WAGC -Guest Editorial 2

GUEST EDITORIAL

Hoplophobia at the University of Utah

Gun Control in the Pathology Curriculum

By Timothy Wheeler, MD

Director Of Doctors For Responsible Gun Ownership
A Project Of The Claremont Institute

Prejudice toward guns and their owners is endemic in the academic world. Famed firearm instructor Col. Jeff Cooper coined the term "hoplophobia" (from the Greek root hoplon, or weapon) to describe an irrational aversion to firearms.

The University of Utah Department of Pathology's Edward C. Klatt, MD has created a CD-ROM for health care science students, available on the Web at http://www-medlib.med.utah.edu/WebPath/TUTORIAL/GUNS/GUNINTRO.html.

This on-line tutorial is an example of how presumably objective teachers are allowed to color facts with their own jaundiced view of firearms ownership. The tutorial's author commits three fundamental offenses against science:

1) He presents factually false and misleading statements as true.

2) He omits large chunks of established criminology research which demonstrate societal benefits of firearms.

3) He does all this under the imprimatur of the University of Utah, impeaching that fine institution's scientific reputation.

In the Statistics, Gun Control Issues, and Safety section of the tutorial one gets a flavor of the author's bias against guns. In addition to complaining about the National Rifle Association and about government being slow to "severely restrict the...use of firearms by ordinary citizens", the author presents these fictions:

FICTION: "... technically, the application of this [the Second] amendment applied to the maintenance of a militia, and not private gun ownership..."

FACT: Since 1980 over 60 law review articles have been published on the issue of "states' right versus individual right" interpretations of the Second Amendment to the U.S. constitution. Fewer than 10 of these articles conclude that the Second Amendment affirms a right of state governments to "keep and bear arms." (1) The scholars who wrote the other 50 plus articles determine, sometimes despite their own admitted abhorrence of guns, that the Second Amendment clearly affirms an individual right of gun ownership.

FICTION: "Both accidental and homicidal shooting deaths have increased over the past several decades..."

FACT: On the contrary, accidental shooting deaths have decreased over the last six decades, and continue to decrease. (2) Homicidal shootings did increase over the period from 1987 to 1991 (3), but have been decreasing since then. (4) This temporary increase has been attributed to the crack cocaine epidemic of that time, which featured an increase in gun homicides among drug dealers and their customers. These statistics tell us nothing about the great majority of American gun owners, who are not affiliated with street gangs or the illicit drug trade.

The firearms tutorial's introduction implies an even-handed treatment of gun issues that it fails to deliver. Conspicuously missing from the text and bibliography are any references to the voluminous criminology literature on guns. Even though scholars like the University of Chicago's John Lott (5) and Florida State University criminology professor Gary Kleck have published acclaimed, widely publicized books on firearms use and abuse, we see no mention of them in the University of Utah's pathology tutorial on guns.

Was the tutorial's author really unaware of the work of these scholars? Thatis hard to believe. It's also hard to avoid the conclusion that he omitted these works for one simple reason: they show convincingly that firearms in the hands of responsible citizens not only are safe, but save lives, protect property, and reduce injuries by defending against violent criminals.

Medical students and others unfamiliar with the scientific literature on guns may find all this hard to believe. We encourage you to maintain that healthy skepticism, but to look at the references listed in the endnotes. You have the skills to analyze the science and to decide for yourselves whether firearms are a public health threat or simply a tool like any other, to be used for good or evil according to the user.

In early 1999 the Claremont Institute will publish Firearms: a Handbook for Health Professionals. This booklet contains over 20 pages of facts and figures about firearms. It summarizes firearm research of not only Kleck, but of his main academic critics Cook and Ludwig. John Lott's elaborate study of concealed carry laws is digested for quick reference, with graphs and text showing the highlights of his now-famous work.

Students interested in the part of the gun debate not included in the University of Utah's pathology curriculum can check out Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership at the Claremont Institute's web site (see directions below, after the endnotes). Watch the site for announcement of the Handbook's release, with ordering instructions.

In closing, we make a plea to the University of Utah Department of Pathology to re-examine its commitment to scientific integrity. Science demands rigorous honesty, and that means examining all the data, not just the data that support our fears and prejudices. Your reputation depends on that honesty. Your students deserve no less.

ENDNOTES

(1) Kates D and Kleck G, The Great American Gun Debate: Essays on Firearms and Violence, Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy, San Francisco 1997, 38-43.

(2) Accident Facts-1997 Edition, National Safety Council, Itasca, IL 1997: 44-45.

(3) Kleck G, Targeting Guns: Firearms and Their Control, Aldine de Gruyter, New York 1997, 256-259, 262-263.

(4) Uniform Crime Reports for the United States 1996, U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, DC, 1997: 18 (Table 2.10). Note: Uniform Crime Report methodology reports this statistic as total firearm murders, which do not include negligent or justifiable homicides.

(5) Lott J, More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws, University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London 1998.

PRESENTED BY

Doctors For Responsible Gun Ownership

A Project Of The Claremont Institute

P.O. Box 1931

Upland, CA 91785-1931

Voice/FAX 909 949-9971

E-Mail Timothy Wheeler, MD

Claremont Institute World Wide Web site: The Claremont Institute

For more information about DRGO go to About The Claremont Institute, then scroll down to Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership. To see all DRGO editorial articles, go to Publications, then to The Second Amendment.