| Refuting The New York Times' Anti-Gun Bias |
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| Written by Mike Kinsey | |
| Friday, 02 February 2007 | |
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The New York Times published an editorial this past Tuesday entitled “A Day Without Guns”. You will not be surprised to learn that this piece of anti-gun drivel did not think much of concealed carry legislation. In particular, it insanely tried to call into question the effectiveness of Florida’s concealed carry laws by offering inconsequential statistics regrettably showing that a meager handful of Concealed Handgun Licenses were granted to those that should not have received them. However, what is more interesting to note is what they didn't say. Despite the fact that Florida has over 410,000 legally licensed citizens, the editorial did not cite one instance of where a crime was committed by them… even by the few that were licensed in error. As you would expect, I am not the only one that noticed that glaring omission. Today, The New York Sun penned an excellent editorial in response to the Times (which considers itself “America’s Paper of Record”) and actually sets the record straight: Since the Jack Hagler Self Defense Act went into effect in 1987, crime in Florida has gone down by almost every measure there is. According to statistics provided by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, firearm murders in Florida between 1987 and 2005 dropped in real terms to 521 from 697. Expressed as the number of firearm murders per 100,000 persons, the drop is even more dramatic, to 2.9 from 5.8. That's a change of 50%. The drop in violent crime overall is less precipitous but equally steady, including drops in the rates of murder, aggravated assault, robbery, and sexual assault. A 50% drop in firearm murders per 100,000 people!? I don’t know about you, but that sounds a lot more newsworthy to me than the statistical anomalies the Times has drummed up. The New York Sun editorial goes on to explain that, of course, it is difficult to prove that these drastic drops in Florida’s crime rates are due solely to the effects of the Right to Carry movement. I think most logical people will conclude that it certainly has played a part. However, even if somehow the anti-gun zealots are correct and law-abiding handgun carriers do not decrease the crime rate, two things are certainly irrefutable from the statistics seen in all of the forty-eight states that recognize the Second Amendment and do not prohibit the right of self defense: 1) Concealed Handgun Licensees DO NOT increase the crime rate as the fear-mongers tirelessly predicted again and again. 2) The personal crime rate that could affect my family will not go up so long as I have the means to defend them. |