Banning guns not the answer to stopping violent crime

Ron Lowe's letter of Feb. 28 deserves a response as he makes several assertions not backed by data. Great Britain banned handguns after the Dunblane massacre in 1996, and now their violent crime rates are higher than those in the U.S.Australia banned long guns in 1997, and turned decreasing violent crime rates into increasing ones.In the U.S., the places with the strictest gun control laws also have the highest murder and violent crime rates. Forty states have liberalized their concealed carry laws, and their murder and violent crime rates have fallen faster then those of us in states such as California with stricter laws.On Dec. 5, 2007, a madman entered a gun-free zone (i.e. a shopping mall) and murdered eight people before taking his own life in Omaha, Neb. On Dec. 9, 2007, another madman entered a church training center near Denver, Colo., and killed two people. Thirteen hours later when he tried to do the same at a church, one of the armed church members, Jeanne Assam, shot him. Banning guns may reduce gun crimes, but at the expense of an even great increase in overall crime.Paul Stephen Kao,Lincoln