Misinformed Moms

To the Editor:

When the topic of guns was first brought up in my household, I reacted as many women do — “guns kill people, only hunters and crazy people own them, and after all, who really needs them?” My opinion changed when a threat was brought against me after I testified against a man who had attacked me many years ago. I became educated on the Second Amendment and realized the misinformation that is prevalent in the media today. If you listen to the media you would think that anybody can purchase a gun, there are hardly any laws regulating the firearms industry and guns kill 12 innocent children every day. However, I have found the facts to be quite different.

Following are a few of the many firearm laws currently on the books in Connecticut:

In Connecticut, you must be 21 years of age to legally purchase a handgun;

You must clear a background check prior to receiving the firearm whether at a gun store or a gun show;

Firearms may only be legally taken out of your home if you have a concealed carry permit;

In order to legally receive a concealed carry permit (which permits you to carry your firearm on your person), you must take a firearms training course;

Every legally sold gun must be sold with a trigger lock.

Following are some statistics that you never hear in the media:

The number of fatal gun accidents is at its lowest level since 1903, when statistics started being kept.

Any loss of a child is a tragedy, however, the statement that 12 children are killed every day by guns is misleading. This statistic includes 20-year-old drug dealers who are shot by a gang member or an 18-year-old armed robber who is shot by a policeman. The fact is that more children die in bicycle accidents each year than in all types of firearm accidents.

The National Institute of Justice reports that there are over 600,000 defensive gun uses that successfully stop crimes each year. In fact, firearms are used five times more to prevent crime than they are used to commit crime.

It is proven that states with the toughest firearm restrictions have the highest crime rate. Criminals look for easy targets. For example, the gunman who opened fire in the Los Angeles daycare center told the police that he considered other locations but feared that someone might be armed.

There are more laws and statistics that could be mentioned, but what I really want to emphasize is that we do have “reasonable gun control” already. I believe that most of the women who attend the Million Mom March have good intentions, however, gun control that deals with the legal sale of firearms will not stop the killing, it only targets law abiding citizens.

No law will stop these sick teenagers who go on premeditated killing rampages. Only we as parents can change the children.

Michele Buzzi,

Mother of Three

22 Hanover Road, Newtown                                    April 25, 2000