cuchulainn
Member
I suspect that the 30,000 mistake is the college paper's.
from the Georgetown Hoya
http://www.thehoya.com/news/032803/news7.cfm
from the Georgetown Hoya
http://www.thehoya.com/news/032803/news7.cfm
Gun Control Debate Centers on NRA Tactics, D.C. Gun Ban
Friday, March 28, 2003
Gun Control Debate Centers on NRA Tactics, D.C. Gun Ban
By Nick Timiraos
Hoya Staff Writer
While the war in Iraq continues to dominate the political dialogue in the nation, GU College Democrats and Republicans came together to debate gun control Wednesday night in Healy Hall. David Haffty, a program officer for Handgun Free America, and Glen Caroline, the Director of grassroots division of the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action, faced off Wednesday’s debate.
The debate, which remained heated as both speakers criticized the efforts of his opponent’s respective organization, had special importance at Georgetown, as Washington, D.C., has not allowed the possession of firearms since 1976.
“When we find a product that is harmful to the public, we ban it,†Haffty said.
Haffty offered a litany of statistics supporting the need to eliminate handguns from society, stating that there are 30,000 accidental gun deaths in America every year, an average of 89 every day.
“The gun industry has attempted to keep handguns completely unregulated for safety and health,†he said. “Since 1980, the gun industry has made guns more concealable, more deadly and cheaper. Now why would they do this? They sell more guns this way.â€
Caroline said that the NRA should not be confused with the gun industry and argued that gun control was not the answer to urban crime rates.
“What Handgun Free America wants to see is a society where the only people who have guns are the police and the military,†Caroline said. “History has a name for those societies and they aren’t called democracies.â€
Caroline contended that enough gun control legislation existed but it had not been properly enforced. “If you totaled up all the laws for ownership, possession and regulation of handguns, it would be a number close to 20,000,†he said. “We do not suffer from a lack of gun control laws.â€
He added that gun control laws do not successfully stop criminals, but instead punishing law-abiding citizens.
“Does anyone think that a criminal with a rap sheet as long as my arm gets guns through legal avenues? If gun control laws aren’t followed by criminals, then who are they obeyed by? The law abiding public,†he said.
The gun ban in the District emerged as a central issue in the debate, with Caroline citing the city’s crime rate as a reason to abandon gun control.
“We don’t have to guess what would happen if we had complete gun control. For two and a half decades, our own city has had a ban on guns on the books,†he said. “Read the newspapers, watch the news and go to the southeast part of the city. Has the gun ban made the city safer?â€
Haffty responded by arguing that guns purchased outside of the District in neighboring Virginia could be brought into the city with no detection.
The involvement of the NRA within the national gun control debate became a central issue of Wednesday’s debate as well, with Raffty criticizing the NRA for allegedly targeting guns towards children through the Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program.
“The NRA has educational programs designed as marketing tools. They use cartoon characters to put a friendly face on guns,†he said. “The NRA makes guns so that kids will someday more easily use them. What kind of sicko would not only market guns for kids but also make them easier to use?â€
In defense of the NRA’s gun education programs, Caroline said that safety was a budget priority for his association.
“We spend $100 million on safety and education. I’d be interested to see if their [Handgun Free America’s] budget goes towards anything that educates about handguns.â€
Haffty also maintained that the NRA has supported criminals by opposing gun control legislation. “The NRA does not only choose not to stop the spread of guns, but it works to rearm felons through removing legislation,†he said.
Caroline argued that the NRA has been instrumental in supporting instant background checks and in promoting Project Exile, which focuses funding on the enforcement of existing gun laws instead of the creation of new legislation.
“Most criminals don’t go through the background check, but those stupid enough to do so are caught,†Caroline said. “It wasn’t Handgun Free America that pushed instant check legislation. So to suggest that the NRA is against such laws isn’t only wrong, but it ignores the measures that the NRA has brought about.â€
Both speakers also addressed the Second Amendment’s role in the gun control debate.
“Just as we have the right to speak out tonight, so to do we have the Second Amendment right to bear arms, which is codified in the Constitution,†Caroline said. “It is unrealistic to think that the other nine rights in the Bill of Rights are rights guaranteed to the individual and that the Second Amendment isn’t. There can be no debate and there is no debate over what the founding fathers intended when they wrote the U.S. Constitution.â€
Haffty countered by quoting former Chief Justice Warren Burger, who said that “The Second Amendment has been subjected to one of the greatest pieces of fraud.â€
Haffty added, “No federal court has ever overturned a gun control law on Second Amendment grounds.â€
College Democrats, College Republicans and Campus Greens sponsored the event, which drew over 50 students and adults.
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