By Joseph Bass

Among the myths propagated by supposedly well-educated people is that gun control promotes public safety. My personal experiences and decades of criminology research do not support this view in any way.

I lived in many places in the Midwest, West Coast and East Coast. Some were in suburban and rural areas. These places were very safe, and a large percentage of the residents had firearms.

I also lived in Hispanic gang territory in west Los Angeles, and in South Central L.A., I lived in Crips territory. I lived in South Central during the Rodney King riots. In areas with high violent crime rates, I was usually the only person with firearms.

During the King riots, neighbors asked if I was going to leave. Having friends in Orange County, I easily could have escaped the riot area and stayed with them.

It is important to understand that telephones didn’t work in South Central during the first day of the riots and worked intermittently for several more days. During these times, calling 911 was not an option. Neighbors that previously thought it strange for me to have firearms quickly developed an appreciation for having someone around with several.

Fortunately it was not necessary to use my firearms, but I did carry a concealed handgun out into the street one night, when several of us saved a black man’s life. He was being attacked and beaten with a club by five men.

When the police finally arrived, no charges were filed against the attackers. They were drunk Hispanics attacking a black man. From the police point of view, why bother?

For several decades, criminology researchers have found that gun control does not increase public safety. Researchers such as Gary Kleck, John Lott, and others have found high rates of violent crime are associated with cities with highly restrictive gun control laws. Examples include Washington D.C., New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles.

When concealed carry permits laws are enacted, violent crime declines. But who needs research findings? Anyone paying attention to the news should be able to see that during recent years, as concealed carry permits have become more easily available and firearms ownership has increased, violent crime rates have declined.

Anyone interested in preserving a civil right should ask why smart, well-educated people continue to promote a falsehood.

A look back at American history indicates gun control was used to keep black Americans in a state of subjugation and under the control of a few rich people that benefited from their cheap labor. Most nations in the world use gun control to maintain much the same situation. Gun control is used to keep people “in their place” in England, China, Russia, Mexico, other Central and South American nations and Africa, to name a few.

Americans interested in preserving a civil right should keep in mind that the one nation in the world with the highest rate of firearms ownership is also the nation where the people have the most freedoms. Nations with limited or no firearms ownership are the nations with the fewest freedoms.

Joseph L. Bass is the executive director of ABetterSociety.Info Inc., a nonprofit organization in Hobson. Email him at ABetterSociety1@aol.com.