Points of Comparison Between Banning the Handgun and Prohibition of Liquor (From Law-Abiding Criminals, P 1-23, 1983, by John Kaplan, et al See NCJ-100239)

• NCJ Number: 100240
• Author(s): D B Kates
• Date Published: 1983
• Length: 23 pages
• Sale Source: Second Amendment Foundation
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This essay argues against handgun ownership control as a means of reducing homicide by comparing it to the ineffectiveness of prohibition against alcohol consumption.

Abstract

Both alcohol consumption and handgun ownership can be compared as instruments involved in death under varying circumstances. They can also be compared regarding the small percentage of persons using them in death-causing incidents compared to the number of persons who own or use handguns or consume alcohol. Further, alcohol and handgun control have similar enforcement problems in that a large segment of the public opposes and resists being deprived of their use. Even assuming that handgun owners disposed to obey a handgun law would voluntarily relinquish their weapons, the small percentage of persons who perpetrate homicides with handguns would not be so compliant. Thus, the number of homicides from handguns would not be significantly reduced under a handgun law. Statistics indicate that those who commit homicide with handguns tend to be violence-prone persons with criminal histories or a pattern of violent behavior. Such persons will ensure that they have access to a handgun just as surely as unreformed alcoholics consumed liquor during the prohibition era. 33 references.