The executive director of the Delaware Coalition Against Gun Violence, Traci Manza Murphy, submitted a commentary (“Advocates push for stronger, safer gun policies,”, Feb. 21) in response to a commentary from Rep. Lyndon Yearick, R-Magnolia (“State representative says ineffective laws won’t reduce gun violence,” Feb. 12).
She states that Rep. Yearick was wrong when he said that ineffective gun laws won’t reduce gun violence. So ineffective gun laws will reduce violence? I guess I am missing something. I believe Rep. Yearick was correct. Only effective laws will reduce violent crime committed with a firearm.
The term “gun violence” is a term that has been made up to make all firearms scary. Groups such as the one Ms. Murphy represents say that “gun violence” is a public health crisis. Why? Firearms are not used in over 90% of violent crimes nationwide. Why are they being singled out? Why are the facts distorted and misrepresented by these groups?
Ms. Murphy goes on to mention a study done by Daniel Webster and others in 2015, concerning laws passed in Connecticut and Missouri that purportedly found that permit-to-purchase laws actually reduce crimes committed with firearms. That study has been debunked because of the methodology that was used. The controls used were considered synthetic, meaning that they used selected states and time periods to help bolster their conclusions. A review by the Rand Corp. outlined the reasons the study was flawed.
She mentions that “gun laws work” and that the states with the strongest gun laws (meaning gun control) are also the states with the lowest rates of both gun homicide and gun suicide. She points to a recent study published by the Violence Policy Center to support her statement. What she neglects to point out is that the study includes suicides as part of “gun deaths.” Suicides make up almost 60% of all deaths caused by firearms. While that is way too many deaths, it is grossly misleading when trying to make the case for more restrictive laws.
The National Institute of Justice answers the question, “How prevalent is gun violence in America?” by stating the number of persons who were victims of the crimes of murders, robberies and aggravated assaults involving a firearm. They do not include suicides, since suicide is not codified as a crime.
If you take suicides out of the numbers, one finds that the states with the most restrictive gun laws have the most violent crime committed with firearms, such as California, New York and Maryland. That is demonstrated with the murder rates that are found in Baltimore and Chicago. Maryland and Illinois have required a permit to purchase a firearm for years. With those restrictive laws, why aren’t the murder rates lower?
It is indisputable that criminals do not obey the law. Therefore, it is entirely reasonable to conclude that new laws requiring permitting and training will only be obeyed by law-abiding citizens. Law-abiding citizens are not the problem.
It’s said that approximately 92% of violent crime occurs in urban areas. In Delaware, there were 16,936 violent offenses, which include murder, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault, reported in 2020, according to the state Statistical Analysis Center. In 2019, there were 18,306 violent offenses. In 2019, the latest report available from the center, there were 173 shooting incidents. Doing the math, shootings comprised just less than 1% of all violent crime. That is not to say that firearms were not used in other types of violent crime, but the fact remains the percentage is extremely low.
Looking more closely at the shooting incidents, the figures show that 84% of the suspects and 71.6% of the victims had prior violent felony arrests. What does that mean? Bad guys are shooting bad guys.
If more laws such as permit to purchase and comprehensive criminal background checks (which, by the way, Delaware has had since 2013) were the answer, why would 25 out of 50 states allow permitless carry of firearms, 42 out of 50 states not regulate semi-automatic firearms, 41 out of 50 states decline to limit the size of magazines, 40 out of 50 states not require a permit to purchase and 45 out of 50 states adopt a state-level right to keep and bear arms? The answer is simple: It is not the firearm that is the problem. It is the person behind the object.
The only reason groups such as the one Ms. Murphy represents focus disproportionately on firearms is because they are not willing to focus on the core reasons for violent crime. It is far too easy to focus on the object. Why? Because it can’t fight back. It is far more difficult to address drug use, gang problems, educational problems, family values and such. It takes work and commitment. Over 99.9% of all firearm owners are law-abiding. All we ask is that we be left alone. For every new “gun safety” law that is passed, one has to admit that all the previous laws did not work. Look at California!
The Delaware State Sportsmens Association has always supported those measures that we believe focus on the real problem, the person behind the object. We helped develop Delaware’s “red flag” law. We wrote the current background check law, known as the Firearm Transaction Approval Program, even though the governor took credit.
I have always offered to talk to any legislator that wants to address the real problem. I continue to do so.
Jeff Hague
President, Delaware State Sportsmen's Association
