To mark the April 20 anniversary of the multiple murders at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, major media and victim disarmament lobbyists have been trying to focus public attention on "gun control" as the solution to violence in America. Wisconsin-based Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO) publicly challenged that view today.

"It's shameful how the anti-self defense lobby dances on the graves of dead crime victims to advance their political agenda," said Aaron Zelman, Executive Director of JPFO. "Americans don't hear about the good side of defensive gun ownership. Why don't people dance when well over 5,000 crimes are stopped or prevented by citizens every day?"

Nationally-acclaimed study results by Professor Gary Kleck at Florida State University indicate that firearms are used defensively over 5,400 times each day. "If we assume that only one percent of those defensive uses saves a life, that still amounts to 54 lives saved every day of the year," Zelman observed. "The number of lives saved is probably much higher."

Zelman further pointed out that "none of the newest round of 'gun control' laws will make Americans any safer against criminals. The so-called 'gun safety' requirements, including mandatory trigger locks and electronically-restricted guns, only impair the citizen's ability to use his or her sidearm for self-defense."

"Making it harder for innocent citizens to defend themselves against violent crime is morally wrong," said Zelman. "And most people don't realize that the police have no legal o bligation to protect them from crime. When it comes to stopping a violent criminal attack, legally you are on your own."

"Over 80 million firearms owners were peaceful today," Zelman remarked. "Doesn't that fact more typically describe firearms ownership than the criminal acts of two deranged young men at Columbine last year?" he asked.

According to a 1993 report by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the average child or teenager witnesses about 27 acts of violence per day on television alone. "That amounts to over 10,000 violent acts per year," Zelman said. "Somebody is making a lot of money overwhelming American children in death and destruction. I don't see much national outrage about that."

Aaron Zelman