Focus on What Works to Prevent Gun Deaths

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

To the Editor:

To combat the problem of violent and accidental gun deaths, the strategy of Ellen S. Alberding and the Joyce Foundation (April 14) is to write opinion pieces calling for more research.

To achieve the same goal, the strategy of the National Rifle Association Foundation has been to spend $71-million in the last 15 years on gun-safety programs that have contributed to nationwide declines in firearm accidents.

Gun violence is dropping, too, contrary to the “epidemic” characterization used by Ms. Alberding. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the total violent crime rate declined every year between 1991 and in the first six months of 2004. Furthermore, research conducted by Florida State University criminologist Gary Kleck shows that guns annually are used three to five times more often for self-protection than to commit crimes.

And while we do not oppose conscientious research on the subject, much that has been done to date has clearly been politically motivated. In “Guns and Public Health: Epidemic of Violence or Pandemic of Propaganda?,” published in the Spring 1995 Tennessee Law Review, several scholars found gross discrepancies between studies conducted by criminological scholars and the American public-health community, which had a stated goal of reducing handguns in private ownership.

To cite one example: “One fact that is never mentioned in health-advocacy articles on fatal gun accidents is that a vast increase in handgun ownership coincided with a dramatic decrease in accidental gun fatalities. Over the 20-year period, 1967-1986, the number of handguns increased 173 percent while the fatal gun accident rate decreased by two-thirds. This remarkable decrease goes pointedly unnoted in the health-advocacy literature because it triply embarrasses the health-advocate sages’ political agenda.”

If Ms. Alberding really wants foundations to play a role in reducing gun deaths, she should write an opinion piece calling for sound, scientific research and for more support of the programs that are actually saving lives.

Steven C. Andersen
Executive Director
National Rifle Association Foundation
Fairfax, Va.