Making our neighborhoods safe: a fearful policy of zero tolerance for firearms does not provide safety or security; only an emphasis on personal responsibility over government dependence can do that.(FIREARMS & FREEDOM)

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Facts are troublesome things. We are told by the enemies of private gun ownership that widespread availability of firearms can only lead to an increase in violence. For our safety, and "to protect the children," we are told that the best bet is to limit access to guns.

The facts do not support the pro-disarmament view. Take for example Washington, D.C. Is this a place where families want to raise children? Only if they don't mind keeping the kids inside and putting bars over their windows in many neighborhoods. If gun control worked, Washington should be a model of tranquil neighborhoods.

After 32 years of a gun ban, all Washington has to show for its ban is the highest murder rate of any jurisdiction in the country almost every year. Yet in neighboring Fairfax County, Virginia (which is nearly twice the size of the District), the murder rate is less than one hundredth of the capital city. And this is in a jurisdiction where guns can be bought and sold privately and it is rather easy to get a concealed-handgun permit for carrying guns on the street. And, guns can be carried openly without any permit at all.

No wonder couples wanting to start a family move to Virginia or Maryland if they start out in Washington, D.C. But while the crime rate is much lower in neighboring jurisdictions, all is not well for the future. There is a systematic campaign against private ownership of firearms. The campaign against private gun ownership simply ignores the national data that consistently show that more guns mean less crime and safer neighborhoods.

Dr. John Lott and Dr. Gary Kleck are two of the country's pre-eminent researchers who have independently found that firearms are used some 2.5 million times a year in self-defense--and almost always without having to fire the gun. One of Kleck's other important findings was that those choosing not to resist an attacker are injured or killed two and a half times more than those resisting with a firearm.

Lott has found that cities, counties, and states become safer when they make it easier for citizens to have concealed-carry permits for handguns. His landmark research has been validated by some four dozen individual researchers or groups of researchers.