Two Madison Award Winners
The Second Amendment Foundation is proud to announce two Madison Award winners for pro-gun owner commentaries on concealed carry reform and gun bans. Madison Awards are given in the spirit of James Madison, Fourth U.S. President and author of the Second Amendment.
Our first recipient of the Madison Award goes to John R. Lott Jr., a Law Professor at the University of Chicago Law School, for his excellent rebuttal against attacks on concealed carry reform and the right to self defense. His article, entitled, "License to Kill? Careful look at critical study actually backs gun permit holders," appeared in The Dallas Morning News on February 8, 1998.
Lott begins by refuting the false figures put out by the Violence Policy Center attacking Texas’s concealed carry law. He notes that during the first two years, 1996 & 1997, 163,096 carry licenses were issued, with only 163 license holders arrested for felonies and 683 for misdemeanors. If they were arrested at the same rate as other adult Texans, the numbers should have been 731 for violent crimes and 222 for property crimes.
"Thus, permit holders were about one-third as likely to be arrested as nonpermit holders and mush less likely to commit serious crimes," concluded Lott.
Mr. Lott then went even further to examine the murders and attempted murders. Only 5 permit holders were arrested for four deaths, while if the murder arrest rate was the same as average adult Texans, 56 would have been arrested. But he doesn’t stop here.
"Of the four deaths mentioned, none has resulted in a conviction. In fact, two so far have been cleared and deemed to have acted in self defense," reminds Lott.
He further explains that this is the case in every state where "shall-issue" concealed carry laws are passed. And many of the doomsayers, including some police, are eating crow and admitting they were wrong.
Lott concludes by reminded people that, "people do bad things with guns, but guns also protect people when law enforcement officers aren’t able to be there."
Our second Madison Award goes to Rachel Alexander, a second year law student with a biweekly column entitled, "Common Sense." Her article entitled, "Should We Ban Guns?" appeared in the Arizona Daily Wildcat on January 21, 1998.
Ms. Alexander begins by asking an important question, "Why should we want to protect the right to own a gun?"
She then points out that gun control will not stop criminals from getting guns or prevent crimes with guns. New York City and Washington, D.C. were held up as perfect examples of the failure of gun control with huge increases in murder rates AFTER the controls passed. These places were contrasted with states passing concealed carry laws and their crime rates went down.
Ms. Alexander continues to utilize crime statistics well in showing the need for guns for self protection. She writes, "How dangerous is society? One woman in the United States is raped every five minutes. Three out of four American women will fall victim to violent crime at some time in their lives."
She details how African Americans are 50 percent more likely to be violent crime victims than whites and there believes that, "Restricting firearm ownership disproportionately hurts the black community."
Ms. Alexander cites the excellent work of Mr. Lott and Gary Kleck and highlights how violent crime is increasing much faster in other countries with gun control than in the United States. With all this evidence, she believes that, "Irrational fear and distrust of all citizens leads to disarming those who wish to participate in protection of their life, liberty and property, as is their right."
Based on her studies, she concludes that, "We know that restricting gun ownership does not stop violent crime. It is time to put a halt to the emotional rhetoric which labels people criminals for wanting to protect themselves from real criminals."
If you locate an editorial or opinion article worthy of a Madison Award, please mail it to: Dave LaCourse · James Madison Awards Chairman · Second Amendment Foundation · 12500 NE 10th Place · Bellevue, WA 98005 or FAX it to (425) 451-3959.