Editor's Note: Talking Point

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Readers have asked us to provide some simple facts about guns, shooting and gun restrictions that would be helpful when talking with non-shooters or elected officials. A daily fact may help each of us refute the disinformation and misconceptions commonly offered by anti-gun groups as "facts".

Fallacy: In other nations, removing guns from the citizens has reduced crime.

FACT: Not so. In Australia, for example, 640,381 personal firearms were surrendered under a new gun restriction. In the 12 months after that act nation-wide homicides rose 6.2 percent, assaults rose 9.6 percent, and armed robberies rose 44 percent. The previous 25 years of statistics before the restriction showed a steady decrease in robberies involving firearms. Among the most impacted in the crime jump: the elderly.