LTE: Forget about guns. Get tougher on crime

February 10, 2005
Akron Beacon Journal

I wondered how long it would take the likes of Toby Hoover, the Brady Campaign and the news media to pounce on their anti-gun drivel ("Portage killings spark debate,'' Beacon Journal, Jan. 26). I find it ironic that Hoover, executive director of the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence, stated that 40 percent of gun sales don't require a background check. Where did she pull that figure? Referring to the "gun-show loophole'' that allows felons to obtain firearms, her figures differ greatly from the U.S. Justice Department, which shows fewer than 2 percent of firearms used illegally came from gun shows.

Hoover seemed to be talking out of both sides of her mouth in complaining about Ohio not having background checks for private sales. Former President Bill Clinton, through a myriad of red tape, astronomical license fee increases and hostile on-site inspections, drove more than one-third -- or 183,000 -- licensed gun dealers out of business. These are the same folks who process the background checks. It seems the point is not to prevent sales to felons but to drive as many dealers out of business as possible.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a reliable advocate of any gun-control scheme, recently reported it found no evidence that gun control had any effect on crime trends in America. In other words, criminals disregard gun laws. No kidding? And according to the Justice Department, "assault weapons'' have been used in too small a percentage of crimes to have any bearing on total crime rates.

The number of right-to-carry states has risen from 17 to 46. The percentage of the population living in such states has doubled to 60 percent. There are more guns and more people carrying guns. Firearms sales have increased by 70 million. Yet the FBI said the nation's violent crime rate had decreased 12 straight years to a 26-year low. Anyone credit the fact the prison population is at an all-time high? (Although in the Akron area, we seem to have an all-time high of criminals running amok.)

Maryland requires a ballistic fingerprint of all weapons (a database of distinctive markings left on a fired bullet), which is easily altered. The Maryland State Police has called the $2.1 million to maintain its system wasted money, as it has failed to solve a single crime since 2000.

This is another gun-control scheme that has failed to reduce crime but harassed the legitimate firearm owner.

To paraphrase Clinton: It's not the gun, stupid -- it's the criminal using it. "Two strikes and you're out'' sounds better every day.

Dennis Fultz
Copley Township

Other recent stories on the failures of gun control:
Homicides up a bit in Cleveland last year
Cleveland police blame easy access to weapons. The British made same claims, then banned nearly all civilian ownership of firearms. Today in that country, violence is skyrocketing out of control, and the government is being buffeted by civilian outrage.

Ballistic Fingerprinting’s a Dud
Another costly gun control failure.

Submachine gun used in holdup
See, this is strange, because submachine guns are illegal...