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Your Tax Dollars Pay for Gun Control Disinformation

by Bartholomew Roberts
chuangtzu2@hotmail.com

January 25, 2002

I recently discovered a pamphlet put out by the National Crime Prevention Council (McGruff the Dog?). 
You may find an online copy of the pamphlets here (Arizona, Missouri, and Florida citizens take note):

This pamphlet not only outright LIES about guns, it lists an anti-gun lobby (Center to Prevent Handgun Violence) as a source for more information. The National Crime Prevention Council receives the majority of its funding from the National Institute of Justice -- a government organization. In fact, NCPC received $693,000 in government grants just in the last year -- almost 50% of its funding. The NCPC is also promoting the same lies that got the CDCs funding cut. I'll go over the falsehoods in the pamphlet and list facts to refute those falsehoods below: 

Quote:

"Nine out of ten murders involve a weapon--eight of ten involve a firearm."

Not true -- the number of homicides involving a firearm has NEVER risen above 70% from 1968-1998. It is currently 65%. (Source: FBI UCRs available here: http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/1995/pdf/t3138.pdf)


Quote:

"Most robberies involve the use of a weapon, most frequently a handgun."

Also untrue, the most frequent type of robbery involves no weapon at all. If you include all robberies, a firearm of any type is involved in only 18%. If you limit robberies to those where supplemental data is reported, firearms comprised 38% in 1998 (compared to 40% strong-arm). (Source FBI UCRs available here: http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/1995/pdf/t3158.pdf)

Quote:

"A gun in the home increases the likelihood of homicide three times and the likelihood of suicide five times."

This statement is based on thoroughly debunked "research" by Arthur Kellerman and Don Reay. This "research" was so biased that the CDC lost a significant chunk of funding for authorizing it. A thorough criticism of the studies can be found here: 
http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_gcdgaga.html.


Quote:

"Think long and hard about having weapons, especially firearms, in your home. Studies show that a firearm in the home is more than forty times as likely to hurt or kill a family member as to stop a crime."

Not only is this quote based on debunked research by Kellerman and Reay (above) but they misquoted the actual study! Kellerman and Reay's findings were: "for every case of self-protection homicide involving a firearm kept in the home, there were 1.3 accidental deaths, 4.6 criminal homicides, and 37 suicides involving firearms." The quote above is not only tremendously biased, it misreports the conclusions of an already flawed study. (For more on this "study" see: http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_gcdgaga.html.)


I don't know about you, but I would like to see organizations funded by my tax money behave responsibly with that money. I don't like seeing them advocate for certain political lobbying groups. I'd also like to straighten out the local governments that are disseminating this propaganda into our schools and communities. 

CDC got its funding chopped for this. Let's see if we can't encourage NCPC to correct the errors or face the same consequences. 

I think the proper tack here would be to contact http://www.ncpc.org and let them know that their facts are amiss in the particular pamphlet they put out. I'd also ask why they didn't include a source for further weapons safety besides CPHV. If they gave me anything but "We'll correct that right away", I'd save it and include the reply in my letter to my Congressperson. 

National Crime Prevention Council may be reached at: 

webmaster@ncpc.org  
1000 Conneticut Ave. NW 13th Floor 
Washington DC 20036 
Voice: 202-466-6272 
Fax: 202-295-1356 

You may also wish to contact their sponsors who are listed here: http://www.ncpc.org/partners.htm  

Executive Board of Directors of NCPC 
http://www.ncpc.org/annrpt/board.htm 
(thanks to DZ for the research):

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 

Chairman 
Mr. U. J. Brualdi, Jr. 
Ret. President & CEO 
ADT Security Services, Inc. 
Longboat Key, Florida 

Vice Chairman 
Mrs. Mary Whyte 
Civic Leader 
Greenwich, Connecticut 

Secretary 
Mr. Robert F. Diegelman 
Civic Leader 
Springfield, Virginia 

Treasurer/Finance 
Mr. Edward L. Milstein 
Co-Chairman 
Douglas Elliman 
New York, New York 

Ms. Jean Adnopoz 
Associate Professor 
Child Study Center 
Yale University School of Medicine New 
Haven, Connecticut 

Mr. David A. Dean, Esq. 
Chief Executive Officer 
Dean International, Inc. 
David A. Dean and Associates, P.C. Dallas, 
Texas 

Mr. Michael F. Snyder 
President 
ADT Security Services, Inc. 
Boca Raton, Florida 

Mrs. Potter Stewart 
Civic Leader 
Washington, DC 

DIRECTORS 

Mr. Thomas W. Adler 
Managing Partner 
NewGar, Ltd. 
Cleveland, Ohio 

Mr. Charles P. Austin, Sr. 
Chief of Police 
Columbia Police Department 
Columbia, South Carolina 

Mr. Rudy M. Beserra 
Assistant Vice President 
The Coca-Cola Company 
Atlanta, Georgia 

Mr. John P. Box 
President 
Frederick Ross Company 
Denver, Colorado 

Mr. Ordway P. Burden 
President and Director 
Law Enforcement Assistance Foundation 
New York, New York 

Mr. George K. Campbell 
President 
Fidelity Security Services, Inc. 
Boston, Massachusetts 

Ms. Beverly Watts Davis 
Executive Director 
San Antonio Fighting Back of United Way 
San Antonio, Texas 

Mr. Dennis R. Dibos 
Director of Business Development Motorola 
Schaumburg, Illinois 

Mrs. Carole Hillard 
Lieutenant Governor 
State of South Dakota 
Pierre, South Dakota 

Mr. J. Ben Miller 
Principal 
Colliers Turley Martin 
St. Louis, Missouri 

Dr. Charles A. Moose, Ph.D. 
Chief of Police 
Montgomery County Department of Police 
Rockville, Maryland 

Mr. Leonard H. Roberts 
Chairman, President & CEO 
Tandy Corporation/RadioShack Fort Worth, 
Texas 

Nathaniel E. Robinson 
Special Assistant to the Office of the 
Secretary 
Department of Administration 
State of Wisconsin 
Madison, Wisconsin 

Ms. Nell Watson Stewart 
President 
Stewart's Unlimited, Inc. 
Greenville, South Carolina 

Ms. Carla J. Stovall 
Attorney General 
State of Kansas 
Topeka, Kansas 

Advisory Directors 
Mr. Robert P. Keim 
Ret. President 
The Advertising Council, Inc. Madison, 
Connecticut 

Mr. William F. May 
Chairman & CEO 
Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island Foundation 
New York, New York 

Mr. Joseph V. Vittoria 
Ret. Chairman & CEO 
Avis Rent A Car System, Inc. Delray Beach, 
Florida 

President & Chief Executive Officer 
Mr. John A. Calhoun 
National Crime Prevention Council Washington, 
DC