Alphecca: One-Gun-Per-Month Ineffective

September 27, 2006

One-Gun-Per-Month Ineffective

Rather a surprise to find the Philadelphia Inquirer publishing an article about this:

One-gun-a-month laws sound attractive to gun-control activists and draw broad public support in polls. But it's not clear that such statutes have had much impact on gun violence.

A study published last year in the journal Injury Prevention found that the laws restricting purchases had had no measurable impact. The study was done by a team of doctors from the University of Washington, using data from 1979 to 1998.

Another study, done in 2001 by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, found evidence of a slight decrease in gun violence associated with Maryland's one-gun law.

With only California, Virginia and Maryland having such laws, there isn't much evidence to be had. What is available raises questions about the effect of limiting individuals to one handgun purchase every 30 days.

Last year, all three one-gun states had homicide rates above the national average - slightly above in California and Virginia, well above in Maryland.

And Richmond, Va., and Baltimore had homicide rates among the highest in the country. Both cities reported well over 40 homicides per 100,000 residents, compared with about 25 for Philadelphia.

There are, of course, dissenting opionions and the article has those as well. Interesting, though, that those arguments all fall along the lines of, "Well, limiting handgun purchases to one-per-month might not have any impact but let's do it anyway..." No thanks; we have enough mindless, useless, politically feel-good laws on the books now.

Posted by Jeff Soyer at September 27, 2006 09:09 AM

Comments

Not surprising at all they come out with this now. Naturally they wouldn't want to come out it with BEFORE the measure goes down to stunning defeat in the special legislative session, and possibly jeapardize the push for gun control. Now that they realize they can't get it, well, we didn't really want it anyway.

I went to Harrisburg yesterday in person. My account of it, along with pictures, can be seen here. I'll have more to say about it later.

Posted by: Sebastian at September 27, 2006 10:17 AM

Would be interesting if someone did a study comparing the impact of various gun control schemes on urban black on black violence (cause thats what the problem really is) compared to what the impact would be if we ended the war on drugs.

Posted by: countertop at September 27, 2006 10:30 AM

Since when did a crackhead gangbanger even know what month it is? Do a study on suburban gun-collectors vs. inner-city toughs and see who committed the most traffic violations. Just one Stop-Sign a month... Bah!

Posted by: DirtCrashr at September 27, 2006 04:53 PM

Sounds to me like more political fodder for bureacrats to be able to take back to their respective districts in order to be able to say, "See, look, I...uh...kinda sorta tried to do something about our crime rate...sorta..."

Crap. If a criminal wants a gun, he/she will get it whether it's on the streets or in a shop.

Posted by: Southerngayrepublican at September 27, 2006 07:56 PM

I read in one of the Philly papers an editorial extolling the virtues of the "one gun a month" law, and why does anyone "need" more than that. The problem isn't with how many guns do you need, or are allowed to buy - the problem is that once the law is on the books, it's a simple matter to change the wording from "one per month" to "one per year", or even just "one", period. Because, of course, our benevolent leaders know what's best for us all...

Posted by: nimrod45 at September 28, 2006 09:15 AM

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September 27, 2006

One-Gun-Per-Month Ineffective

By Golly, you're reading an archived post. Click Here to head to the main page and read current stuff...

Check it out:

My group sci-fi blog novel:

Colony: Alchibah