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NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY
2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100
Washington DC 20037
World Wide Web: http://www.LP.org
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For release: May 12, 2000
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For additional information:
George Getz, Press Secretary
Phone: (202) 333-0008 Ext. 222
E-Mail: 76214.3676@Compuserve.com
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WASHINGTON, DC -- Women participating in the Million Mom March
this weekend are making a terrible mistake by attacking guns instead of
focusing on the women who have been raped or killed because of gun
control laws, the Libertarian Party said today.
"Sunday should be a day to mourn the victims of gun control --
including the estimated 4,177 women who will be raped this year because
it is illegal to carry a concealed weapon in their state," said Steve
Dasbach, Libertarian Party national director.
"Instead, these marchers will demand more laws that will put
more women at risk. Libertarians have to ask: What will it take to make
the Million Mom marchers understand that criminals love women who hate
guns?"
This Sunday, an estimated 150,000 women will participate in the
Million Mom March on the Mall in Washington, DC. They will demand what
they call "common sense" gun laws -- including mandatory trigger locks,
gun licensing, limits on gun and ammunition purchases, an end to TV
programs and movies that "glamorize" guns, more regulation of gun
shows, and much more.
Unfortunately, such laws would just put more women at risk of
being raped or killed, said Dasbach.
"It's impossible to count all the women who have already been
victimized by anti-gun measures like waiting periods, handgun bans, and
restrictions on the right to carry a weapon for self-defense," he said.
"However, we do know that at least 4,177 women are raped every
year because of laws that make it illegal to carry a concealed weapon."
That figure comes from a study by the Cato Institute, which
found that violent crime dropped dramatically in 24 states that passed
concealed-carry laws, allowing ordinary people to carry concealed
handguns.
The Lott-Mustard study, "Crime, Deterrence, and Right-to-Carry
Concealed Handguns," found that in those states, rapes fell by 5.2%,
murders were reduced by 7.65%, robberies fell by 2.2%, and aggravated
assaults dropped by 7%.
Had other states passed similar concealed-carry laws, that 5.2%
drop in rapes would have translated into an additional 4,000+ women
annually who would not have been sexually assaulted. Instead,
tragically, they were raped because politicians refused to give them
the right to defend themselves.
"The Million Mom March participants think they are sponsoring
an anti-gun event. Instead, they are sponsoring a pro-rape event," said
Dasbach. "If you listen carefully on Sunday, you just might hear the
sound of rapists, stalkers, and wife-beaters cheering as they
anticipate how much easier it will be to commit crimes against
defenseless women."
If the marchers aren't willing to consider the past and future
victims of gun-control laws, Libertarians will, said Dasbach.
"As the media focuses on women who are demanding that their
Second Amendment rights be taken away from them, Libertarians will
commemorate the women whose right not to be a crime victim was taken
away from them," he said.
"Libertarians will remember the girls who never become mothers
because their lives were cut short by criminal psychopaths. We will
remember the mothers who lost children to gun-toting thugs because it
was illegal for them to defend their families. And we will remember the
women whose lives have been ravaged by rape, assault, or similar
crimes.
"In short, we mourn the thousands of women who cannot march on
Sunday -- because they are the silent victims of the lethal laws and
gun-control policies that the Million Mom March so loudly advocates."
