The Fairy Tales of Gun Control When a madman in Dunblane, Great Britain rampages and kills 16 children, it was the fuel politicians needed to fire the anti-gun movement. Great Britain banned the sale and ownership of handguns in 1997. But nobody expected the surge of violent crime that followed. Britain’s rate of assault, robbery, and burglary now exceed those in the United States. Murder and rape figures are now getting closer to U.S. rates. Between 1997 and 1999 were the highest murder rates in the past 10 years. According to Dr. Timothy Wheeler, American news media have virtually ignored this amazing change, even as politicians push more stringent, British-style gun-control. Gun control would not work in the U.S. because it would diminish public safety, raise crime rates, and boost the illegal sale of firearms. The public view of the gun is that it is used to commit violent crimes. But the truth is that the gun is also used everyday to protect the public. Every law officers and enforcement agent uses guns to control everyday criminal activity and protect the public. But public citizens to protect themselves and others also use the gun. One such case is the Pearl High School shooting. Joel Myrick, an assistant principal at the school, heard shoots and herded students into his office and locked up the door behind him. Myrick remembered that he had his .45 automatic in his car because he always takes a weapon whenever he travels. Myrick ran to his car and after getting his gun, he chased down the shooter, Luke Woodham, and forced him onto the ground as they waited for police to arrive. As Kenneth Smith reported, anyone reading the local paper would have known all about Joel Myrick’s heroics. But anyone watching a national evening newscast wouldn’t have known that it took an armed man to stop the shooting. Another such case were a gun was used to protect the public was in Edinboro, Pennsylv...
