The Daily Orange

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) also released a report on gun ownership and crime rates which reached similar results as the one conducted by the FBI. The BATFE report noted that violent crimes only involve firearms 25 percent of the time, with few of those guns used having been legally acquired. In addition, individuals who legally own guns were found to be the least likely segment of society to wind-up in jail. About 150,000 crimes are stopped per year by gun-owners, with less than 10 percent of those involving the actual having to fire the gun.

We have seen what happens to nations who ban guns - like in England, where crimes with firearms skyrocketed after the handgun ban was passed by Parliament, as reported by The Express. A similar phenomenon occurred in Australia, where left-wing lawmakers passed legislation to only allow guns for hunting and sport. Shortly thereafter, crime rates increased across their nation. This isn't limited to overseas, however; when the so-called "assault weapons" ban was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1994, the crime rate in America began an upward climb, particularly in states that already have tough gun control laws.

An FBI study showed that nations with stricter gun laws are among the highest in crime rates with guns, while those who permit high gun ownership enjoy generally lower criminal activity using a firearm. Not coincidently, the nation with the lowest crime rate in this study is also the nation with the highest civilian gun ownership: Finland.

Members of both political parties in the United States have now seen this data, and are fighting for the Second Amendment rights of Americans to be preserved. Even the Democratic Party, home to the most avid gun control supporters only a few years ago, added into their 2004 platform the promise that they would "protect Americans' Second Amendment right to own firearms," finally returning their party to the belief held by National Rifle Association (NRA) lifetime member President John F. Kennedy. Modern Democrats are not perfect on the issue, but if the candidates they put into office in 2006 are any indication to what they will fight for in the future on gun rights, even the party I so often disagree with may have some glimmer of hope.

We as Americans have a solemn duty to never allow such laws to pass here. When lawmakers allow the people to vote on attempts at gun control, there has not been one instance where the people have not shot it down, as noted by The Weekly Standard. As a card-carrying member of the NRA, I am proud to be a part of the majority of Americans fighting to keep our Constitutional rights preserved and safe from politicians who seek to rob us of an American freedom.

In 2008, when you hear any candidate in either political party advocating for taking the guns out of 45 percent of American homes against the will of 73 percent of Americans, simply reply as the great Charlton Heston once did: "From my cold, dead hands!"

Vinny Napolitano is a senior political science, American history and political philosophy major. He is the Executive Director of the College Republicans. His columns appear every Wednesday. He can be reached at vsnapoli@syr.edu.

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