[Vision2020] Guns or thoughts

[Tom Ivie]

Here is some info I found about guns and crime.  It is fairly recent (1995).  Though it is about a study done in Minnesota, it has many federal statistics. Keep in my mind that I have no problem with private citizens owning guns and own many myself.  The jist of the piece is that a large portion of violent crimes involve stolen guns (too often that were not locked up correctly).  Be RESPONSIBLE and store your guns in an appropriate locked storage.  To read the whole thing go to http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:3JSkTDorFZQJ:www.endgunviolence.com/vertical/Sites/%257BAAEC109F-616F-49FC-8E4C-EDEA9EDD71E9%257D/uploads/%257B39D0C3A2-9B6E-4098-9AFD-24CFF81F2BC7%257D.DOC+stolen+guns+%26+crime&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=11&gl=us&client=firefox-a


Guns stolen from homes, vehicles  and businesses are often used to commit violent crimes.  In the  U.S., more than a million guns were reported stolen between 1993-2002,  mostly from private homes or vehicles (81%). More than 400,000 of those  stolen guns were subsequently recovered by the police after a crime  or as a result of a criminal apprehension.  

 The Federal Bureau of Alcohol,  Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducts tracing of guns used in crime.  Their results from the year 2000 demonstrate that 26% of the guns used  in crime that year were stolen from dealers, residences or automobiles.
Continuing Criminal Access  to Guns 
   A robust secondary    market (private sales between individuals, gun shows, flea markets,    newspaper ads, and the internet) and criminal access through theft are    routes that continue to supply criminals with weapons. In a 1997 survey,    between 4 and 14% of state and federal prison inmates reported acquiring    their firearm through theft.[ In an earlier survey, 9%    of handgun-owning inmates acquired their weapon through theft. 
   ‘Straw buys’,    wherein a citizen with no record purchases firearms specifically for    someone who would not pass a criminal background check, continues to    be an issue. When a gun used in a crime is traced back, the ‘straw    buyer’ will often claim the gun was stolen and they did not report    it.
 Youth, Families and Firearms 
   Youth also report    gaining access to firearms through theft. Of the 949 guns traced to    crime committed by youth in Minneapolis during 2000, 34% were stolen    from licensed dealers or private homes. A survey of juvenile    inmates found that more than 50% had stolen a gun at least once and    24% had had stolen their most recently obtained handgun. 
  
   Juveniles, in particular,    are likely to steal guns from residences during daytime hours. Portable,    easy to conceal and with a high street value, guns are attractive to    thieves both for personal use and for trafficking. 
  
   Most handguns kept    in the home are for protection, yet research has shown that guns in    the home are more likely to be used against a family member (in a suicide,    homicide or accidental shooting) than against an intruder.    Further research suggests that keeping a gun in the home does not deter    burglary. According to Cook and Ludwig, residences in neighborhoods    with high gun prevalence are at greater risk of being burglarized. 
  Safe Storage
 
   Firearm theft rates    vary between states and some suggest this may be related to firearm    storage practices or safe storage laws. Nationally, 40% of US households    have a gun in the home. In households with guns where    children reside, 9% stored their weapons unlocked and loaded, while    only 39% properly secured the weapons unloaded, locked and with ammunition    stored separately. 
  
   Approximately 48%    of Minnesota households contain at least one firearm, usually a rifle    used primarily for recreation.
  
 
   Twenty percent of    gun owners, most who own handguns for protection, store their weapons    unlocked and loaded. 
  
   According to Americans    for Gun Safety, states that have enacted safe storage laws have lower    firearm theft rates and more rapidly declining theft rates.    Minnesota’s Child Access Prevention Law imposes penalties if a child    is injured with a firearm that was not properly stored (Minn. Stat.    609.378, subd. 1; 609.666). In 2001, Minnesota ranked 38th    among the 50 states in firearm theft rates.
 Findings
 Locking guns matters.   In Hennepin County, 78% of stolen guns were completely unlocked.   The storage method matters, too.  Guns locked inadequately include  those kept primarily in glass cabinets, vehicles or locked storage spaces  such as garage or apartment basement storage units.    
 
 Guns stored in homes are the  primary source of stolen guns.  Eighty-five percent of guns were  stolen from homes; 11% from vehicles and 4% from business.  Asking  the average gun owner to take the strongest method possible to lock  any guns they own is likely to decrease gun theft in our community.  
 
  In Hennepin County as a whole,  more long guns than handguns are stolen. However in Minneapolis, more  handguns are stolen.  Many police jurisdictions show reports indicating  that multiple guns are stolen in a single event, usually a mix of handguns  and long guns. 
 
Recommendations for individual  gun owners
 Lock guns in the most secure  manner possible. Trigger locks available on the market today do a good  job of protecting young children, but are far less effective in deterring  adolescents and thieves. 

 Sell guns only to a licensed  firearms dealer rather than to an individual or pawn shop.  Licensed  dealers will run background checks before re-selling guns. 
 
 Phone your local police department  for information about how to dispose of a gun in your home, or for more  information on safe storage. 

 Recommendations for Law  Enforcement 
 Investigate and prosecute cases  involving stolen guns. 

 Create an expectation that  officers will safely store guns in their own homes.  Secure funding  to provide high quality gun safes to officers. 

 Legislative Recommendations
 Provide access to the FBI’s  stolen gun registry to licensed gun dealers and pawn shops. 
 
 Pass a law that requires gun  owners to report stolen guns. 

 Strengthen and clarify Minnesota’s  two safe storage laws.  One prohibits child access to firearms  to age 14 and another prohibits access to age 18.  Both laws prescribe  an adequate safe storage method and failure to comply with either law  is a misdemeanor.   Adopt the higher standard (age 18) and  increase the penalty for noncompliance. 

Tom Hansen <idahotom at hotmail.com> wrote: Roger Falen stated:

"If some of the people there had been armed. there would probably have been 
fewer people killed."

Even from Roger Falen I expected something a bit more mature than this.

Or is he on to something?

Maybe we should ensure that each and every student is permitted to carry a 
loaded firearm around campus just in case the incident at Virginia Tech 
should happen here on our campus.

Could you imagine what Friday afternoons at the library would be like: "I'm 
going to the Reference Desk.  Cover me."

And what about football games here at UI being attended by 10,000+ fans.  
How are we to know that some of them may not be a little off-center?  
Students attending football games should also be armed.  Nothing wreaks more 
of school spirit than a good ol' half-time shoot out after three hours of 
tailgating.

Now, if one of you fine people will cover me, I've gotta go to the post 
office.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho


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