Myth: School yard shootings are an epidemic

Fact: In states without "right to carry" laws, there have been 15 school shootings; however, in states that allow citizens to carry guns, there has been only one.

Fact: In Pearl, Mississippi, the assistant principal carried a firearm to the school until the1995 "Gun-Free School Zones" law passed, after wards he began locking his firearm in his car and parking at least a quarter-mile away from the school. When the shooting started, he ran to his car, got his gun, ran back, disarmed the shooter and held him on the ground until the police arrived. Had the law not been passed, the assistant principal might have prevented the two deaths and seven shooting-related injuries.

Fact: The five school shootings that occurred during the '97-98 school year took place after the 1995 Gun-Free School Zones law was enacted, which banned guns within 1,000 feet of a school.

Fact: Schoolyard shooting deaths are not rising, rather, they have been falling through most of the 1990s:

Fact: Only 10% of public schools reported one or more serious violent crimes during the 1996-97 school year.

Fact: “Compared to other types of violence and crime children face, both in and outside of school, school-based attacks are rare. While the Department of Education reports 60million children attend the nation's 119,000 schools, available statistics indicate that few of these students will fall prey to violent situations in school settings".

 

 

Myth: Nobody needs an assault weapon

Fact: Recall the Rodney King riots in that anti-gun city of Los Angeles. Every major
news network carried footage of Korean storeowners sitting on the roofs of their stores,
armed with “assault weapons.”30 Those were the stores that did not get burned to the
ground, and those were the people that were not dragged into the street and beaten by
rioters. “You can’t get around the image of people shooting at people to protect their
stores and it working. This is damaging to the [gun control] movement.”31

Fact: There are many reasons people prefer to use these firearms:
• They are easy to operate
• They are very reliable in outdoor conditions (backpacking, hunting, etc.)
• They are accurate
• They are good for recreational and competitive target shooting
• They have value in many self-defense situations

Fact: There are many sports in which these firearms are required:
• Many hunters use these firearms
• Three-gun target matches
• Camp Perry competitions, especially the Service Rifle events
• DCM/CMP competitions
• Bodyguard simulations

Fact: Ours is a Bill of Rights, not a Bill of Needs.
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