| | Some [[liberals]] nevertheless favor [[gun control]] as a way of increasing control by government, and disarming the citizenry has the effect of causing voters to rely more on government and [[liberal]] policies. | | Some [[liberals]] nevertheless favor [[gun control]] as a way of increasing control by government, and disarming the citizenry has the effect of causing voters to rely more on government and [[liberal]] policies. |
| − | Studies by [[John Lott]] and others indicate that gun control causes higher crime rates.<ref>http://www.johnrlott.com/</ref> [[Washington, D.C.]] has one of the highest crime rates in [[America]] even though it completely bans private handguns.<ref>http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/dccrime.htm</ref> "Switzerland, Israel, Denmark and Finland, all of whom have a higher gun ownership rate than America, all have lower crime rates than America, in fact, their crime rates are among the lowest in the Western World."<ref>http://www.slashdoc.com/documents/71244</ref> Lott demonstrates that in [[Britain]], [[Australia]] and [[Canada]], increased gun control in the late 1990s led to increased crime, the exact opposite of what the proponents of the gun control promised.<ref>http://johnrlott.tripod.com/op-eds/IBDGunConFailure.html</ref> [[Switzerland]] and [[Israel]] allow widespread gun ownership and have low crime rates; similarly, states in the [[U.S.]] having concealed-carry laws enjoy low crime rates.<ref>[http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=4706 Cato report]</ref> | + | Studies by [[John Lott]] and others indicate that gun control causes higher crime rates.<ref>http://www.johnrlott.com/</ref> [[Washington, D.C.]] has one of the highest crime rates in [[America]] even though it completely bans private handguns.<ref>http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/dccrime.htm</ref> "Switzerland, Israel, Denmark and Finland, all of whom have a higher gun ownership rate than America, all have lower crime rates than America, in fact, their crime rates are among the lowest in the Western World."<ref>http://www.slashdoc.com/documents/71244</ref> Lott demonstrates that in [[Britain]], [[Australia]] and [[Canada]], increased gun control in the late 1990s led to increased crime, the exact opposite of what the proponents of the gun control promised.<ref>http://johnrlott.tripod.com/op-eds/IBDGunConFailure.html</ref> States in the [[U.S.]] that have enacted concealed-carry laws enjoy lower crime rates.<ref>[http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=4706 Cato report]</ref> |
| | [[image:Australia crime.gif|300px|thumb|<br /><small>The vertical line represents the timing of the gun control http://www.gunsandcrime.org/auresult.html</small>]] | | [[image:Australia crime.gif|300px|thumb|<br /><small>The vertical line represents the timing of the gun control http://www.gunsandcrime.org/auresult.html</small>]] |