Ottawa County - MI. There have been a lot of strong emotions surrounding the gun control debate in Ottawa County and the question of who exactly rules the people. These two issues are central to American politics and have been highlighted since the Covid 19 event. The debates surrounding gun laws have been particularly intense as proponents of the second amendment argue that our guns are for use on our government when they are oppressing the people and proponents of gun control scoff at the idea of an armed population overthrowing a tyrannical government. Other arguments include the use of guns to commit crimes, safe gun storage, and universal background checks.
One Argument from the Right
The use of guns to commit crimes is the platform that most Democrats stand on in order to get their agenda passed. None of the residents of Michigan need to be reminded of the shooting at Oxford High School or the shooting at MSU. These stories are almost constantly in the news and brought up at every opportunity by the media in Michigan and Democrats even as recently as May 2023. One year and five months after the shooting at Oxford the media are still leaning on that shooting. With how much conversation there has been had not a whole lot has been said other than “more gun laws.” Honest reporters always try to mention that the gun free zones where these shootings often take place are supported by both the Democratic and Republican legislature and have never been honestly assessed as a potential problem.
In light of the argument presented by Commissioner Lucy Ebel we need to look at a couple of factors regarding guns being used to commit crimes. Commissioner Ebel mentioned a study done in 2013 by the CDC concluding that there are between 500,000 and 3 million instances of defensive gun use each year. This number dwarfs the number of times that a gun is used to commit a crime. There is a discussion of the study from Forbes and an analysis of the data and the difficulties in obtaining and analyzing the data.
Examining the CDC Study
The CDC study, conducted by researchers Kleck and Gertz, analyzed data from telephone surveys, extrapolating estimates of defensive gun use (DGU) nationwide. It is important to note that the study's methodology and conclusions have faced significant scrutiny from gun control supporters. Critics argue that the survey's reliance on self-reported incidents introduces bias and may result in inflated estimates of DGU. A peer reviewed journal by Gary Gleck shows that it is far more likely that incidents of DGU will be underreported rather than over-reported. He says “Critics of higher DGU estimates like David Hemenway ([11]) have speculated about reasons why respondents in these surveys might give inaccurate answers, but these discussions are misleading because they focus solely on "false positive" responses – inaccurate claims of DGU experiences by persons who had no such experiences. Thus, they address only response errors that tend to make DGU estimates too high, while ignoring well-established sources of response errors that would tend to make estimates of controversial behaviors too low.” The full discussion can be viewed here.
These reports don’t mention the thought that the commission of crimes may be severely reduced if criminals know that guns are present. As an extreme example, if I were looking to rob a store and I saw a sign that claimed every employee in the store is armed and ready to eliminate any threat then I might be inclined to find a different store to rob. If on the other hand I was looking to kill as many people as possible then I might be inclined to look for a place where I know I won’t run into any other people with guns.
The Other Side
The argument from the Democrats is that more laws regulating guns in the state will lead to our people being safer and that proponents of the second amendment and our Michigan Constitution don’t care about the deaths of children. The idea specifically from the new “red flag” laws is that we can detect potential criminals and remove their firearms before they commit a crime. One is almost reminded of the Movie Minority Report when facing this claim. How has it held up so far?
In the Ethan Crumbley case, there were warnings leading up to the shooting at the school for months. The failure was in the people around him not reporting concerning behavior. This is not uncommon as other shootings can attest. The fear from red flag laws is that it will not be used on actual threats but will be used as a political weapon. From claiming republicans are evil to claiming democrats are grooming children it is not hard to see this law being abused for political reasons.
Another argument from the democrat side of the isle is that gun free zones will reduce gun violence in those areas. How has this claim held up? The Gun Free School Zones Act was enacted in 1990. Since then there have been many mass shootings and gun violence within those zones. Even left leaning PolitiFact admits that the claim "Most of these mass shootings take place in (areas) where you're not allowed to have a concealed weapons permit," is half true.
Conclusion
Defensive Gun Use is protected by the Michigan Constitution. Article 1 Section 6 says “Every person has a right to keep and bear arms for the defense of himself and the State.” The right to defend yourself is even more clearly laid out in the Michigan Constitution than it is in the U.S. Constitution. But the question is about whether this right is really protecting people. It seems that upon the preponderance of the evidence, it is.
By the evidence we have available and logical arguments that gun violence won’t decrease by further restricting law abiding citizens’ rights to carry firearms. The evidence points in the opposite direction. The cities that have the most restrictive gun laws seem to suffer from a much higher gun violence rate.
The laws Democrats are putting into effect in Michigan seem like they will accomplish little and the risk of abuse from government on the people from these laws seems great. Are these really laws we as a society want to continue pushing? With the democrat’s slim majority in the legislature and their aggression in passing many of these laws the voters may soon decide which way we want to move forward as a state.
Gun Use In Ottawa County
Gun Use In Ottawa County
Gun Use In Ottawa County
Ottawa County - MI. There have been a lot of strong emotions surrounding the gun control debate in Ottawa County and the question of who exactly rules the people. These two issues are central to American politics and have been highlighted since the Covid 19 event. The debates surrounding gun laws have been particularly intense as proponents of the second amendment argue that our guns are for use on our government when they are oppressing the people and proponents of gun control scoff at the idea of an armed population overthrowing a tyrannical government. Other arguments include the use of guns to commit crimes, safe gun storage, and universal background checks.
One Argument from the Right
The use of guns to commit crimes is the platform that most Democrats stand on in order to get their agenda passed. None of the residents of Michigan need to be reminded of the shooting at Oxford High School or the shooting at MSU. These stories are almost constantly in the news and brought up at every opportunity by the media in Michigan and Democrats even as recently as May 2023. One year and five months after the shooting at Oxford the media are still leaning on that shooting. With how much conversation there has been had not a whole lot has been said other than “more gun laws.” Honest reporters always try to mention that the gun free zones where these shootings often take place are supported by both the Democratic and Republican legislature and have never been honestly assessed as a potential problem.
In light of the argument presented by Commissioner Lucy Ebel we need to look at a couple of factors regarding guns being used to commit crimes. Commissioner Ebel mentioned a study done in 2013 by the CDC concluding that there are between 500,000 and 3 million instances of defensive gun use each year. This number dwarfs the number of times that a gun is used to commit a crime. There is a discussion of the study from Forbes and an analysis of the data and the difficulties in obtaining and analyzing the data.
Examining the CDC Study
The CDC study, conducted by researchers Kleck and Gertz, analyzed data from telephone surveys, extrapolating estimates of defensive gun use (DGU) nationwide. It is important to note that the study's methodology and conclusions have faced significant scrutiny from gun control supporters. Critics argue that the survey's reliance on self-reported incidents introduces bias and may result in inflated estimates of DGU. A peer reviewed journal by Gary Gleck shows that it is far more likely that incidents of DGU will be underreported rather than over-reported. He says “Critics of higher DGU estimates like David Hemenway ([11]) have speculated about reasons why respondents in these surveys might give inaccurate answers, but these discussions are misleading because they focus solely on "false positive" responses – inaccurate claims of DGU experiences by persons who had no such experiences. Thus, they address only response errors that tend to make DGU estimates too high, while ignoring well-established sources of response errors that would tend to make estimates of controversial behaviors too low.” The full discussion can be viewed here.
These reports don’t mention the thought that the commission of crimes may be severely reduced if criminals know that guns are present. As an extreme example, if I were looking to rob a store and I saw a sign that claimed every employee in the store is armed and ready to eliminate any threat then I might be inclined to find a different store to rob. If on the other hand I was looking to kill as many people as possible then I might be inclined to look for a place where I know I won’t run into any other people with guns.
The Other Side
The argument from the Democrats is that more laws regulating guns in the state will lead to our people being safer and that proponents of the second amendment and our Michigan Constitution don’t care about the deaths of children. The idea specifically from the new “red flag” laws is that we can detect potential criminals and remove their firearms before they commit a crime. One is almost reminded of the Movie Minority Report when facing this claim. How has it held up so far?
In the Ethan Crumbley case, there were warnings leading up to the shooting at the school for months. The failure was in the people around him not reporting concerning behavior. This is not uncommon as other shootings can attest. The fear from red flag laws is that it will not be used on actual threats but will be used as a political weapon. From claiming republicans are evil to claiming democrats are grooming children it is not hard to see this law being abused for political reasons.
Another argument from the democrat side of the isle is that gun free zones will reduce gun violence in those areas. How has this claim held up? The Gun Free School Zones Act was enacted in 1990. Since then there have been many mass shootings and gun violence within those zones. Even left leaning PolitiFact admits that the claim "Most of these mass shootings take place in (areas) where you're not allowed to have a concealed weapons permit," is half true.
Conclusion
Defensive Gun Use is protected by the Michigan Constitution. Article 1 Section 6 says “Every person has a right to keep and bear arms for the defense of himself and the State.” The right to defend yourself is even more clearly laid out in the Michigan Constitution than it is in the U.S. Constitution. But the question is about whether this right is really protecting people. It seems that upon the preponderance of the evidence, it is.
By the evidence we have available and logical arguments that gun violence won’t decrease by further restricting law abiding citizens’ rights to carry firearms. The evidence points in the opposite direction. The cities that have the most restrictive gun laws seem to suffer from a much higher gun violence rate.
The laws Democrats are putting into effect in Michigan seem like they will accomplish little and the risk of abuse from government on the people from these laws seems great. Are these really laws we as a society want to continue pushing? With the democrat’s slim majority in the legislature and their aggression in passing many of these laws the voters may soon decide which way we want to move forward as a state.
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