NCJ Number
108271
Journal
Law and Contemporary Problems Volume: 49 Issue: 1 Dated: (Winter 1986) Pages: 5-34
Date Published
1986
Length
30 pages
Annotation
It is argued that as long as gun control ordinances exempt police, private security personnel, and certain other occupational categories, general citizens are likely to perceive that the world is a dangerous place which requires a handgun for self-defense.
Abstract
The San Francisco and Morton Grove, Ill., ordinances demonstrate that even 'radical' gun control legislation carries exemptions that make them far from total prohibitions on handgun ownership. Persons who are not exempt from a prohibition on handgun ownership under such ordinances perceive that certain segments of the populace can carry handguns because they are in danger of gun assaults by criminals. This confirms citizens' belief that they are also in danger of attack from such criminals. Gun control ordinances are likely to be supported by the citizenry only when there is evidence that armed robberies and burglaries as well as general stranger-to-stranger shootings have subsided to the point that citizens can be safe without owning weapons. Top priorities in reducing gun-related injuries and deaths should be a general reduction in violent behavior and the provision of self-defense alternatives to guns. 94 footnotes.