[SLUG-POL] CDC Gun Study

From: Paul M Foster (paulf@quillandmouse.com)
Date: Sat Sep 01 2001 - 11:57:03 EDT


I don't have a link to this; it was a story in the Tampa Trib. However,
apparently the CDC has sponsored a study which claims that licensing
_and_ registration limits criminal access to guns. The study involved
analysis of 23 states and 35,000 guns confiscated by police from
criminals. Of the five states in the study that have licensing _and_
registration, only 34% of the criminal guns were purchased in-state. In
the twelve states that have neither licensing nor registration, that
figure was 84%.

This will be used, of course, by gun haters as fodder for their
arguments. Never mind that the CDC has no business doing studies on
non-disease-related matters, and that they have a built-in bias. The NRA
hasn't had a chance to analyze this study, as of the time of the
article, but they're skeptical (as am I). (Yes, the NRA has a bias as
well, but I've seen the research they base their conclusions on. Their
arguments are less based on research than constitutional issues, but the
research itself is good.)

Several things are obvious: the study makes no statement about the
number of crimes committed. While access to guns is a nifty point to
make, if licensing and registration don't inhibit crime, it's kind of
moot. Likewise, no mention was made of guns _not_ confiscated by the
authorities. And no mention was made of the propensity of related
jurisdictions for prosecuting criminals for gun possession. And did
criminals without access to firearms simply commit their crimes with
other deadly weapons? And what about legal gun owners? Was their
possession and use of firearms a factor in _preventing_ crimes in those
same states?

I'm wondering if anyone has been able to examine the methodology,
quality of the research, and actual conclusions of the study. If anyone
has, a link would be good.

Paul



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