m sure Dr. Schlessinger is aware of all this data, and I assume it
figured prominently in her decision to learn to shoot a handgun. Until
last year she had not supported gun rights, and until she began taking
shooting lessons, she had never even fired a gun. She told her
listeners she was surprised at the “noise,” but that she enjoyed the
experience and intended to become proficient in her ability to defend
herself with a handgun.

And I?m sure President Clinton and Senator Feinstein are also aware of
the data since most of it was compiled by the federal Government (Lott
merely pulled it together as a scholastic study). But for some strange
ideological reason, they cannot accept the data?s conclusions, put aside
their former beliefs, and act in their own and their children?s best
interest. As Dr.
Schlessinger did.

Instead Clinton and Feinstein continue to press their attack against
guns. Clinton?s latest efforts against gun sellers is an attempt, some
say, to drive gun dealers out of business with over-regulation. Indeed,
in the last six years, federal gun dealer licenses have declined from
nearly 280,000 to less than
100,000, so he is having his way.

Senator Feinstein?s California has the fourth highest murder rate in the
country. Unlike the senator, however, California residents have seen
the light; despite restrictive gun laws and the absence of a “shall
issue” law, they now lead the nation in gun ownership, with more than 10
million of them arming themselves.

On her radio program, Dr. Schlessinger comes off as honest, caring, and
understanding. Her willingness to understand the statistics and act in
her own and her children?s behalf shows she is all of those things.

Dave Duffy is publisher of Backwoods Home Magazine,
http://www.backwoodshome.com, a national self-reliance journal.