In response to Tony Nusbaum’s Nov. 6 letter, the argument for private gun ownership isn’t exclusively about protecting the people from a tyrannical government. That was only one reason the founders ensured private gun ownership and is cited against the argument that the Second Amendment doesn’t secure a private right.

Another reason the founders reserved this right is self-protection. Debates about the Second Amendment centered on this argument are almost always about statistics. You asked where some of the facts provided in recent letters come from.

They come from the U.S. Justice Department. In any given year, 99.8 percent of firearms and 99.6 percent of handguns privately owned in the United States WILL NOT be used in the commission of violent crimes (FBI). The average age of a gun taken at a crime scene is more than 6-years old (ATF).

In 1997, 63 percent of all violent crime did not involve the use of a firearm (FBI). To correct one mistake you made, the FBI defines violent crime as including robbery (bank or personal).

Any crime using a gun is aggravated assault. Your assertion that these crimes are somehow not counted is wrong.

Private ownership of arms does not contribute to crime in anyway, nor does it contribute to a less safe society. Florida State criminologist Gary Kleck’s research shows citizens defend themselves with firearms over 1 million times each year. Only 2 percent shoot and 2 percent of those involved an innocent person. Compare this with an error rate for police of 11 percent, which are always shoot-to-kill events!

Lee Van Brocklin

Staff

MacKay Hall