Date: Wed, 3 May 1995 22:59:04 -0500
To: tpletters@aol.com
From: David.T.Wisniewski@cc.gettysburg.edu (David Wisniewski)
Subject: Re: NOPD Supt. Richard Pennington's statement


I wish to correct some of the statements made by NOPD Supt. Richard
Pennington regarding citizens carrying concealed firearms.

First of all, the number of accidental deaths from firearms was
1,441 in 1991, the last year data was collected by the National Center
for Health Statistics.  This was the lowest this number has been in the
past 20 years.  According to the NCHS, 6,434 persons died from poisons,
12,662 died from falls and 43,536 died in car accidents.  As you can see,
accidental deaths from firearms is the *lowest* out of the above causes.
>From Supt. Pennigton statements, he would have you believe all accidental
deaths are due to firearms.

Supt. Pennigton made the claim that people who carry firearms
for self-protection cause accidents, and implied that they are
a danger to themselves and others.  But, according to the FBI
and various state's police departments, people who carry firearms
for self-protection are responsible people.

In Florida, which passed its right-to-carry law in 1987, the murder
rate dropped from 11.4 deaths per 100,00 in 1987, to 9.0 in 1992,
while the national average soared from 8.3 in 1987 to 9.3 in 1992,
according to the FBI's 1992 Uniform Crime Report.

Critcs of right-to-carry laws, such as Supt. Pennington, will claim
that if citizens are allowed to carry firearms to protect themselves,
the streets will, "turn into a Wild-West Show" with people shooting
others at the slightest provocation, or injuring others. But, only 23
out of 270,701 people issused a CCW in Florida used their firearm in
an unlawful way.  That's [00.0084] % of the people who hold a CCW in
Florida. [Florida Department of State]

Of 14,000 CCW licensees in Oregon, only 4 (0.03%) were convicted
of the criminal (not necessarily violent) use or possession of a firearm.

The FBI's data also shows that in 20 other states that issue CCW
permits (including Arizona, Washington, Oregon, Tennessee, Wyoming,
and others), these states have enjoyed a REDUCTION in crime as follows:
1) Violent crime rates are LOWER by 21%.  2) Homicide rates are LOWER by
33%  3) Robbery rates are LOWER by 37% and 4) Aggravated assaults are
lower by 13%.

Because a firearm is used to prevent a crime from occuring does
not mean that the gun was fired.  According to Professor Gary Kleck,
a Criminologist at the University of Florida, there were 2.5 million
defensive uses of a firearm last year.  Less than 1% of those instances
involved the firearm being fired.

The above data shows that people who carry firearms for self-protection
are responsible and not "trigger happy".  It also shows that firearms
do benefit society, in the form of lower crime rates in those states that
allow their citizens to carry the neccessary means to protect themselves,
and prevention of crimes from occuring in other cases.

David Wisniewski
Gettysburg College
(717) 337.8213
s205290@gettysburg.edu