Aun si se determina preliminarmente que el Decreto 456 es incompatible con el artículo II, estaría justificado por el Articulo xx

Guns are a part of America and they‟re not going away. The Department of Justice reports 40 percent of Americans admit having guns in their home. Research by both the NRA and their adversary Handgun Control Inc. shows that

gun ownership is much higher; at least another 20 percent have guns at home and don‟t talk about it.

There has been a dramatic increase in gun ownership since the 1960s. Handgun ownership alone is up 200 percent. Because people are scared. Violent crime has increased 300 percent since the mid-1960s. A spokesman for the Law Enforcement Alliance of America said, “These people are not all gun lovers. Most are just people who want an insurance policy.”

The problem is not the widespread availability of guns, it‟s education. There is no longer a prerequisite of knowl- edge, efficiency, pride, attached to gun ownership—only a “fear” prerequisite. As recently as thirty years ago, most gun owners were hunters, marksmen, farmers and ranchers, or collectors; people who had experienced knowledge and respect for a gun. Now, most gun buyers operate solely out of fear; their only interest is, how do I load it?

Frankly, many new gun owners believe that buying the gun, loading it, pointing it, and pulling the trigger is enough—that the gun will then take care of business. They‟re as wrong as the people who believe guns are the source of violence. Guns cannot in themselves protect people from violence any more than they can initiate violence.

A female attorney told me, „I have a gun at home, but I‟ve never shot it—would you show me how?” We met at the firing range, and she shot thirty to forty rounds. I suggested we talk about what it would take from her to, at close range, use it against a man. She didn‟t want to discuss it. She‟s an armed woman due to fear, and to her credit, doing something about it, but unless she‟s done more than that one hour on the range, she‟s not safe and effective, too. With that limited experience, no one can be ready to kill a man at close range in self-defense unless it‟s their lucky day.

The average gun owner with protection in mind fires thirty or forty bullets from a fifty-bullet box of pistol ammunition. That leaves enough bullets to go home, load up, and believe they‟re ready for a gunfight in their living room. They‟re not.

In America, we can‟t discuss protection against home intruders without discussing “home guns.” in this story, the homeowner is a cop. A cop‟s oath of office directs him to react against serious crime far differently from a citizen. That‟s why many policemen, including the one in this story, don‟t try to escape when trouble confronts them. I‟m including this account to emphasize how dangerous confronting an armed intruder can be—even for a cop.

In America, two events escalate the purchase of guns more than any others:

1. A riot. During and immediately following the 1992 riot in South Central Los Angeles (the worst in U.S. history), gun stores were cleaned out — by boters as well as legitimate buyers. More handguns were sold during and in the weeks following the riot than altogether in the five previous years.

2. Any hint of federal restrictions to gun ownership. One gunshop owner said he sold every handgun he had when the semiautomatic handgun bill was being debated. It was his biggest single rush of business.

Bob Connaughy’s Story

March 26, 1985, 9:30 A.M. My wife was at work and I was the only one at home when I heard the doorbell ring. I got dressed and walked to the kitchen window and saw a car parked across the street with two men standing next to it, glancing about. Then they started walking toward my house. It didn‟t take me long to add two and two: someone was going to be burglarized—me or a neighbor. I immediately called my substation and told the operator, “I need patrol units fast.”

I got out my .45 and went to the hallway.

It seemed like less than a minute after the doorbell rang, suddenly I heard something hit one of the windows at the rear of the house. Then, a couple more hits and I could hear the window break.

I‟m here to tell you, my nerves were peaked. I had never planned out in my mind having to take a crook down inside my own home. On duty, I‟d done it many times and, like any cop, had planned it all in my mind. Having done that for work made the initial difference for me at home. It helped me concentrate.

A hand reached through the broken window, opened it, and a man climbed in. The guy went directly to our sliding glass door and let his partner in. It was unbelievable how fast they were getting in.

My thinking time was over. I made my move. I stepped around the corner in the hallway, pointed my weapon at them, and shouted, “On the ground!”

The one who had come through the window hit the floor like a pancake. The second intruder ducked back out the sliding glass door and was gone. The one on the floor had a twelve-inch screwdriver in his hand. Twelve inches of stabbing tool—I‟ve seen the damage they do. “Drop the screwdriver!” I shouted. I crouched and inched toward him. He was still “proned out.” I grabbed the screwdriver shaft in my left hand.

I didn‟t want to shoot him. Through the whole thing, I didn‟t want to shoot him. This was a lesson I‟ll never forget: hesitation. I‟ll never repeat that mistake.

He had a death grip on his screwdriver. i let go and stepped back. Again I ordered him, “Drop it!” He said, “I‟m nervous. I can‟t.” I said, “I‟m a cop, drop it or I‟ll shoot.”

“I have three friends outside,” he said. Then, he slowly got up into a crouch. He was damned experienced. He sensed my reluctance to shoot him.

I backed up several feet. What am I going to do? Should I shoot him? All that was racing through me. At this point, I had backed up maybe eight feet into the corner, still telling him, “Drop it or I‟ll shoot.”

Then, he made his move. He growled and lunged at me. I blocked his first attempt to stab me. We were inches apart. He was on me. I still didn‟t want to shoot him. I moved my gun back and close to my body, trying to keep it out of his reach—training instincts were taking over. Then, he brought his arm back to stab again. It raced through me—you‟ve had one try at me; you don‟t get two. I fired.

Damn, nothing happened. I had the gun into his stomach point-blank when I pulled the trigger. Nothing. He didn‟t go down.

I fired again. This time he went down hard. I backed up and turned to the sliding glass door. I was still worried about his buddies. When I turned, he jumped up, threw open the front door, and ran out right through the screen door. I took off after him, but then turned back to call 911.

Later that day units found him at the hospital with one .45 wound in his belly. My first shot had hit his belt buckle and ricocheted off. My second shot entered next to his belly button, went all the way through and out his butt. And he still took off like a rabbit.

Looking back, I gave him the advantage and an opportunity to take me out. He tried twice. That morning changed me. Never again will I hesitate.

I also feel more for citizens now. It was a close call. If I had not been trained to handle an attack, I think he would have taken me out. Even with my training, I was still nervous and tense as hell. Most citizens would have bought it. I had a plan, but it was flawed. I hadn‟t worked out in my mind how I would handle something like this in my own home. I knew what I wanted to do, but I hadn‟t decided what I wouldn‟t do and wouldn‟t let happen. I had not told myself, don‟t get close to him, don‟t let him back you up, don‟t give him the time he needs to get to you. I had not made the decision about when I would shoot in my own home. My strategy is different now, I‟ve got a new plan. Beginning with, “I won‟t make it so easy to kill me. If there is a next time in my home, when I say drop the weapon, it better happen fast.”

In those final seconds, with him inches away from me and on the attack, that‟s when I was no longer thinking; the academy trainers were right. There‟s no thinking and no planning—you fall back on training.

What Bob Did Wrong

Like most police officers I‟ve known, Bob had not made the critical “shoot/no-shoot” decision against an intruder in his own home. His reluctance to use deadly force, especially off duty at home, is typical of cops end costs some of them their lives.

What Bob Bid Right

Although a cop himself, Bob first called the police, then made a crucial mental switch from routine home activities to a survival mind-set. At that instant, he, like everyone else, fell back on training.

For the Record

Bob said a citizen faced with these same circumstances would probably have “bought it.

I agree. The intruder got five years.

Note: In any violent attack, but especially in a home, if you‟re both armed, the one who waits too long probably

doesn‟t get a round off or does it with a bullet already in him. I‟ve never been around a police officer or citizen who,

after using a gun against an intruder, didn‟t say, “It was the worst experience and closest call of my life.”

What if the same attack happens to you? Escape! Get out! Your job is to protect your family, not society. You‟re not trained or paid to risk bringing in crooks. If escape is not possible, that‟s different. Having a loaded gun at home has saved many lives but, unfortunately, cost many, too.

Citizens who are armed but not safe and also effective are the first part of the problem. The second part of the problem are the so-called “home-defense strategies” being promoted. Some so-called professionals advise people on how to arm themselves and clear their home of intruders. I‟ve never met a sane professional who would advise anyone to clear his home of intruders. It‟s what we in law enforcement used to call the “cowboy” approach, used to describe someone who is kind of riding in half-saddled, shooting from the hip with both guns blazing. This is a typical example of cowboy advice I read in a magazine; “Be careful not to expose yourself to areas that have not been cleared. instead, let the muzzle of your gun precede you into the danger area.” The illustration depicts a man clearing a bedroom and then a closet. The author remarks, “Safety resides at the end of your muzzle.” That‟s like hoping the gun has eyes that can see if there‟s anything in the closet. It‟s too dangerous to deal with a possible intruder like this, and it‟s a good way to have your gun taken away from you. The writer goes on to say, “The most important thing is being prepared to shoot all the time.”

What I see building here is tragedy—the potential of accidentally shooting the wrong person. I remember a case involving a father and a .357 magnum. He had established safety rules for his family. He told his family that if he screamed, “Intruder!” they were to hide so they wouldn‟t distract him. He should have said, “Escape!” He also did something excellent that few gun owners do: he never left the gun loaded in the house when he wasn‟t home, but unfortunately, it wasn‟t enough.

One early morning, his four-year-old son woke up and went to the bathroom. Another rule in this family was that the children had to knock first and announce themselves before entering their parents‟ bedroom. The father had heard some noise down the hall, and when he heard the doorknob to his bedroom being fiddled with, he grabbed his gun and aimed at the door. The father said, “1 aimed low so I wouldn‟t kill the man.” Unfortunately, his low shot put a bullet through his son‟s upper chest and neck. His son died.

This man was awakened from a deep sleep, was disoriented, slow to react, thickheaded. Not the best time to grab a loaded gun and aim it at the door thinking, „I‟ll blow away anyone who comes through it.”

Clearing a house of intruders is fraught with problems and danger. Problems such as, “Do I turn on the lights, ruin my night vision, maybe expose myself, and shoot into the dark when something moves? Or do I yell, „I have a gun,‟ hoping to scare off the intruder? Or is yelling letting him know where I am so he can shoot at me? Which room do I check first, and how do I check it?”

When a homeowner hears an unidentified noise in his home that gut fear tells him might be an intruder, it‟s foolish for him to search his home trying to find the noise. I‟ve never known of any sane police officer trying to clear a house or building of possible burglars or intruders by himself. It doesn‟t matter how well you know your home. It doesn‟t work in real life the way it looks on paper and in pictures. Every house or business I‟ve ever cleared, I

cleared in the company of other cops.

Family survival planning should concentrate on escape, never on seeking out and outgunning intruders. I am not against guns or gun ownership. Far from it. But I am against using loaded home guns as the only means of family protection against intruders.

The problem is not gun ownership or gun control. The problem is that loaded guns at home do not effectively protect most families against armed intruders. Not because guns are ineffective—but because some people with guns are ineffective and dangerous. Period.

In America;

• Eighty-three percent of suicides by gun are committed with a firearm kept primarily for home protection. • Ten percent of all loaded guns kept in American homes for protection end up being used to kill a family member

during the heat of an argument.

• On average, one child per day is killed while playing with a loaded gun.

In 1985, the New England Journal of Medicine published a study of gun deaths in the private homes of King County, Washington. During the five years between 1978 and 1983, 396 people were killed by firearms in private residences. Some were children playing with guns, some were husbands and wives killed in marital disputes, others were suicides. How many were intruders shot by homeowners using a loaded gun for family or personal protection (the primary reason for most guns to be loaded at home)? Two!

Another tragic consequence of loaded guns at home is that criminals often seize the weapons and use them against the homeowner. It happens to cops, whose greatest fear is that in a scuffle their gun might be taken away and used against them. Cops receive training to keep this from happening; they think about it, practice against it, and plan against it. Yet too frequently officers are still disarmed and killed or wounded. It almost happened to me twice, and I assure you, it happens to citizens.

But, as disturbing as the preceding facts on accidental deaths are, most home guns in the hands of responsible, knowledgeable owners are never used except in a life-threatening emergency.

Gary Kleck, a professor at Florida State University, wrote Point-Blank in 1991. His groundbreaking research has startled many on both sides of the gun debate: “In one year alone, 1980, between 1,527 and 2,819 criminals were killed by citizens in their personal defense… while between 1967 and 1984, only twenty murderers were executed after conviction for killing citizens. .. . Violence-prone intruders realize that death is more likely to come from armed homeowners than the criminal justice system.”

Sociologists James Wright and Peter Rossi, both regularly quoted in criminal-violence research programs, report, “Three-fifths of all felons interviewed said they are more worried over running into armed citizens than running into the police.”

The Department of Justice Uniform Crime Reports and National Crime Victimization survey show that “guns are used about as often for defensive purposes as criminal purposes.”

According to Professor Kleck, there were “691,000 defensive gun uses in America between 1985 and 1990.” Marjorie Casey’s Story

In 1988, when my daughter went away to college, I arranged to buy a condominium closer to town in La Jolla. As a last-minute thing, the owner (who, it turned out, didn‟t really own it) asked to rent one of the rooms upstairs for himself and his three-year-old daughter until he could relocate (I had met the little girl). It was a large three-bedroom condo and they would be there less than a month. I didn‟t see anything wrong with his request and he paid the rent 1 asked.

Thirty days passed and he stonewalled me every time I brought up our agreement that he would move out. I was getting uneasy. Then it turned out the little girl was not his daughter but the child of a relative who had been incarcerated. It was getting worse. Creditors started coming to the condo looking for him, and I realized he was a scam artist.

I became frightened. The police could not help me because I had authorized him to stay as a renter and it would take time to evict him. He had not done anything the police could arrest him for—I checked. I felt trapped. 1 had no agency to turn to and nowhere else to live. It was clear I had to confront him and tell him to leave.

I remember the day I was going to tell him he must leave. I was in my office in the spare bedroom and a sense of danger went through me that 1 couldn‟t explain. I went to my closet and unpacked the gun my father had given me,

loaded it, and placed it in my pocket. I knew how to use it. Our family had been ranchers. I had never done anything like that before. Looking back, I guess I was finally listening to my instincts.

When he returned that day, I told him, “You need to find another place to live immediately. I‟m aware of your scams.” He immediately turned very profane and threatening. It was like a switch from Jekyll to Hyde.

“You bitch!” he shouted, then he started slamming the wall with his fist. I had never been around violence before. I just freaked and I pulled out the gun. He was a few feet from me, yelling, “Fuck you, bitch!” He lunged at me.