Wisconsin To Allow Concealed Carry of Handguns

On November 1st, Wisconsin will become one of the last states to lift its ban on the ability of citizens to carry certain types of lethal weapons, primarily handguns.   The belief that handguns save lives or prevent crime is very prevalent.  However, many who support handgun or firearm ownership are not taking into account other harms to society (accidental shootings, violence against women and children, suicide rates, and handgun related crime).

The U.S. Constitution is actually very clear about the ownership of firearms - it says in the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution that, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."  To me, it seems like firearms should only be carried by members of a 'well-regulated militia.'  But that's just me, I guess.  If you want to know what is being allowed in Wisconsin, and what isn't, check out this link. I think that this is a big setback for Wisconsin, as well as for the U.S..  In my view, it's only a matter of time before we start seeing increased handgun violence in our neck of the woods.

To read more about what a scientific review of literature shows about the pros and cons of gun ownership, please see below, as well as the excellent resources at the Harvard Injury Control Research Center: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/research/hicrc/firearms-research/guns-and-death/index.html

From 1990 to 1997, there were 293,781 firearm deaths homicides, suicides, and unintentional shootings.

(Hoyert, DL, Kochanek, KD, et al. Deaths: Final Data for 1997. National Vital Statistics Report, 1999.)

For every time a gun in the home is used in a self-defense homicide, a gun will be used in:

1.3 unintentional deaths
4.6 criminal homicides
37 suicides

(Kellermann, AL and Reay, DT. "Protection or Peril? An Analysis of Firearm-Related Deaths in the Home." NEJM 314:24 (1986):1557-1560)

In 1997 there were 15,690 homicides.

Of these, 8,503 were committed with handguns.

Among handgun homicides, only 193 (2.3 percent) were classified as justifiable homicides by civilians.

For every time in 1997 that a civilian used a handgun to kill in self-defense, 43 people lost their lives in handgun homicides alone.

(FBI Supplementary Homicide Report data, 1997.)

The largest category of firearms fatality is suicide, not homicide. In 1997, 54 percent of all gun deaths were suicides, and 42 percent were homicides.

(Hoyert, DL, Kochanek, KD, et al. Deaths: Final Data for 1997. National Vital Statistics Report, 1999.)

About six out of 10 suicides are committed with firearms.

(CDC National Center for Injury Prevention and Control Fact Sheet. Suicide in the United States, www.cdc.gov/ncipc/dvp/suifacts.htm.)

Source:  http://www.vpc.org/fact_sht/hgbanfs.htm