VPC's Misconstrued Thoughts
Fact vs. Fiction:
The Violence Policy Center's Misconstrued Thoughts

(from NRA-ILA FAX ALERT dated 10/7/98)

They suggest NRA misrepresents crime against women.

    Nonsense.  The NRA has always been an effective leader when it comes to the issue of women and crime.  Programs like Refuse to be a Victim demonstrate the NRA's seriousness on the issue.  The NRA has also supported key pieces of legislation that specifically aid battered women by providing spending for womenís shelters.  Crimestrike -- a division of the NRA has also aided in the prosecutions of domestic violence offenders and has had a perfect record.  The NRA has never and will never belittle the tragic reality that is domestic violence.

They say: Women are more often killed by men they know.

    Actually, according to the FBI, among all female murder victims, 30% were slain by husbands or boyfriends.

    Also, it is a proven fact that domestic violence is a crime of predictability -- not passion.  In most situations where a woman is killed by her husband or boyfriend, it usually is an escalation of violence.  In fact, more than half of spousal murderers have at least one prior criminal conviction, and 70% of those convicted of other violence against intimates have at least one prior criminal conviction.

They suggest women are incapable of protecting themselves.

    Fact: 2.5 million times a year, Americans use firearms to protect themselves from violent crime.  That is 3-5 times more often than they are misused, and women constitute 46% of those who use firearms defensively.  In the vast majority of these cases a shot isn't even fired.  The mere presence of a firearm in the hands of potential victim is usually enough to deter an attacker.

    We also know that, according to Professor Gary Kleck (Point Blank, 1993), when compared to other means of self-defense against attack including physical force, a knife, or even evasion, firearms result in the lowest percentage of victim injuries.  Hence, those who protect themselves using a gun over any other form of defense are injured less frequently in criminal attacks.