Preserving the Second Amendment right to bear arms is critical for women in situations where they face life-threatening domestic abuse, argues a law professor at George Mason University.
Certainly it is difficult for a woman to adequately defend herself against a man, but when armed for her self-defense she has a chance to deter him and survive, Joyce Lee Malcolm, a Second Amendment Constitutional Law professor at GMUs Antonin Scalia Law School, wrote in a recent Liberty & Law Center Research Paper.
Restraining orders against abusive partners often fail to deter violence, she maintained, citing a study in the Journal of American Psychiatry and the Law, which found that out of nearly 36,000 cases where protection orders had been involved, 18 percent had been violated.
The study also found that 50 percent of those with a temporary restraining order reported unwanted contact in that time frame, while 75 percent of women reported some unlawful contact within the first year of the orders implementation.
In other words, Malcolm claimed, the police failed to protect the victim from their abuser, and many of them have lost their lives because of itbut she maintained law enforcement is not necessarily at fault.
The police simply cannot be on the spot, even when they have reason to know that a violent crime may occur, she wrote.
Malcolm used the example of domestic violence to counter some of the most common arguments against the right to bear arms, arguing that the right to self defense is unalienable, and shouldnt be ignored in this time of peril.
Noting that the claim that citizens dont need firearms because police offer sufficient protection, Malcolm argued that advances in police technology and stiff criminal penalties have not made people safer, according to Malcolm.
Malcolm called it a false belief that citizens licensed to carry a weapon are a danger to public safety and cause an increase in crime.
To support that claim, Malcolm compared FBI violent crime statistics to the timeframes when each state allowed open carry or concealed-carry permits.
From 1993, when violent crime was at its highest, to 2018, when serious violent crime fell 51 percent, Malcolm notes that nearly every state adopted some form of concealed or open carry legislation.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics also found that violent crime correlating with that same period of time fell 71 percent.
In short, the rate of violent crime plummeted at the same time that the numbers of Americans permitted to carry a gun soared, Malcolm explained.
Malcolm conceded that success has many fathers and that changes in the economy and approaches to law enforcement could have impacted the plummeting violent crime rates as well.
But she argued there is a connection between lawfully arming citizens and thousands of incidents where Americans were able to protect themselves and their families.
A 2013 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found the number of times firearms were used for self-defense ranged anywhere between 500,000 times and 3 million times a year.
In another study, the authors point out that as many as 400,000 people a year claim not only to have used a gun to defend themselves, but have also used a firearm to defend others.
This has almost certainly saved lives, and cannot be dismissed as trivial, the paper said.
To offer another perspective about what America would look like if the right to self defense is taken away, Malcolm pointed to England, where, she claimed, the right to self-defense has been effectually removed.
Following World War I, the British Parliament required citizens to get licenses from their local police departments and fit a strict list of requirements that only got stricter as time went on.
However, Malcolm notes that criminals dont abide by the law; so they are not following these handgun outlaws, allowing them to be the only citizens in Britain with firearms.
Moreover, for even law abiding citizens in a state of crisis, Extreme force has been ruled unjustifiable when there was an attempt merely to attack or destroy property, including someone breaking into your house, Malcolm writes.
She continues, The public has been instructed to leave their defense to the police, and to walk on by and call the police if they see someone being attacked.
Not surprisingly, Malcolm writes, crime in Britain following these restrictions soared.
Nevertheless, Malcolms argument was countered by an assertion in the New York Times that gun deaths remain extremely rare in Britain, and very few people, even police officers, carry firearms.
To that end, Malcolm concludes, This British history eerily evokes the policy preferences of todays American progressives eager to take guns out of the hands of citizens in the name of public safety, leaving them to rely for protection on the police.
Malcolm quotes Supreme Court Justice ClarenceThomas, who once referred to the Second Amendment as a constitutional orphan.
If so it is an orphan neglected by the courts, but clung to by the people who are not waiting for the authorities to come by later to pick up the pieces, but who are prepared to defend themselves and their loved ones, Malcolm wrote.
Joyce Lee Malcolm is the Patrick Henry Professor of Constitutional Law and the Second Amendment at George Mason Universitys Antonin Scalia Law School.
The full paper can be accessed here.
This summary was prepared by TCR staff writer Andrea Cipriano
Read the original:
Domestic Violence Victims Need the Second Amendment: Paper - Crime Report
- Alan Keyes on the Second Amendment and gun rights [Last Updated On: April 2nd, 2011] [Originally Added On: April 2nd, 2011]
- Obama And The Second Amendment [Last Updated On: April 2nd, 2011] [Originally Added On: April 2nd, 2011]
- Suzanna Gratia-Hupp Second Amendment [Last Updated On: May 20th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 20th, 2011]
- Attack of the Second Amendment [Last Updated On: May 21st, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 21st, 2011]
- The Second Amendment died in New Orleans [Last Updated On: May 21st, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 21st, 2011]
- Suzanna Gratia-Hupp What the Second Amendment is REALLY For [Last Updated On: May 24th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 24th, 2011]
- The Alex Jones Show - LIVE - June 24th Second Amendment Special [Last Updated On: May 30th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 30th, 2011]
- SA@TAC - Second Amendment Remedies [Last Updated On: June 1st, 2011] [Originally Added On: June 1st, 2011]
- You Choose '08 Spotlight: Ron Paul on the Second Amendment [Last Updated On: June 2nd, 2011] [Originally Added On: June 2nd, 2011]
- IGOLD, Guns, Second Amendment Rights in Illinois and the Madigans [Last Updated On: June 3rd, 2011] [Originally Added On: June 3rd, 2011]
- Gun Law (Second Amendment) [Last Updated On: June 11th, 2011] [Originally Added On: June 11th, 2011]
- Ron Paul on the Second Amendment (feat. Rachel) [Last Updated On: June 15th, 2011] [Originally Added On: June 15th, 2011]
- "The Sing-Along Second Amendment" by Roy Zimmerman [Last Updated On: June 15th, 2011] [Originally Added On: June 15th, 2011]
- Herman Cain on Second Amendment and Abortion [Last Updated On: June 26th, 2011] [Originally Added On: June 26th, 2011]
- Second Amendment Legislative Update with Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America [Last Updated On: June 29th, 2011] [Originally Added On: June 29th, 2011]
- Alan Gottlieb w/the Second Amendment Foundation: Guns Save Lives Campaign - Las Vegas [Last Updated On: June 30th, 2011] [Originally Added On: June 30th, 2011]
- Bloomberg's Anti Gun Ad Suggests Second Amendment Enables Terrorists [Last Updated On: July 1st, 2011] [Originally Added On: July 1st, 2011]
- Gamer Walkthrough: Just Cause 2 - A Second Amendment [Last Updated On: July 1st, 2011] [Originally Added On: July 1st, 2011]
- WNY Truthers Obama Administration Caught Running False Flag Against Second Amendment [Last Updated On: July 4th, 2011] [Originally Added On: July 4th, 2011]
- Dr. Suzanna Hupp Explains The Second Amendment [Last Updated On: July 4th, 2011] [Originally Added On: July 4th, 2011]
- Re: Let's Get Real about the Second Amendment [Last Updated On: July 12th, 2011] [Originally Added On: July 12th, 2011]
- On the Rights and Privileges of the Second Amendment [Last Updated On: July 12th, 2011] [Originally Added On: July 12th, 2011]
- Second Annual Knife Rights Sharper Future Award, Sandy Froman [Last Updated On: July 12th, 2011] [Originally Added On: July 12th, 2011]
- Obama Administration Caught Running False Flag Against Second Amendment [Last Updated On: July 13th, 2011] [Originally Added On: July 13th, 2011]
- Citizens Arming Against Flash Mobs [Last Updated On: July 14th, 2011] [Originally Added On: July 14th, 2011]
- Sharron Angle's "Second Amendment Remedies" Statement Is NOT Rhetoric! [Last Updated On: July 15th, 2011] [Originally Added On: July 15th, 2011]
- Celebrate! Second Amendment Saturday [Last Updated On: July 17th, 2011] [Originally Added On: July 17th, 2011]
- Gibbs Passes Amendment to Protect Second Amendment Rights [Last Updated On: July 19th, 2011] [Originally Added On: July 19th, 2011]
- Sen. Jerry Moran: Second Amendment rights not negotiable [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2011] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2011]
- Second Amendment and My 20 Second Video Intro [Last Updated On: August 2nd, 2011] [Originally Added On: August 2nd, 2011]
- Super Congress To Target Second Amendment.avi [Last Updated On: August 10th, 2011] [Originally Added On: August 10th, 2011]
- Tribute to the Second Amendment [Last Updated On: August 20th, 2011] [Originally Added On: August 20th, 2011]
- what the second amendment means to me. [Last Updated On: August 23rd, 2011] [Originally Added On: August 23rd, 2011]
- Patriot Pastor explains the Second Amendment [Last Updated On: August 26th, 2011] [Originally Added On: August 26th, 2011]
- Exercising My Second Amendment Right [Last Updated On: August 31st, 2011] [Originally Added On: August 31st, 2011]
- Second Amendment Range Pack Review [Last Updated On: September 3rd, 2011] [Originally Added On: September 3rd, 2011]
- The Second Amendment-Hero or Villain? [Last Updated On: September 4th, 2011] [Originally Added On: September 4th, 2011]
- Just Cause 2 the reapers stronghold takeover A Second Amendment [Last Updated On: September 5th, 2011] [Originally Added On: September 5th, 2011]
- Infowars Special Report With Sheriff Richard Mack: Obama's Stealth Attack on The 2nd Amendment 4/4 [Last Updated On: September 5th, 2011] [Originally Added On: September 5th, 2011]
- 57 Senators Sign Letter Telling To Protect Second Amendment Rights From United Nations [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2011] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2011]
- Infowars Special Report With Sheriff Richard Mack: Obama's Stealth Attack on The 2nd Amendment 1/4 [Last Updated On: September 9th, 2011] [Originally Added On: September 9th, 2011]
- Liberal Mayors Are Freaking Out 'The Second Amendment' [Last Updated On: September 17th, 2011] [Originally Added On: September 17th, 2011]
- The Second Amendment Will Not Be Violated! [Last Updated On: September 21st, 2011] [Originally Added On: September 21st, 2011]
- Cooking Up A Collective Right: How a Mythical Monster Nearly Swallowed the Second Amendment Whole [Last Updated On: October 2nd, 2011] [Originally Added On: October 2nd, 2011]
- Marijuana Activist Debates Former ATF Head on Second Amendment [Last Updated On: October 9th, 2011] [Originally Added On: October 9th, 2011]
- Infowars Special Report With Sheriff Richard Mack: Obama's Stealth Attack on The 2nd Amendment 2/4 [Last Updated On: October 12th, 2011] [Originally Added On: October 12th, 2011]
- Where does your candidate stand on the Second Amendment? - Video [Last Updated On: October 19th, 2011] [Originally Added On: October 19th, 2011]
- Second Amendment Activist Nikki Goeser and Author John Lott - Video [Last Updated On: October 24th, 2011] [Originally Added On: October 24th, 2011]
- Sen. Richard Burr on the Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act - Video [Last Updated On: November 6th, 2011] [Originally Added On: November 6th, 2011]
- Issa Stands Up for Second Amendment Rights on Real Time with Bill Maher - Video [Last Updated On: November 16th, 2011] [Originally Added On: November 16th, 2011]
- Just cause 2 Second Amendment Walkthrough - Video [Last Updated On: November 16th, 2011] [Originally Added On: November 16th, 2011]
- Kinzinger Supports Legislation to Promote Americans' Second Amendment Right - Video [Last Updated On: November 19th, 2011] [Originally Added On: November 19th, 2011]
- Second Amendment - Our Safety Our Duty - Video [Last Updated On: December 1st, 2011] [Originally Added On: December 1st, 2011]
- Second Amendment Rights at Occupy Phoenix 15-10-2011 - Video [Last Updated On: December 5th, 2011] [Originally Added On: December 5th, 2011]
- Lt. Col. Allen B. West speaks on Second Amendment - Video [Last Updated On: December 7th, 2011] [Originally Added On: December 7th, 2011]
- Michael Savage on the Second Amendment - Video [Last Updated On: December 17th, 2011] [Originally Added On: December 17th, 2011]
- Darrell Issa on Fast [Last Updated On: January 1st, 2012] [Originally Added On: January 1st, 2012]
- A Discussion on Being a Pro-Second-Amendment Social Liberal - Video [Last Updated On: January 2nd, 2012] [Originally Added On: January 2nd, 2012]
- Mr. Alan Gura on Current Second Amendment Litigation - Video [Last Updated On: January 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: January 7th, 2012]
- Second Amendment; A Political Right; Historic Context; Not about Hunting! - Newt Gingrich - Video [Last Updated On: January 11th, 2012] [Originally Added On: January 11th, 2012]
- NEW JERSEY PAYS CASH TO TRASH SECOND AMENDMENT - Alex Jones Infowars Nightly News 2012-01-09 - Video [Last Updated On: January 12th, 2012] [Originally Added On: January 12th, 2012]
- Second Amendment fan says gun bills go too far [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2012] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2012]
- Tea Party hosts head of Gun Owners of California [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2012] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2012]
- Second Amendment Paranoia - Video [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2012] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2012]
- Second Amendment ~ "Wotan Rains On A Plutocrat Parade" (David E. Williams cover) - Video [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2012] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2012]
- What is the second amendment? - Video [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2012] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2012]
- Biggest Factor in Gun Rights, Congress, Not Courts [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2012] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2012]
- Judge squelches bid to overturn Illinois gun law [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2012]
- A VIEW ON THE SECOND AMENDMENT - Video [Last Updated On: February 8th, 2012] [Originally Added On: February 8th, 2012]
- Dr. Suzanna Gratia Hupp on The Second Amendment - Video [Last Updated On: February 9th, 2012] [Originally Added On: February 9th, 2012]
- Second Amendment University - Video [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2012] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2012]
- The politics of gunplay [Last Updated On: February 13th, 2012] [Originally Added On: February 13th, 2012]
- Gun advocates want ability to bring guns to work parking lots [Last Updated On: February 15th, 2012] [Originally Added On: February 15th, 2012]
- Breyer's Robbery Illustrates Why RKBA So Important Everywhere [Last Updated On: February 15th, 2012] [Originally Added On: February 15th, 2012]
- House committee adopts 2nd Amendment language [Last Updated On: February 15th, 2012] [Originally Added On: February 15th, 2012]
- Sneaky White House Budget Provisions Undermine the Second Amendment - Video [Last Updated On: February 19th, 2012] [Originally Added On: February 19th, 2012]
- Barack Obama, "Greatest Gun Salesman in America" [Last Updated On: February 22nd, 2012] [Originally Added On: February 22nd, 2012]
- Open carry advocates battle Upland [Last Updated On: February 23rd, 2012] [Originally Added On: February 23rd, 2012]
- Tenn. lawmakers debate parking lot gun bill [Last Updated On: February 24th, 2012] [Originally Added On: February 24th, 2012]
- SAF Condemns Texas Law Prof's Claim that OH School Shooting is 'Exercise of 2A' [Last Updated On: February 29th, 2012] [Originally Added On: February 29th, 2012]