Should Handguns Be Banned?

1. Should Handguns Be Banned? By Rob Taheri and Patrick Chu

2. Introduction • The efficiency and effectiveness of gun regulation is a matter of controversy. The debate over this issue has become notorious for its emotion driven rationales and hardened policy positions. This analysis is based on the belief that good laws and sound policy should be based on evidence and subject to effectiveness reviews. Accordingly, it examines the cost/benefits and effectiveness of gun registration as crime control.

3. Background • There have been three periods of gun registration in Canada. The first, the registration of handguns began in 1934 and continues to this day. The second was the registration of all guns during WWII. This registration period is not well documented, but it appears that the law was never seriously enforced and in any case it lapsed in 1945 when the RCMP requested it be discontinued. The third period is the current registration system brought in by Bill C-68 in 1995. This law required the licensing and registration of all gun owners by 2001 and required the registration of all guns by 2003. This legislation continued the previous policy of handgun registration and introduced long gun (rifle and shotgun) registration.

4. Background Continued… • Handguns are currently classified as either restricted or prohibited. Canadians can get a handgun license by proving the weapon is part of a collection, in target-shooting competitions, or for target practice. • The Canadian government strategy for making the streets of Canada's cities safer begins with banning all handguns and getting tougher on crime.

5. Facts and Statistics • 7.1 million registered firearms in Canada • 172 gun related homicides in Canada in 2004 • 112 committed with handguns • 71 gang-related homicides in Canada in 2004 • 70.4 percent of gang-related homicides committed with a handgun • The highest concentration of gun violence is amongst gangs.  50 out of the 70 gang murders last year used guns, and 42 of those murders were carried out with hand guns.

6. Stats Continued… • Guns are used in just 2.4% of all violent crimes in Canada, but handguns are the most common type of firearm used. Handguns are used in 70% of violent crimes involving guns nationwide. • "Five hundred fewer people are killed with guns today than 16 years ago," says Wendy Cukier. "Gun murders are at their lowest in 30 years. Murders of women with guns are down 66 per cent.”

7. U.S./Canada Comparison • There are more than 30 times more firearms in the United States than in Canada. • Handgun homicide rates are 15.3 times higher in the United States than in Canada. • Handgun robbery rates are 4.5 times higher in the United States than in Canada (the average handgun robbery rate was 91 per 100,000 in the U.S., compared to 26 per 100,000 in Canada)

8. Handguns Should Not Be Banned • Owning firearms is a fundamental right • Government should not be empowered to interfere with an individual's right to own firearms as long as the individual is not harming or intimidating fellow citizens • Guns in the hands of the law-abiding populace decrease crime • Citizens have a right to self-protection • While one's firearm may be dangerous to one's own family, the added risk of owning a gun is negligible compared to other hazards we accept at home. (e.g., swimming pools)

9. Citizens have a need to own guns to protect themselves against crime because although government is tasked with an obligation in the whole to protect citizens collectively, government is not tasked to protect any particular citizen unless there is a special relationship established with the particular individual prior to the commencement of falling victim to a crime • An armed populace decreases the overall risk of violent crime; widespread ownership by the law-abiding is a deterrent to criminal intent • Gun control laws do not stop criminals from getting guns, because criminals are willing to break the law to get them.

10. Law-abiding citizens have a responsibility to provide their own protection because governments cannot be held civilly or criminally responsible for failing to provide such protection • Carrying a firearm makes one safer, not less safe; for the same reason that police forces carry firearms, criminals do not expect an armed victim. • An armed populace is a deterrent to excesses of government; the threat of violent revolution by the people keeps government's power in check • Existing gun control laws are sufficient if only government would enforce them

11. Some Canadians disagreed that a sweeping ban on handguns would be very successful in combating urban violence, considering that most guns used in shootings are obtained illegally

12. Handguns Should Be Banned! • The vast majority of handgun homicides involve youth • Guns kept in your house for self protection are 22 times more likely to kill someone you know than kill in self-defence. • Handguns provide an easy way to kill others or yourself

13. Continued… • Nowhere in the Canadian “Charter of Rights and Freedoms” does it state the right to own a handgun (Compared to the American constitution) • Handguns are not used for hunting!

14. Suicide • Guns give no second chance; it is a simple, quick, and efficient way to kill. "Handguns are unforgiving, they offer no second chance to consider suicide” • 54% were suicides; 42% homicides; 3% were accidents; and the other 1% were unknown • Suicidal people usually consider the act for a long time, with handguns, they have no second chance and no time to go back on their actions, like they do for drowning themselves, attempting an overdose, or even hanging

15. The Primary Function of a Handgun is to Kill • FACT: While handguns account for only one-third of all firearms owned in the United States, they account for more than two-thirds of all firearm-related deaths each year. • FACT: In 1998 handguns murdered: • 151 people in Canada where handguns are closely monitored • 11,789 people in the United States where handguns are almost unrestricted • FACT: In 1998, for every time that a civilian used a handgun to kill in self-defense, 51 people lost their lives in handgun homicides. • FACT: Handguns are more likely than rifles or shotguns to be used in homicides in which men kill women. In 2002, handguns were used in 73 percent of cases where men used firearms to kill women

16. Videos • http://www.gunowners.org/svtb.htm MORE GUNS ARE THE ANSWER and SO-CALLED "ASSAULT" WEAPONS

17. Questions and Discussion • Class Vote: Ban handguns or allow them? Why? • Should the government money go into programs to ban handguns and get them off the streets, or into social programs showing youth in low class areas the right direction? Why? • Should there be background checks made to verify eligibility to own a firearm? Who should make them, and should there be a waiting period before a firearm can be sold? • Are there criteria that disqualify a person from owning firearms? (Possible criteria include age, mental competence, firearm training, and felony conviction) • Should some types of firearms be regulated differently than others?

18. Works Cited • http://saunderslog.com/2005/12/09/gun-violence-in-canada/ • http://www.iansa.org/regions/namerica/handguns-canada.htm • http://www.cfc-cafc.gc.ca/pol-leg/res-eval/other_docs/notes/canus/default_e.asp • http://allfreeessays.com/student/Gun_Control_3.html • www.ichv.org/Statistics.htm • www.vpc.org/press/0111unin.html • www.endabuse.org/resources/facts/Guns.pdf - End Gun Abuse Organization