For Immediate Release

MARYLAND’S LEADING GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION GROUP EXPRESSES DISMAY OVER FLORIDA’S “SHOOT FIRST, ASK QUESTIONS LATER” LAW

May 1st , 2005

CeaseFire Maryland Asks: “What Does This Say to Our Youth?”

Baltimore, MD: CeaseFire Maryland (CFMD) the statewide group devoted to reducing gun violence, expressed dismay today with a just-enacted Florida state law allowing citizens to use guns or other deadly force to defend themselves in public places without trying to escape.

Leah Barrett, Executive Director of CeaseFire Maryland said: “There are many reasons for everyday citizens to fear the inevitable results of this Wild West law. The fate of innocent bystanders just became more dangerous, because this law gives anyone the right to use deadly force whenever he or she feels threatened at all. Trusting that disagreements between people under the influence of alcohol or drugs or just plain tired will be resolved peacefully just became far more risky.”

“However, we at CeaseFire Maryland are more dismayed for a reason that most supporters and opponents of this law have overlooked,” continued Barrett. “What message does this law send to our young people? Clearly it says that people need to be able to use guns to be safe. This is an exceedingly false and dangerous lesson, especially to a portion of the population, youth, already at far greater risk of gun death or injury than adults.”

Statistically, teens and young adults are at far greater risk of bodily harm than adults in their forties and fifties. CDC reports a firearms homicide rate for Florida in 2002 of 6.33 per 100,000 for teens 15-19 and a rate of less than 3 per 100,000 for those in their forties and fifties. The firearm homicide rate for Maryland in 2002 was 18.99 deaths per 100,000 for teens aged 15-19 and a rate of less than 3 per 100,000 for those in their forties and fifties.

Lisa Miller Delity, CeaseFire Maryland’s President, said: “The Florida law is guaranteed to do two things: Put more money in the pockets of gun makers and raise the handgun homicide rate. Is this what Florida legislators intend?”

“Doesn’t this ill-conceived law say to young people: Arm yourself? Don’t go out unless you are armed or are with an adult who is?” said Delity.

Most researchers, teachers, public health officials would say just the opposite – fewer guns in the hands of young people means lower death rates. Adults are role models for young people. Barrett said: “If adults think they need guns, how can they expect teens, who traverse much more dangerous territory, not to carry guns? Is this the type of society we want?”

Delity continued: “Those of us seeking to reduce gun violence feel that all adults should set a model of peace and safety for our young people. Current research backs this up.” In his book Private Guns, Public Health, David Hemenway states that, “Within the United States, a wide array of empirical evidence indicates that more guns in a community lead to more homicides.” He cites study after study that finds higher gun homicides for all ages in cities, states and countries with higher gun ownership.[1]

Looking at children, the impact of high gun ownership is even more alarming. According to a 2003 study [2] by the Harvard School of Public Health including, the firearm death rate for children age 5-14 was 6 times higher in the five states with the highest rates of gun ownership than the rate in the five states with the lowest gun ownership rate. In the 10-year period covered by the study (1988-1997), 704 children age 5-14 died firearm-related deaths in the high gun ownership states compared to 123 in the low gun ownership states, even though the populations of the two groups were approximately the same. On the other hand, non-gun homicides and non-gun suicides in the high gun states and low gun states were comparable.

Barrett concluded: “More guns and a law encouraging folks to use them will not make young people safer. That should be clear to everyone. CeaseFire Maryland, therefore, calls on legislators and voters in all states to think hard about the message such Shoot First laws send our youth as well as the danger to young people that such laws will create, and to oppose such dangerous measures.”