The U.S. Is Doing Good. We’re Flunking Tests!

Home > The U.S. Is Doing Good. We’re Flunking Tests!

This is one of those times when failing a test is a good thing, in my opinion, and Oklahoma and Kentucky are the worst failures of all 50 states. Scoring highest on this particular test is California, with New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts not too far behind.

What in the world am I talking about, you are probably wondering? I’m talking about the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence’s report card(pdf) that just came out that scores states on gun control laws. For me and anyone else who believes in liberty, the Second Amendment and the rights guaranteed us, flunking their test is a very good thing.

According to the Brady Campaign, it’s too easy for people to get guns and therefore makes this place a dangerous place to live. Here’s some of the criteria used in determining each state’s score from 0 – 100, 100 being the highest score reflecting strong gun control.

The Brady Scorecards are designed so that states can score up to 100 points across five major categories of laws: Curbing Firearm Trafficking; Strengthening Brady Background Checks; Child Safety; Banning Military-style Assault Weapons; and making it harder to carry Guns In Public Places.

California scores a whopping 79 points, something I would certainly be ashamed of, while Oklahoma and Kentucky managed somehow to compile a grand total of 2 points each. (Shame on them)

In the points awarding system for grading states, Brady puts a lot of emphasis on states regulating gun dealers out of business. If you can do that you could earn 35 bonus points moving your state closer to the top of the class.

Another 25 points could be added if your state can make it mandatory to first obtain a permit before you can purchase any gun. They also want to make it so that no guns could be bought and sold without permission from the government.

And of course the Brady Campaign doesn’t want any so-called “assault weapons”. They don’t want anyone to be able to carry a weapon, concealed or otherwise in public. And the list goes on.

So, where does your state score? Check out the scores for all 50 states here. (pdf)

Tom Remington

Ryan

Nice list. Funny how the states with the best “grades” generally have the worst violent crime problems.
http://www.simplyoutdoors.net Arthur

I had my comment all ready and then I saw Ryan’s comment and he took the words right out of my mouth, or off my keyboard, or whatever.

I wish my home state of Michigan had been a little farther down the list, but they’re not in too bad of shape.
Tom Remington

To put this foolishness in a different perspective for a moment, can you imagine if an organization put together a report card to see how states scored on First Amendment issues? (Maybe they already do)

You get 35 bonus points if you can get the press to stop reporting stories that are harmful to people.

25 bonus points to censor the Internet in your state, etc., etc.

I would feel bad if I actually graded states on how well the managed to destroy the Constitution.
http://www.gunsafetyinnovations.com Kristine Shreve

I’m with Arthur, I wish Michigan had been further down the list.
Steve Johnson

You can give me all the negative feedback you want for asking this, but what is it about the gun dealer regulations that would actually put them out of business? Also, I understand your desire to spin this in your pro-gun favor, but why do you blatantly make things up like saying that you get 25 bouns points if you require a permit to purchase? We can disagree about requiring a permit prior to a purchase, thats ok to disagree on that, but why would you make something up that totally misrepresents what the study actually says? You all harp on being proud of a low score, even pointing toward the violent crime rate as your evidence. But if you actually break things down properly (i.e. using the firearm fatality rate, since after all we are talking about firearms), why is it that the violence-related firearm deaths rate from 2000-2005 are tremendously higher in places that receive low scores (i.e. Alaska, Louisiana, Oklahoma, etc) than in the states that receive high scores (California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, etc.)? I find that it’s best to stick to the facts rather than looking like a complete fool.
Tom Remington

Facts? First of all I didn’t make this up. If you follow the links and read the information supplied by the Brady Campaign, it clearly shows how points are earned for states to regulate guns.

Personally, I don’t put much emphasis on studies to show increases or decreases because as we all know studies are manipulated to achieve desired results.

Before you go accusing others of looking like a fool, you have done the exact same thing you accuse others of doing by making unsupported statements concerning violent-related firearm deaths.

Sticking to facts concerning violent crime etc., is a difficult task for many reasons, one I just mentioned. The real debate comes down to the Second Amendment itself.
Tom Remington

I forgot to address the issue about gun dealers. If you want to get a first hand idea of what it has become for gun dealers to stay in business, visit the website of Red’s Trading Post.

The senseless regulations are nothing more than a way to drive gun dealers out of business from those who believe that selling guns to lawful citizens is bad.

At the site, you’ll learn about the thousands of dollars and the hours and hours of time that have been consumed by only one gun dealer. You’ll also learn how many others have been forced out of business.
http://dovelsnetzero.net paul

I have to reiterate the point that Tom brings up, about proving your facts and not leaving what ever comes out of your fingertips onto this screen to be read like the bible. Tom gives us links to prove his points and if he didn’t, it would just be Tom’s opinion and a thinking person wouldn’t much merit to such thoughts. Thanks Tom for proving your points with at least some sort of studies outside your own brain, and as for you Mr. Johnson, you could use a lesson in proving your points with FACTS not your opinions. Give us links or books or articles or something to prove your points and we’d be a bit more inclined to use your half thought out reasoning.

Thanks Paul
Steve Johnson

I will gladly discuss facts. Here are the specific numbers that I was refering to (http://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/mortrate10_sy.html). The numbers are from the Injury Mortality Reports from the Centers for Disease Control. These are the Violence-Related Firearm Death Rates Per 100,000 people for 2000-2005. These rates are calculated on the number of people who die every year due to firearms compared to the population of the state. I have also included the example states I wrote about earlier and their Brady score and rank are in parenthesis.

Alaska: 17.07 (4 Points, 44th Place)
Louisiana: 17.83 (4 Points, 44th Place)
Oklahoma: 12.64 (2 Points, 49th Place)

California: 9.19 (79 Points, 1st Place)
Connecticut: 4.80 (54 Points, 3rd Place)
Massachusetts: 3.07 (54 Points, 3rd Place)
New York: 5.21 (51 Points, 6th Place)
Reginold

Your numbers include suicide and legal intervention. These are not relevant to the discussion of gun crimes. Homicides are what matter. But then half of all homicides are black-on-black gang violence. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/race.htm
Steve Johnson

I still dont understand how you can say the Permit to Purchase section is worth 25 points, it clearly states that the Permit to Purchase is worth only 8 points. The entire section labeled STRENGTHEN BRADY BACKGROUND CHECKS is worth 25 points, but Permit to Purchase is still only worth 8 points. Why misrepresent what they report says?

Also, I went to your Red’s Trading Post site and found nothing that illustrates what you are talking about. Did I miss something?

The state level gun dealer regulations have no negative impact on their ability to run a business. There are 5 sub-categories under Gun Dealer Regulations, none of which appear to be too much to ask of someone selling such a deadly and dangerous product.

State License Required: The state has a right to know who is selling firearms as a business. A state license, which is in addition to a federal license, would help law enforcement crack down on the corrupt gun dealers.

Record Keeping and Retention: This is necessary to ensure that a dealer can account for his inventory. Keeping a copy of the sales record is not too much to ask.

Report Records to the State: This allows law enforcement to have instant access to firearm sales records to trace crime guns and more quickly solve gun crimes.

Mandatory Theft Reporting: Again, this serves to ensure that a dealer can be held accountable for his inventory. If a corrupt gun dealer repeatedly “loses” or has had his firearms “stolen” from their store, those should have to be reported to police so law enforcement can know crack down on these types of dealers.

1 store security precation: Requiring that a dealer lock up his inventory makes it far less likely that large numbers of guns will be stolen at one time. Requiring instant background checks on employees will prevent dealers from inadvertently hiring a convicted felon that might try to steal the dealer’s guns.

Inspections By Police: Although some police depts routinely inspect dealers as a matter of practice, when state law mandates inspections they are more likely to occur. The ATF does not currently have the resources to regularly inspect most gun dealers as they are required to do by law. If you read the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Justice’s report “Inspection of Firearm Dealers by the ATF” from July 2004, you will see the need for allowing local/state law enforcement to inspect gun dealers. It says, among other things, that “the ATF’s inspection program is not fully effective for ensuring that FFLs comply with federal firearm laws because inspections are infrequent and of inconsistent quality, and follow-up inspections and adverse actions have been sporadic”.
Steve Johnson

Actually suicides do matter, which is why the Brady Scorecard covers this in Child Safety. Requiring locks on handguns, requiring adults lock up their firearms, mandating childproof handguns…all these are steps to reducing suicides and accidental deaths by minors. You cant honestly tell me that the thousands of people that kill themselves every year with a firearm don’t matter. At least 2 studies have been done that found that the risk of suicide increases in homes where guns are kept loaded and/or unlocked. (See the study titled The Relationship Between Firearms and Suicide).

And do black people not matter to you? Just because half of all murders are “black-on-black” homicides doesnt make them any less tragic or preventable. We should still work to pass laws the will prevent these types of murders with firearms, regardless of race or any other characterisitc.
Tom Remington

If I have to spell it out for you I will. I provided the link so that readers can, of their own free will, follow the link and read from where I got my information. Concerning the 25 bonus points. As with everyone of the others that I referenced, I did not copy and paste from the website, I paraphrased and anyone not looking for a fight but looking to find information on how everything works, would easily find this information and not find a need to shoot the messenger because you didn’t like the way I presented it.

The article and information pertains to the Brady Bunch’s ridiculous test scores for states that don’t live up to their idealistic, tyrannical lifestyle.

If you are truly interested in what it is like for gun dealers and you for whatever reasons don’t think any of these laws and how they are carried out by our government, namely ATF, once again I would encourage you to return to Red’s Trading Post and send an email to Ryan and ask him if he has had any trouble with ATF and federal gun laws for dealers.

I have no intention to sit here and debate an issue that you obviously have already preconceived notions on. You obviously do not believe that the Second Amendment is any good and that lawful citizens have a right to possess guns without government knowing everything about you and interfering in a guaranteed right.
Reginold

Race has nothing do with the value of a person. MY point was that gang violence is committed by criminals. Criminals don’t care about laws telling they have do certain things to get and/or have a gun.
Reginold

Many if not most gang members are felons, preventing form possessing a gun anywhere in the US.

The fact that you tried to insinuate that I am a racist speaks volumes about your character.
Buffalo Wings

Hey, Happy Superbowl weekend everybody!! I know some cities have there own regulations, I like this article and wonder if you could find a list of cities and their gun rights policies. Also, I am going to college soon and wondered if you could post a “report card” for university 2nd amendmet regulations. I would appreciate.
http://www.jakesoutdoors.com Kris

Wow Tom, great discussion! it is certainly evident that those who are against the 2nd amendment will not like you attacking the conclusions of something like this Brady report. I was glad to see my home state of West Virginia far down the report…this state tends to be very liberal in many ways, but the 2nd amendment issue swung the state away from Al Gore, and gave it to George Bush!
http://crazydogslife.blogspot.com Blessed

This is a great post and I like the way you have handled the discussion. My state is down towards the bottom of the list and I’m glad!
http://dovelsnetzero.net paul

Thank you Steve for giving us that website and showing us some stats that could back up your point. I think this is a very heated issue and probably always will be. I’m not agreeing with Steve, on what side he takes on this issue, but I think we should try to put forth the best known and most accurate info. we have about subjects like this. To be honest, I have known many people in my life that were, less than savory characters. These guys did not wait on a back ground check or any other legal form of pre-requisite for that matter. They had connections and presto, they had a gun. I’m not saying that’s the right way to go about it, but then again, I don’t think their motivations were to shoot the head off a grouse next to elk camp. This brings me to my point, that if you regulate the crap out of guns, it still doesn’t keep or take guns out of criminals hands. This is still the age old problem, create laws for everyone because of a small group of individuals who can’t get their #@!@#$%^ together. Hey Tom, when do you think they’re going to outlaw vehicles, because we all know vehicles kill more people than guns do. Tom, you posted a short speach that Mike Huckabee did and it opened my eyes about our second amendment, that I never knew. That, the reason the “Founding Fathers” wrote the second amendment was not so that we could provide food for our table. It was to arm the citizens, to protect themselves from the government. A real eye opener. If you were to say that in a public arena today, most people would think you’re a fanatic or neanderthal. Wow, how brain washed the general public has become about this subject. This washing of our brains has been for one reason and one reason only, to control you and me. Sorry it’s so long winded.

Thanks Paul
Tom Remington

I agree, Paul, that there is a certain amount of “brainwashing” that is going on but we must also recognize the lack of accurate teaching of our history. It’s just not taught in schools anymore.

This same lack of history also points to problems we are having in our fish and game departments. We have forgotten for what purpose these entities were formed.

This of course, is all part of the progressive lifestyle that probably a majority of Americans subscribe to today, some to the extreme.

It is easy to see that much of the demand for regulation is based in fear of the gun – the result of ignorance. People, most anyway, have come not to fear the automobile because it is not hidden in your belt, the trunk of your car or a top drawer in your bedroom. Cars are big and visible and millions of them available.

Guns are small and not real visible and millions of them are available. This scares people and their reaction to it is to make laws thinking this will do some good.

We have laws to “control” driving automobiles but those laws do very little to stop the crooks or the “lawful” citizen (I don’t think this needs explaining).

I’m not sure we’ll ever help those who choose to live in fear of the gun but I still have to come back to the argument of why the Second Amendment was created. Those who don’t want to read or understand history won’t get it because they don’t want to.

For me, not much else matters when government has unchecked power the result of knowing the citizenship has no capacity to fight for itself. The result of course tyranny.

Paul, I am called a fanatic and a Neanderthal, often because I am laughed at when people say that things are different today. That government wouldn’t do such a thing. Really? Are you sure about that?

History! We can find the answers in history but that’s not part of the progressive lifestyle anymore.
http://dovelsnetzero.net paul

I guess in a lot of eyes, I would be considered the fanatic and neanderthal (especially by my wife lol) as well, but I think there’s a little more indoctrination going on, than we really realize. I am 34 and have 4 little girls. Two are in school and we talk about issues like this and especially hunting and animals. my ten year gets it, although she’s an avid predator lover (especially all forms of feline), she understands the need for predator control, in order to keep a healthy predator prey balance. I think she could run the fish and game, better than most of the existing managers we have. Maybe she’ll grow up and be governor of Alaska. I’m getting off point a little but only to show what some good parenting and some “real education” can do to help a little mind to understand the truth. She’s ten and I’m taking her hunting this next season for small game.

My wife is going to stand beside herself, until I make the point that Hollywood is a huge factor in the indoctrination process. She has a huge point, though. I can sit and watch a sorted variety of movies and not come away hating hunters, “Bambi” or that people can fly, “Superman” or overdramatized gun battles “3:10 To Uma” or that the fantasy land of “Lord of the Rings” is true. She believes the violence in these movies contributes to the mindset of people. I think most of us, who have a strong moral foundation and stand on principle, don’t have a problem being indoctrinated by the “libs”.

We can’t get away from the fact, guns don’t get up and run people down and kill them. It is the minds of humans that tell their hand to grasp the hand-grip and pull the trigger. If the mind is screwed up, it doesn’t matter if it’s a gun, knife, car or lethal hands. People are going to kill other people with any or every means possible.

Steve, you can’t get away from the facts, on why we have this right. The degeneration of our society can not stop (by writing more and more laws) us from being able to defend ourselves and our families. We must address this degeneration problem first, before we try to destroy our “Constitution” or “Bill of Rights” or any other foundation that made our great nation.

Thanks Paul
http://www.thehunterswife.net The Hunter’s Wife

My Dad was a gun collector so we grew up in a house full of guns. I couldn’t tell you which ones were loaded or not. We grew up respecting those guns and out of respect for my Father, we knew not to touch them.

It isn’t the guns.

The U.S. Is Doing Good. We’re Flunking Tests!

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