[Vision2020] Guns or thoughts

Fri Apr 20 16:11:07 PDT 2007

Tim I,

  Thanks for the information. Like I said in my earlier email, if we hold gun owners and sellers criminally liable for what others do with their guns because they refused to properly secure it or sell it only to responsible law abiding citizens, we would see a rapid decline in armed crime, murder, shootouts, gang violence and even teenage suicide.

  Many of the laws today are only designed to take guns away from responsible adults, not criminals and others that should not have access to them. 

  It should be a felony to sell a gun or leave access to it to a minor, a criminal, or someone not of sound mind. 

  Best,

  Donovan  

Tom Ivie <the_ivies3 at yahoo.com> wrote:
  oops! I meant 2005!!!  1995 isn't too recent any more is it

Tom Ivie <the_ivies3 at yahoo.com> wrote:     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

=======================================================
List services made available by First Step Internet, 
serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. 
http://www.fsr.net 
mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
=======================================================

---------------------------------
  Ahhh...imagining that irresistible "new car" smell?
Check out new cars at Yahoo! Autos. =======================================================
List services made available by First Step Internet, 
serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. 
http://www.fsr.net 
mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
=======================================================

---------------------------------
  Ahhh...imagining that irresistible "new car" smell?
Check out new cars at Yahoo! Autos. =======================================================
List services made available by First Step Internet, 
serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. 
http://www.fsr.net 
mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
=======================================================

---------------------------------
Ahhh...imagining that irresistible "new car" smell?
 Check outnew cars at Yahoo! Autos.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20070420/1e492991/attachment.html 