ding The Clinton GunBan Law of 1995, finds that "because the banned guns and magazines were never used in morethan a fraction of all gun murders, even the maximum theoretically achievable preventive effectof the ban on gun murders is almost certainly too small to detect statistically..." JosephConstance, the Deputy Police Chief of Trenton, New Jersey, states: "Assault weapons are used inan underwhelming .026 of 1% of crimes in New Jersey. This means that my officers are morelikely to confront an escaped tiger from the local zoo, than to confront an assault rifle in thehands of a drug-crazed killer on the streets." West Virginia stands as an example of theinaccurate thinking of gun control advocates. This state has the highest number of guns perperson in the nation, yet it has the lowest number of crimes per person in the nation. Guncontrol has little or no effect on crime. Gun control advocates believe that gun control has no effect on the law-abidingcitizens.However, gun control takes recreational firearms from law-abiding citizens. Many ofthe guns used today for hunting and recreational shooting originate as military weapons (e.g., 6.5x 55 Mauser, 8mm Mauser, and 7mm Remington). Gun control advocates like to makestatements such as this one from a New York Times editorial: "No Federal law limits militaryassault rifles that are semi-automatic." They overlook the fact that military rifles are notsemi-automatic they are automatics. The guns which gun controll advocates seek to regulateconform to statutes that keep the public from owning military, fully-automatic weapons. Average Americans responsibly shoot these completely legal semi-automatic guns for recreation. Gun control takes firearms from hobbyists and hunters.Finally, limiting the right of a citizen to own certain guns puts him at a disadvantagewhen dealing with criminals and protecting his family. If a criminal needs a gun, he purchases iton the street, and can acquir...
