Myths About Gun Control and Why They are False

Myth: Guns in the civilian population are not a threat.
The reality:
"Those persons with guns in the home were at greater risk than those without guns in the home of dying from a homicide in the home. They were also at greater risk of dying from a firearm homicide...The risk of dying from a suicide in the home was greater for males in homes with guns than for males without guns in the home. Persons with guns in the home were also more likely to have died from suicide committed with a firearm than from one committed by using a different method...After they controlled for a number of potentially confounding factors, the presence of a gun in the home was associated with a nearly fivefold risk of suicide and an almost threefold risk of homicide...Nearly three quarters of suicide victims lived in a home where one or more firearms were present...After we adjusted for demographic and behavioral characteristics of the decedent, we found an increased risk of homicide for those with firearms in the home...Males with firearms in the home were at a significantly greater risk of suicide than males without guns in the home. Females with firearms in the home were also at an elevated risk of suicide compared with females without guns in the home...for persons living with others at the time of death, there was a significant association between the presence of a firearm in the home and risk of a firearm homicide among those aged 35 years or older...Those persons with guns in the home were at significantly greater risk than those without guns in the home of dying from a firearm suicide versus one committed by using other means...Those persons with guns in the home, regardless of the type of gun, number of guns, or storage practice, were at significantly greater risk of dying from a firearm homicide and firearm suicide than those without guns in the home...Those persons with guns in the home were at significantly greater risk than those without guns in the home of dying from a suicide in the home relative to other causes of death...the presence of a gun in the home increases the chance that a homicide or suicide in the home will be committed with a firearm rather than by using other means. Victims of suicide living in homes with guns were more than 30 times more likely to have died from a firearm-related suicide than from one committed with a different method...For victims of homicide, there was also a strong association between guns in the home and risk of dying from a firearm-related homicide...research conducted to date has found a higher risk of a violent death in homes with handguns and unlocked and loaded guns...the risk of dying from a firearm-related homicide or suicide was greater in homes with guns... Simply having a gun in the home increased the risk of a firearm homicide or firearm suicide in the home." [9]
"For every time a gun is used in self-defense in the home, there are 7 assaults or murders, 11 suicide attempts, and 4 accidents involving guns in or around a home." [16]

Myth: Gun owners are peaceful
The Reality:
"Ecologic analyses have suggested a link between the prevalence of gun ownership and rates of homicide and suicide and between regulations restricting access to firearms and rates of homicide and suicide...a history of family handgun purchase was associated with an elevated risk of both homicide and suicide." [9]
"studies comparing similar geographic areas, such as urban areas to urban areas, known as “case-control studies,” showed that “violence is positively associated with firearms ownership.” [11]
"Owning a gun has been linked to higher risks of homicide, suicide, and accidental death by gun...The states with the highest gun ownership rates have a gun murder rate 114% higher than those with the lowest gun ownership rates...women in states with higher gun ownership rates were 4.9 times more likely to be murdered by a gun than women in states with lower gun ownership rates...the odds of an assault victim being shot were 4.5 times greater if he carried a gun. His odds of being killed were 4.2 times greater. A woman's chances of being killed by her abuser increase more than 7 times if he has access to a gun...Among Texans convicted of serious crimes, those with concealed-handgun licenses were sentenced for threatening someone with a firearm 4.8 times more than those without."[16]

Myth: Gun Control is useless.
The reality:
"A study by the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence found that seven of the 10 states with the strongest gun laws — by its own definition — also had the lowest gun death rates." [11]
"Gun death rates are generally lower in states with restrictions such as assault-weapons bans or safe-storage requirements...In states with Stand Your Ground and other laws making it easier to shoot in self-defense, those policies have been linked to a 7 to 10% increase in homicides." [16]
"States with tighter gun control laws appear to have fewer gun-related deaths... Firearm deaths are significantly lower in states with stricter gun control legislation...we find substantial negative correlations between firearm deaths and states that ban assault weapons, require trigger locks, and mandate safe storage requirements for guns." [21][22]

MYTH: Current gun laws are sufficient:
The Reality:
"Around 40% of all legal gun sales involve private sellers and don't require background checks. 40% of prison inmates who used guns in their crimes got them this way...20% of licensed California gun dealers agreed to sell handguns to researchers posing as illegal "straw" buyers." [16]

Myth: More Guns means less crime
The reality:
"...studies had shown areas with a higher prevalence of guns had higher prevalence of gun homicides and homicides in general...David Hemenway, director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center, says he would “bet a lot of money” that the prevalence of guns increases homicide, all other things being equal. “I think the evidence is very consistent with the notion that more guns have made us less safe...where there are higher levels of gun prevalence, homicide rates are substantially higher, primarily due to higher firearm homicide rates.” [11]
"...there’s substantial evidence that indicates more guns means more murders." [21][22]

Myth: Large-capacity magazines don't make a difference
The Reality:
"We found that high-capacity magazines have been used in at least 31 of the 62 cases we analyzed. A half-dozen of these crimes occurred in the last two years alone." [2]
"Since 1982, 31 of the 62 mass shootings have involved high-capacity magazines." [6]

Myth: A ban on 30-round magazines would not have made a difference in Tuscon, Aurora, or Newton.
The Reality:
"In the school shooting, police say Lanza's rifle used numerous 30-round magazines." [1]
"In the shooting that injured Rep. Gabby Giffords in Tucson, Arizona, Jared Loughner emptied a 33-round magazine in 30 seconds, killing 6 and injuring 13...Inside a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, James Holmes used 40- and 100-round magazines to injure and kill an unprecedented 70 victims. At Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, Adam Lanza used high-capacity magazines to fire upwards of 150 bullets as he slaughtered 20 kids and 6 adults." [2]
"...the arsenal available to Lanza: 4 high capacity magazines, 2 of which were brought loaded to the crime scene. There were two high-capacity shotgun shell magazines for his shotgun at the crime scene, containing a combined 70 extra rounds for the fortunately-unused shotgun. Police also found two 20-round magazines at the Lanza residence. Over 1700 rounds of ammunition. These covered a variety of different calibers and gun types, and would have stocked 170 standard 10-round magazines or 56 of the 30-round high capacity magazines Lanza used to such deadly effect in the school." [4]
"James Holmes used a 100-round magazine to kill 12 people and wound 58 others at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo. Jared Loughner used 15- and 33-round magazines to severely injure Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and kill six people at a constituent event in Tucson, Arizona. Michael Page used 19-round magazines to kill seven people and wound four others at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis...On December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza took the lives of 20 children and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School using 30-round magazines, enabling him to fire more than 150 rounds in five minutes." [6]
"Nicole Hockley, the mother of another shooting victim, told the Senate Executive Committee that the Connecticut killer used 30-round magazines that allowed him to get off more shots...He deliberately chose to carry 30-round magazines instead of smaller magazines to kill as many people as possible, Hockley said." [14][29]
"In the letter the family members delivered to lawmakers on Monday, they wrote that the Sandy Hook shooter carried 10 magazines, which each held 30 bullets, and left many smaller magazines at home." [15]
"He had a 9-mm. Glock with a 31-bullet extended magazine" [20]
"Jared Lee Loughner, the alleged shooter in Tucson, used a 33-round magazine in a murderous rampage...Loughner's magazine was attached to a 9 mm Glock 19 semi-automatic handgun...In 2007, Seung-Hui Cho used the same model in the Virginia Tech shooting spree, which claimed 32 lives." [25]
"Lanza was found dead inside the school with 10 magazines capable of firing 30 rounds at a time." [34]
"The police have said that Adam Lanza had a 30-round magazine on his semiautomatic rifle in Newtown." [35]


Myth: Unemployment, stress, urbanization, and poverty, not the presence of guns, are the real causes of gun violence.
The Reality:
"After they controlled for a number of potentially confounding factors, the presence of a gun in the home was associated with a nearly fivefold risk of suicide and an almost threefold risk of homicide...After we adjusted for demographic and behavioral characteristics of the decedent, we found an increased risk of homicide for those with firearms in the home." [9]
"Higher populations, more stress, more immigrants, and more mental illness were not correlated with more deaths from gun violence." [21][22]

Myth: High capacity magazines are not a factor in mass-shootings.
The reality:
"It was only after Loughner had emptied his 33-round magazine and paused to reload that bystanders were able to tackle him and end the carnage." [2]
""The gunman was down but trying to reload his 9mm handgun. " [5]
"They said several children escaped while the shooter paused, but he killed 26 children and educators in about four minutes...11 children were able to escape Lanza while he reloaded." [14][29]
"Miraculously, in the time that it took him to reload in one of the classrooms, 11 children were able to escape and are alive today," the family members wrote in their letter to lawmakers." [15]
"Jared Loughner's rampage in Tucson was stopped when he had to pause to reload." [23]
"they didn't have an opportunity to intervene until he emptied the magazine and paused to reload" [25]
"He paused to reload after shooting the woman directly in front of Maisch" [30]

Myth: Gun control failed in the Senate because banning large-capacity magazines is unpopular.
The Reality:
"A recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that a majority of Americans...59 percent believe that high-capacity magazines were significantly to blame in the recent spate of mass shootings." [2]
"According to a Washington Post-ABC poll released April 12, 65 percent of Americans support a ban on high-capacity magazines." [6]
"In a poll released last month, Quinnipiac University's polling institute found that 70 percent of people support a statewide ban on the sale of high-capacity ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 bullets, while 27 percent opposed it." [15]

Myth: All gun sales already require a background check.
The Reality:
"Around 40% of all legal gun sales involve private sellers and don't require background checks...62% of online gun sellers were willing to sell to buyers who said they couldn't pass a background check." [16]

Myth: "The only thing that stopps a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun"
- Wayne La Pierre, National Rifle Association
The Reality:
"61-year-old: Patricia Maisch is being called a hero after wrenching away the Tucson shooter’s ammunition, preventing him from reloading as she helped press him to the ground..."I kneeled over him. He was pulling a magazine and I grabbed the magazine and secured that." "I think the men got the gun, and I was able to get the magazine,"...Maisch said." [8]
"the unassuming, white-haired, 61-year-old woman, the unlikeliest of champions, who grabbed the ammo clip away from the gunman when he tried to reload...Loughner got to the woman next to her - who was lying on top of her daughter - and ran out of bullets after shooting the woman three times..."Two gentlemen knocked him down right next to me and someone said, 'Get the gun!'" Maisch said...Zamudio, who had been buying cigarettes at Walgreens, rushed over to help subdue the gunman and stop him from getting to two more ammo magazines stashed in his hoodie pockets." [20]
"two men tackled the gunman when he stopped to reload, and Maisch, 61, restrained his hand as he reached for an ammunition clip...She saw the shooter reach into his pants pocket for another ammunition clip, and she grabbed his hand." [30]

1. Almasy, Steve. "Newtown shooter's guns: What we know". CNN. Wednesday December 19, 2012. http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/18/us/connecticut-lanza-guns 
2. Aronsen, Gavin and Fullman, Mark. "Half of All Mass Shooters Used High-Capacity Magazines". Mother Jones. Wednesday January 30, 2013. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/01/high-capacity-magazines-mass-shootings 
3. Beauchamp, Zack. "STUDY: States With Loose Gun Laws Have Higher Rates Of Gun Violence". Center for American Progress. April 3, 2013. http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/04/03/1811311/study-states-with-loose-gun-laws-have-higher-rates-of-gun-violence/ 
4. Beauchamp, Zack. "What The Newly Released Newtown Massacre Documents Tell Us About Adam Lanza". Center For American Progress. March 28, 2013. http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/03/28/1787941/what-the-newly-released-newtown-massacre-documents-tell-us-about-adam-lanza-by-the-numbers/ 
5. Blackstone, John. "Heroes of Tucson Tragedy Stopped the Shooting". CBS News. January 11, 2011. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-7232503.html 
6. Blumenthal, Richard. "High Capacity Magazines - The Key Means of Massacre for Mass Murderers Must be Banned". The Huffington Post. April 17, 2013. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sen-richard-blumenthal/high-capacity-magazines_b_3100361.html
7. Briggs, Bill. "Fewer gun deaths in states with most gun laws, study finds". NBC News. March 6, 2013. http://www.nbcnews.com/health/fewer-gun-deaths-states-most-gun-laws-study-finds-1C8736004 
8. Cantor, Matt. "61-Year-Old Woman Stopped Gunman From Reloading". Newser. January 10, 2011. http://www.newser.com/story/109344/61-year-old-woman-stopped-gunman-from-reloading.html
9. Dahlberg, L., Ikeda, R., and Kresnow, M. "Guns in the Home and Risk of a Violent Death in the Home: Findings from a National Study". American Journal of Epidemiology. June 7, 2004. http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/160/10/929.full.pdf+html 
10. Duggan, Mark. "More Guns, More Crime". National Bureau of Economic Research. October 2000. http://www.nber.org/papers/w7967.pdf?new_window=1 
11. Farley, Robert. "Gun Rhetoric vs. Gun Facts". University of Pennsylvania Annenberg School for Communication Annenberg Public Policy Center. December 21, 2012. http://factcheck.org/2012/12/gun-rhetoric-vs-gun-facts/ 
12. Flatow, Nicole. "States With Most Gun Laws Have Fewest Gun Deaths, Study Finds". Center for American Progress. March 7, 2013. http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/03/07/1686081/study-states-with-most-gun-laws-have-fewest-gun-deaths/ 
13. Francis, David. "Fewer Guns Mean Fewer Gun Homicides". National Bureau of Economic Research. http://www.nber.org/digest/feb01/w7967.html 
14. Garcia, M. and Guerrero, R. "Sandy Hook parents help Illinois high-capacity magazine ban". The Chicago Tribune. May 20, 2013. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-05-20/news/ct-met-illinois-legislature-0521-20130521_1_illinois-senate-high-capacity-gun-magazines-high-capacity-magazine 
15. Gendreau, L. and Saperstone, J. "Newtown Families Ask for No Grandfathering of Large-Capacity Magazines". NBC. Monday April 1, 2013. http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Newtown-Families-Ask-for-No-Grandfathering-of-Large-Capacity-Magazines-200891221.html 
16. Gilson, Dave. "10 Pro-Gun Myths, Shot Down". Mother Jones. Thursday January 31, 2013. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/01/pro-gun-myths-fact-check 
17. Goldman, Henry. "States With Most Gun Laws Have Fewest Firearm Deaths, Study Says". Bloomberg. March 7, 2013. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-07/states-with-most-gun-laws-have-fewest-firearm-deaths-study-says.html 
18. Goode, Erica. "Report Links High Rates of Gun Violence to Weak State Regulations". The New York Times. April 2, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/03/us/report-links-high-rates-of-gun-violence-to-weak-laws.html?_r=0 
19. Jersey, Kevin. "Internet Loopholes Let Gun Buyers Get Online, Skip The Background Check". The Center For American Progress. February 11, 2013. http://campusprogress.org/articles/internet_loopholes_let_gun_buyers_get_online_skip_the_background_check/ 
20. Kennedy, Helen. "Brave bystanders help subdue Arizona killer Jared Lee Loughner". The New York Daily News. Monday January 10, 2011. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/gabrielle-giffords-shooting-brave-bystanders-subdue-arizona-killer-jared-lee-loughner-article-1.149104 
21. Klein, Ezra. "Six facts about guns, violence, and gun control". The Washington Post. July 23, 2012. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/07/23/six-facts-about-guns-violence-and-gun-control/ 
22. Klein, Ezra. "Twelve facts about guns and mass shootings in the United States". The Washington Post. December 14, 2012. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/12/14/nine-facts-about-guns-and-mass-shootings-in-the-united-states/ 
23. Kossacks, Baja. "the thing that stopped a bad guy with a gun was having to reload around unarmed citizens". Daily Kos. Friday December 21, 2012. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/12/21/1172811/-Tucson-the-thing-that-stopped-a-bad-guy-with-a-gun-was-having-to-reload-around-unarmed-citizens# 
24. Krouse, Peter. "Gun sales without background check easy on Internet". The Cleveland Plain Dealer. December 15, 2011. http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/12/illegal-gun-sales.html 
25. Lautenburg, Frank. "Ban high-capacity gun magazines like one used in Tucson". CNN. January 12, 2011.http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/01/12/lautenberg.high.capacity.clips/index.html 
26. Lee, Trymaine. "Report: States with weaker gun laws have more gun violence.". MSNBC. April 3, 2013. http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/04/03/report-states-with-weaker-gun-laws-have-more-gun-violence-no-brainer-or-politics-as-usual/ 
27. Luo, M., McIntire, M. and Palmer, G. "Internet Gun Sales Skirt Background Check Rules". The New York Times. April 17, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/17/us/seeking-gun-or-selling-one-web-is-a-land-of-few-rules.html?pagewanted=all 
28. Mencimer, Stephanie. "Want to Buy a Gun Without a Background Check? Armslist Can Help: Inside the controversial, mysterious world of online gun sales". Mother Jones. Friday February 1, 2013. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/01/want-buy-gun-without-background-check-armlist-can-help 
29. Pratt, Gregory. "Newtown parents join Quinn to call for ban on high-capacity ammo magazines". The Chicago Tribune. May 19, 2013. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-05-19/news/chi-newtown-parents-join-quinn-to-call-for-ban-on-highcapacity-ammo-magazines-20130519_1_high-capacity-ammo-magazines-newtown-parents-teddy-bear 
30. Quinones, S. and Santa Cruz, N. "Crowd members took gunman down: Two men tackled the shooter and a woman took away his ammunition clip before kneeling on him". The Los Angeles Times. January 9, 2011. http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jan/09/nation/la-na-arizona-shooting-heroes-20110110 
31. Schecter, Cliff. "Heroine Who Kept Jared Loughner from Reloading Confronts NRA Leaders". Alternet. April 29, 2011. http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/575233/heroine_who_kept_jared_loughner_from_reloading_confronts_nra_leaders 
32. Selway, William. "States With Fewer Gun Laws Are the Most Violent, Study Finds". Bloomberg. April 4, 2013. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-04/states-with-fewer-gun-laws-rank-among-most-violent-study-finds.html 
33. Simpson, Ian. "States with weakest firearm laws lead in gun deaths: study". Reuters. April 3, 2013. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/03/us-usa-guns-report-idUSBRE9320ZE20130403 
34. Stableford, Dylan. "Newtown parents call for ban on high-capacity gun magazines". Yahoo News. April 1, 2013. http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/newtown-parents-high-capacity-magazines-guns-191541761.html 
35. Steinhauer, Jennifer. "Pro-Gun Lawmakers Are Open to Limits on Size of Magazines". The New York Times. February 18, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/19/us/politics/lawmakers-look-at-ban-on-high-capacity-gun-magazines.html?_r=0