An Open Letter to Those Who Would Disarm The Innocent

The History of “Shall Issue” Firearms Carry Laws Juxtaposed Against U.S. Violent Crime Rates:
An Open Letter to Those Who Would Disarm The Innocent
Michael Volesky, Feb. 2011


For all those fearful people who seem to be more afraid of armed law abiding citizens than of criminals, those not sure of the future outcome of Iowa’s new “Shall Issue” weapons permit law, and those who question a citizen’s justification for carrying a gun to defend themselves or their family, consider this (The following are crime stats for the U.S. in 2009 from http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm, which is compiled data from the 2009 FBI Uniform Crime Report):

Total Violent Crimes: 1,318,398; including 15,241 murders, 89,000 forcible rapes (is there any other kind?), 408,217 robberies and 806,843 aggravated assaults.

Interestingly enough, the trend toward "shall-issue" carry permits started in 1986 when there were just 8 "shall issue (SI)" states, 26 "may issue (MI)" (Discretionary issue, arbitrarily ranging from no-issue to shall issue. Iowa was in this category), 15 "no issue (NI)" and 1 "unregulated (UN)" (Vermont has no law regarding the carrying of weapons, and it is therefore legal for anyone not otherwise prohibited from possessing a gun to carry it, open or concealed). In 1986 there were 620.1 violent crimes per 100k people in the United States.

Just 5 years later (1991) violent crime per capita reached the all time high of 758.1/100k people. In 1991 the U.S. had 16 SI, 19 MI, 14 NI and 1 UN states, a small increase in SI states, but a huge increase in violent crime (up 22.3% in 5 years!). Four years later the "right to carry" trend was in full swing, and by the end of 1995 there were 27 SI, 14 MI, and just 8 remaining "no issue." In 1995, violent crime had FALLEN to 684.5/100k, and from then on has been falling fast.

Fast forward to 2009, where we have 37 SI, 9 MI, 2 UN/Constitutional Carry (AK and VT), and just 2 NI states remaining (WI and IL). Yet by some miracle, the violent crime rate had dropped to 429.4/100K (for a drop of a whopping 43.4% since the peak in 1991). This against the dire predictions of the anti-gun Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Violence Policy Center about these shall issue laws (e.g. "rivers of blood flowing in the streets," "shootouts at the OK Corral on every block," "people killing each other over parking spaces," "gun nuts waving their guns around," "people pulling their guns over minor arguments," “bodies piled like cordwood,” et cetera, ad nauseam... I have heard it all). It is also despite the expiration of the 1994 "Assault Weapons Ban" (which included magazine capacity limits, just like the ones being reintroduced by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, timed to capitalize on the fear and grief of the Tucson Massacre, to push through an agenda that has been demonstrated historically to have absolutely no effect on violent crime... but I digress...).

The point is that gun control is failed policy. The bad guys will always have guns, no matter how hard we try to make it for them by tightening the restrictions on lawful gun owners. Even if we banned all guns outright, and attempted to confiscate those already in circulation, a long standing desire of gun control advocates, the criminals would still get them via the black market. As long as there is a demand, there will be a supply and a supplier, legal or not (Has the "War On Drugs" stopped countless tons of illegal drugs from flowing into our country? They are all illegal, right?).

The facts bear out that allowing the citizens to exercise their right to arm themselves for whatever lawful purpose they choose does NOT, in any way, increase crime. In fact, despite the relaxing of gun laws across the country over the last 20 years, the crime rates have steadily fallen to a low that hadn't been seen since 1968 (which, interestingly, is the year the Gun Control Act of 1968 was passed, after which crime rates began to swiftly and steadily rise until the peak in 1991).

So, as of 2011, Iowa has joined the majority of the country becoming the 41st state to allow her citizens the equal right to carry arms for self defense (38 SI, 7 MI, 3 UN/Constitutional Carry, and just 2 NI states). Lawful carry is nothing new in this country, and as a “social experiment,” the likes of which the so-called “progressives” are quite fond of (which are almost always failures), it has been a resounding success.

All of the terrible things predicted by the anti-gun fear-mongers on the left have not happened. We’ve had almost 2 months of “shall issue,” and nothing has changed. We haven’t had any road rage shootings, no permit holder has gotten drunk and pulled his gun over a bar squabble, we have not seen widespread open carry, and the little open carry that has happened has been peaceable. Put succinctly, nothing has happened that would suggest that the law needs to be changed to be more restrictive.

It’s time for all the panicked sheeple to calm down, collect their wits, and stop being more afraid of your lawfully armed neighbors than you are of illegally armed criminals. Hopefully, when the dust has settled and the truth is clear, those who oppose this law out of irrational fear, and those rational folks that are on the fence, will realize that allowing law abiding citizens to arm themselves is actually a good thing. A permit holder is no more likely to pull their weapon and shoot you down than they are to run you down with their car (Interesting side note; Drivers licenses are “shall issue” too, and motor vehicles kill more folks than guns, by a long shot, despite the much higher training and testing standards imposed on licensed drivers. Pun intended.).