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A tower of confiscated smuggled weapons about to be set ablaze in Nairobi, Kenya

Gun control is any law, policy, practice, or proposal designed to restrict or limit the possession, production, importation, shipment, sale, and/or use of guns or other firearms by private citizens. Most commonly the guns in question are personal firearms, typically handguns and long guns.

Gun control laws and policies vary greatly around the world with some countries, such as the United Kingdom, having very strict limits on gun possession and others, such as the United States, having relatively modest limits. In some countries, the topic remains a source of intense debate with proponents generally arguing the dangers of widespread gun ownership, and opponents generally arguing individual rights of self-protection as well as individual liberties in general.

Arguments[link]

The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (August 2010)

Several studies have examined the correlations between rates of gun ownership and gun-related, as well as overall, homicide and suicide rates within various jurisdictions around the world.^[1][2] Martin Killias, in a 1993 study covering 21 countries, found that there were significant correlations between gun ownership and gun-related suicide and homicide rates. There was also a significant though lesser correlation between gun ownership and total homicide rates.^[3] A later study published by Killias in 2001 reported that, while there was a strong correlation between gun-related homicide of women and gun-related assaults against women, this was not the case for similar crimes against men and that "interestingly, no significant correlations with total suicide or homicide rates were found, leaving open the question of possible substitution effects."^[4] This study indicates correlation, but not causality. This could mean that the easier the access to guns leads to more violence. It could also mean that larger amounts of violence lead to a higher level of gun ownership for self defense, or any other independent cause.

A study by Rich et al. on suicide rates in Toronto and Ontario and psychiatric patients from San Diego reached the conclusion that increased gun restrictions, while reducing suicide-by-gun, resulted in no net decline in suicides, because of substitution of another method—namely leaping.^[5] Killias argues against the theory of complete substitution, citing a number of studies that have indicated, in his view "rather convincingly", that suicidal candidates far from always turn to another means of suicide if their preferred means is not at hand.^[4]

Resisting governance[link]

Advocates for gun rights often claim that past totalitarian regimes passed gun control legislation, which was later followed by confiscation, with Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany during World War II, as well as some communist states being cited as examples.^[6][7][8] Location and capture of firearms registration records has also long been a standard doctrine taught to military intelligence officers, and was widely practiced by German and Soviet troops during World War II in the countries they invaded.^[9][10]

The Battles of Lexington and Concord, sometimes known as the Shot heard 'round the world, in 1775, were started in part because General Gage sought to carry out an order by the British government to disarm the populace.^[11]

Gun control opponents often cite the example of the Nazi regime, claiming that once the Nazis had taken and consolidated their power, they proceeded to implement gun control laws to disarm the population and wipe out the opposition, and the genocide of disarmed Jews, gypsies, and other "undesirables" followed.^[9][10][12] Historians have pointed out that the preceding democratic Weimar Republic already had restrictive gun laws, which were actually liberalised by the Nazis when they came to power. According to the Weimar Republic 1928 Law on Firearms & Ammunition, firearms acquisition or carrying permits were “only to be granted to persons of undoubted reliability, and—in the case of a firearms carry permit—only if a demonstration of need is set forth.” The Nazis replaced this law with the Weapons Law of March 18, 1938, which was very similar in structure and wording, but relaxed gun control requirements for the general population. This relaxation included the exemption from regulation of all weapons and ammunition except handguns, the extension of the range of persons exempt from the permit requirement, and the lowering of the age for acquisition of firearms from 20 to 18. It did, however, prohibit manufacturing of firearms and ammunition by Jews.^[13] Shortly thereafter, in the additional Regulations Against Jews' Possession of Weapons of November 11, 1938, Jews were forbidden from possession of any weapons at all.^[12][13]

Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union did not abolish personal gun ownership during the initial period from 1918 to 1929, and the introduction of gun control in 1929 coincided with the beginning of the repressive Stalinist regime.^[14]

Self-defense[link]

The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (April 2010)

In an extensive series of studies of large, nationally representative samples of crime incidents, criminologist Gary Kleck found that crime victims who defend themselves with guns are less likely to be injured or lose property than victims who either did not resist, or resisted without guns. This was so, even though the victims using guns typically faced more dangerous circumstances than other victims. The findings applied to both robberies and assaults.^[15] Other research on rape indicated that although victims rarely resisted with guns, those using other weapons were less likely to be raped, and no more likely to suffer other injuries besides rape itself, than victims who did not resist, or resisted without weapons.^[16] There is no evidence that victim use of a gun for self-protection provokes offenders into attacking the victim or results in the offender taking the gun away and using it against the victim.^[17]

Kleck has claimed, in his own national survey, and in other surveys with smaller sample sizes, that the numbers of defensive uses of guns by crime victims each year are substantially larger than the largest estimates of the number of crimes committed of offenders using guns.^[18] However, surveys that ask both about defensive gun use and criminal gun use find that more people report being victims of gun crimes than having used a gun in self defense. ^[19] In a largely approving review of Kleck's book Point Blank (1991) in the journal Political Psychology, Joseph F. Sheley argues that Kleck sidesteps the larger political problem of the role of gun culture in contributing to the spread and effect of violence in the United States.^[20]

The economist John Lott, in his book More Guns, Less Crime, states that laws which make it easier for law-abiding citizens to get a permit to carry a gun in public places, cause reductions in crime. Lott's results suggest that allowing law-abiding citizens to carry concealed firearms deters crime because potential criminals do not know who may or may not be carrying a firearm. Lott's data came from the FBI's crime statistics from all 3,054 US counties.^[21] Lott's conclusions have been challenged by other researchers. A University of Pennsylvania study, for example, found that people who carry guns are 4.5 times likely to get shot than unarmed people. ^[22]

The efficacy of gun control legislation at reducing the availability of guns has been challenged by, among others, the testimony of criminals that they do not obey gun control laws, and by the lack of evidence of any efficacy of such laws in reducing violent crime. The most thorough analysis of the impact of gun control laws, by Kleck, covered 18 major types of gun control and every major type of violent crime or violence (including suicide), and found that gun laws generally had no significant effect on violent crime rates or suicide rates.^[23] In his paper, Understanding Why Crime Fell in the 1990s: Four Factors that Explain the Decline and Six that Do not,^[24] A study by Arthur Kellermann found that keeping a gun in the home was associated with an increased risk of suicide. ^[25] It is well known that suicide is more common in rural areas of the United States where gun ownership is more common. In other countries, other methods of suicide are used at even higher rates than the U.S., so gun availability may affect the method used but not overall suicide rates.^[26][27] However, the higher suicide rates in countries such as Japan may be explained by cultural factors irrelevant to the issue of the relationship between guns and suicide in the US. University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt argues that available data indicate that neither stricter gun control laws nor more liberal concealed carry laws have had any significant effect on the decline in crime in the 1990s. While the debate remains hotly disputed, it is therefore not surprising that a comprehensive review of published studies of gun control, released in November 2004 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was unable to determine any reliable statistically significant effect resulting from such laws, although the authors suggest that further study may provide more conclusive information.

Thirty-nine U.S. states have passed "shall issue" concealed carry legislation of one form or another. In these states, law-abiding citizens (usually after giving evidence of completing a training course) may carry handguns on their person for self-protection. Other states and some cities such as New York may issue permits. Only Illinois, and the District of Columbia have explicit legislation forbidding personal carry. Vermont, Arizona, and Alaska do not require permits to carry concealed weapons, although Alaska retains a shall-issue permit process for reciprocity purposes with other states. Similarly, Arizona retains a shall-issue permit process,^[28] both for reciprocity purposes and because permit holders are allowed to carry concealed handguns in certain places (such as bars and restaurants that serve alcohol) that non-permit holders are not.^[29]

Many supporters of gun-rights consider self-defense to be a fundamental and inalienable human right and believe that firearms are an important tool in the exercise of this right. They consider the prohibition of an effective means of self defense to be unethical. For instance, in Thomas Jefferson’s "Commonplace Book," a quote from Cesare Beccaria reads, "laws that forbid the carrying of arms ... disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes ... Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."^[30][31][32]

Domestic violence[link]

Gun control advocates claim that the strongest evidence linking availability of guns to injury and mortality rates comes in studies of domestic violence, most often referring to the series of studies by Arthur Kellermann. In response to public suggestions by some advocates of firearms for home defense, that homeowners were at high risk of injury from home invasions and would be wise to acquire a firearm for purposes of protection, Kellermann investigated the circumstances surrounding all in-home homicides in three cities of about half a million population each over five years, and found that the risk of a homicide was in fact slightly higher in homes where a handgun was present, rather than lower. From the details of the homicides he concluded that the risk of a crime of passion or other domestic dispute ending in a fatal injury was much higher when a gun was readily available (essentially all the increased risk being in homes where a handgun was kept loaded and unlocked), compared to a lower rate of fatality in domestic violence not involving a firearm. This increase in mortality, he postulated, was large enough to overwhelm any protective effect the presence of a gun might have by deterring or defending against burglaries or home invasions, which occurred much less frequently. The increased risk averaged over all homes containing guns was similar in size to that correlated with an individual with a criminal record living in the home, but substantially less than that associated with demographic factors known to be risks for violence, such as renting a home versus ownership, or living alone versus with others.^[33]

Critics of Kellermann's work and its use by advocates of gun control point out that since it deliberately ignores crimes of violence occurring outside the home (Kellermann states at the outset that the characteristics of such homicides are much more complex and ambiguous, and would be virtually impossible to classify rigorously enough), it is more directly a study of domestic violence than of gun ownership. Kellermann does in fact include in the conclusion of his 1993 paper several paragraphs referring to the need for further study of domestic violence and its causes and prevention. Researchers John Lott, Gary Kleck and many others dispute Kellermann's work.^{[34][35][36][37]}

Kleck showed that no more than a handful of the homicides that Kellermann studied were committed with guns belonging to the victim or members of his or her household, and thus it was implausible that victim household gun ownership contributed to their homicide. Instead, the association that Kellermann found between gun ownership and victimization merely reflected the widely accepted notion that people who live in more dangerous circumstances are more likely to be murdered, but also were more likely to have acquired guns for self-protection prior to their death.^[38] Kleck and others argue that guns being used to protect property, save lives, and deter crime without killing the criminal accounts for the large majority of defensive gun uses.^[39][40][41]

Armed forces' reserves and reservist training[link]

In several countries, such as in Finland, firearm politics and gun control are directly linked on the armed forces' reserves and reservist training. This is especially true in countries which base their armies on conscription; since every able-bodied citizen is basically a soldier, they are expected to be able to handle the gun reasonably, and be able to practice for the time of need.

Switzerland is a noted example of a country in which, due to the country's conscription and militia traditions, firearm possession is widespread. Owing to Switzerland's history, all able-bodied male Swiss citizens aged between 21 and 50 (55 for officers) are issued assault rifles and ammunition in order to perform their annual military obligations. Because of this, Switzerland is one of the few nations in the world with a higher rate of firearm possession than the United States.^[42] Also, Switzerland has a relatively low rate of gun crime.^[42] The comparatively low level of violent crime, despite the liberal gun laws, is demonstrated by the fact that Swiss politicians rarely have the same level of police protection as their counterparts in the United States and other countries, as was noted following the fatal shooting of several government officials in the Swiss canton of Zug in September 2001.^[43] Some authors argue that Switzerland's militia tradition of "every man a soldier" contributed to the preservation of its neutrality during the Second World War, when it was not invaded by Nazi Germany because the military cost to the Nazis would have been too high.^[44][45][46] However, this claim has been disputed by historians who cite the existence of detailed invasion plans, which rated the overall Swiss defense capacity as low.^[47][48]

Civil rights[link]

Some see gun ownership as a civil right. This view is common in the United States where the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the right of citizens to keep and bear arms. The Fourteenth Amendment protects gun owners when it states, "No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States..."^[49] This view is less common throughout the rest of the world.

Jeff Snyder is a spokesman for the view that gun possession is a civil right, and that therefore arguments about whether gun restrictions reduce or increase violent crime are beside the point: "I am not here engaged in...recommending...policy prescriptions on the basis of the promised or probable results [on crime]...Thus these essays are not fundamentally about guns at all. They are, foremost, about...the kind of people we intend to be...and the ethical and political consequences of decisions [to control firearms]."^[50] He terms the main principle behind gun control "the instrumental theory of salvation:" that, lacking the ability to change the violent intent in criminals, we often shift focus to the instrument in an attempt to "limit our ability to hurt ourselves, and one another."^[51] His work discusses the consequences that flow from conditioning the liberties of all citizens upon the behavior of criminals.

Some of the earliest gun-control legislation at the state level were the "black codes" that replaced the "slave codes" after the Civil War, attempting to prevent blacks' having access to the full rights of citizens, including the right to keep and bear arms.^[52] Laws of this type later used racially neutral language to survive legal challenge, but were expected to be enforced against blacks rather than whites.^[53]

A favorite target of gun control is so-called "junk guns," which are generally cheaper and therefore more accessible to the poor. However, some civil rights organizations favor tighter gun regulations. In 2003, the NAACP filed suit against 45 gun manufacturers for creating what it called a "public nuisance" through the "negligent marketing" of handguns, which included models commonly described as Saturday night specials. The suit alleged that handgun manufacturers and distributors were guilty of marketing guns in a way that encouraged violence in black and Hispanic neighborhoods. "The gun industry has refused to take even basic measures to keep criminals and prohibited persons from obtaining firearms," NAACP President/CEO Kweisi Mfume said. "The industry must be as responsible as any other and it must stop dumping firearms in over-saturated markets. The obvious result of dumping guns is that they will increasingly find their way into the hands of criminals."^[54]

The NAACP lawsuit was dismissed in 2003.^[55] It, and several similar suits—some brought by municipalities seeking re-imbursement for medical costs associated with criminal shootings—were portrayed by gun-rights groups as "nuisance suits," aimed at driving gun manufacturers (especially smaller firms) out of business through court costs alone, as damage awards were not expected.^[56] These suits prompted the passage of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act in October, 2005.

Martin Luther King said, "By our readiness to allow arms to be purchased at will and fired at whim... we have created an atmosphere in which violence and hatred have become popular pastimes."^[57] At the same time, Dr. King applied for a permit to carry a concealed firearm after his house was bombed in 1956.^[58] Professor Adam Winkler recounts that "William Worthy, a journalist who covered the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, reported that once, during a visit to King's parsonage, he went to sit down on an armchair in the living room and, to his surprise, almost sat on a loaded gun. Glenn Smiley, an adviser to King, described King's home as 'an arsenal.'"^[58]

Similarly, the Dalai Lama said "If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun." (May 15, 2001, The Seattle Times) speaking at the "Educating Heart Summit" in Portland, Oregon, when asked by a girl how to react when a shooter takes aim at a classmate.

Mahatma Gandhi said "Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the Act depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest." in his autobiography.

Civic duty[link]

Some proponents of private gun ownership argue that an armed citizens' militia can help deter crime and tyranny, as police are primarily a reactive force whose main loyalty is to the government which pays their wages. The Militia Information Service (MIS) contends that gun ownership is a civic duty in the context of membership in the militia, much like voting, neither of which they believe should be restricted to government officials in a true democracy.^[59] MIS also states that the people need to maintain the power of the sword so they can fulfil their duty, implicit in the social contract, to protect the rights and liberties of their fellow citizens, much as individual citizens have a legal and ethical duty to protect dependents under their care, such as a child, elderly parent, or disabled spouse.^[60]

Statistics[link]

Private ownership[link]

According to statistics available from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, of nearly 31,000 firearm-related deaths in 2005, suicides account for 55 percent of deaths in the United States whereas homicides account for 40 percent of deaths, accidents account for three percent, and the remaining two percent were legal killings.

While many shootings occur in the course of a mutual argument of passion, others occur where a partner or family member of a "romantic" or familial relationship, who is an ongoing victim of domestic physical abuse or sexual abuse, uses the force of a firearm in self-defense action against a perpetrator who also happens to be known to or related to the victim. As a corollary, in such policy advertising campaigns, the comparison of "domestic" gun casualties is usually not accompanied by murder and assault prosecution numbers stemming from the shootings occurring in that context. In many of the latter cases, the victim firing in self-defense is frequently a woman or youth victim of a more physically powerful abuser. In those situations gun rights advocates argue that the firearm arguably becomes an equalizer against the lethal and disabling force frequently exercised by the abusers.^[61]

Many gun control opponents point to statistics in advertising campaigns purporting that "approximately 9 or so children are killed by people discharging firearms every day across the US,"^{[citation needed]} and argue that this statistic is seldom accompanied by a differentiation of those children killed by individuals from unintentional discharges and stray bullets, and of those "children," under the age of majority—which is 18-21 in the U.S.—who are killed while acting as aggressors in street gang related mutual combat or while committing crimes,^[62][63] many of which are seen as arising from the War on Drugs. There is further controversy regarding courts, trials, and the resulting sentences of these mostly "young men" as adults despite them not having reached the age of consent.

Gun safety and gun laws[link]

The importance of gun safety education has a mitigating effect on the occurrence of accidental discharges involving children. So much importance is not placed upon the vicarious liability case law assigning strict liability to the gun owner for firearms casualties occurring when a careless gun owner loses proper custody and control of a firearm.

In an argument against gun control, the National Center for Policy Analysis, a non-profit conservative think tank, reported the following statistics.^[64] Please note that most of the following has come under questioning^[who?] of authenticity and officially remains unproven.^{[citation needed]}

• New York State is one of many states that have adopted an Assault Weapon ban, which prohibits residents to purchase or own any assault rifles that fall under the description of, "large capacity ammunition feeding device." This includes fully automatic weapons. ^[65]
• As of 2006, approximately 35% of American households have a gun in them. About 22% of Americans actually own a gun.^[66]
• Evanston, Illinois, a Chicago suburb of 75,000 residents, became the largest town to ban handgun ownership in September 1982 but experienced no decline in violent crime. It has subsequently ended its ban as a result of the District of Columbia v. Heller Supreme Court case, upon a federal lawsuit by the National Rifle Association being filed the day after Heller was entered.
• Among the 15 states with the highest homicide rates, 10 have restrictive or very restrictive gun laws.^[67]
• Twenty percent of U.S. homicides occur in four cities with just 6% of the population—New York, Chicago, Detroit, and Washington, D.C.—and each has or, in the cases of Detroit (until 2001) and D.C. (2008) had, a requirement for a license on private handguns or an effective outright ban (in the case of Chicago).^[68]
• In England, Wales and Scotland, the private ownership of most handguns was banned in 1997 following a gun massacre at a school in Dunblane and an earlier gun massacre in Hungerford in which the combined deaths was 35 and injured 30. Gun ownership and gun crime was already at a low level, which made these slaughters particularly concerning. Only an estimated 57,000 people —0.1% of the population owned such weapons prior to the ban.^[69] In the UK, only 8 per cent of all criminal homicides are committed with a firearm of any kind.^[70] In 2005/6 the number of such deaths in England and Wales (population 53.3 million) was just 50, a reduction of 36 per cent on the year before and lower than at any time since 1998/9. The lowest rate of gun crime was in 2004/4 whilst the highest was in 1994.^{[citation needed]} There was, however, a noticeable temporary increase in gun crime in the years immediately after the ban, though this has since fallen back. The reason for the increase has not been investigated thoroughly but it is thought that 3 factors may have raised the number of guns in circulation. These are, the reduction in gun crime in Northern Ireland (which led to guns coming from there to the criminal black market in England); guns (official issue or confiscated) acquired by military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan; and guns coming from Eastern Europe after the fall of the iron curtain.^{[citation needed]} Firearm injuries in England and Wales also noticeably increased in this time.^[71] In 2005-06, of 5,001 such injuries, 3,474 (69%) were defined as "slight," and a further 965 (19%) involved the "firearm" being used as a blunt instrument. Twenty-four percent of injuries were caused with air guns, and 32% with "imitation firearms" (including airsoft guns).^[72] Since 1998, the number of fatal shootings has varied between 49 and 97, and was 50 in 2005. In Scotland the picture has been more varied with no pattern of rise or fall appearing.^{[citation needed]}
• Violent crime accelerated in Jamaica after handguns were heavily restricted and a special Gun Court established.^[73] However a high proportion of the illegal guns in Jamaica can be attributed to guns smuggled in from the United states where they are more freely available.^[74]

History[link]

Gun control in the United States[link]

Before the American Civil War ended, state slave codes prohibited slaves from owning guns. After slavery in the U.S. was abolished, states persisted in prohibiting Black people from owning guns under laws renamed Black Codes.

The United States Congress overrode most portions of the Black Codes by passing the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The legislative histories of both the Civil Rights Act and the Fourteenth Amendment, as well as The Special Report of the Anti-Slavery Conference of 1867, are replete with denunciations of those particular statutes that denied blacks equal access to firearms.^[75]

After the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1878, most states turned to "facially neutral" business or transaction taxes on handgun purchases. However, the intention of these laws was not neutral. An article in Virginia's official university law review called for a "prohibitive tax...on the privilege" of selling handguns as a way of disarming "the son of Ham," whose "cowardly practice of 'toting' guns has been one of the most fruitful sources of crime.... Let a negro board a railroad train with a quart of mean whiskey and a pistol in his grip and the chances are that there will be a murder, or at least a row, before he alights."^[76] Thus, many Southern States imposed high taxes or banned inexpensive guns in order to price destitute individuals out of the gun market.

In the 1990s, gun control laws continued to be enacted:

• Police-issued license and permit laws, unless drafted to require issuance to those not prohibited by law from owning guns, are routinely used to prevent lawful gun ownership among "unpopular" populations.
• Public housing residents, approximately three million Americans, are singled out for gun bans.
• "Gun sweeps" by police in "high crime neighborhoods" whereby vehicles and "pedestrians who meet a specific profile that might indicate they are carrying a weapon" are searched are becoming popular, and are being studied by the United States Department of Justice as "Operation Ceasefire."
• In certain communities with a history of good law enforcement after gun control legislation was introduced the crime rates, paticuarly the homicide rates, have decreased. Pro gun control advocates say this is proof gun control works as long as its enforced. But nothing can be said either way 100% of the time.

Gun control in Australia[link]

In response to the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, gun law proposals developed from the report of the 1988 National Committee on Violence^[77] were adopted under a National Firearms Agreement. This was necessary because the Australian Constitution does not give the Commonwealth power to enact gun laws.

The National Firearms Agreement banned all semi-automatic rifles and all semi-automatic and pump-action shotguns, and created a tightly restrictive system of licensing and ownership controls. Because the Australian Constitution prevents the taking of property without just compensation the Federal Government introduced the Medicare Levy Amendment Act 1996 that provided the revenue for the National Firearms Program through a one-off 0.2% increase in the Medicare levy. Known as the gun buy-back scheme, it started across the country on the 1 October 1996 and concluded on the 30 September 1997^[78] to purchase and destroy all semi-automatic rifles including .22 rimfires, semi-automatic shotguns and pump-action shotguns. The buyback was predicted to cost $A500 million and had wide community support.

In 2002, the Monash University shooting led the federal government to urge state governments to again review handgun laws, and, as a result, amended legislation was adopted in all states and territories. Changes included a 10-round magazine capacity limit, a calibre limit of not more than .38 inches (9.65 mm), a barrel length limit of not less than 120 mm (4.72 inches) for semi-automatic pistols and 100 mm (3.94 inches) for revolvers, and even stricter probation and attendance requirements for sporting target shooters.^{[citation needed]} In the state of Victoria $A21 million compensation was paid for confiscating 18,124 target pistols, and 15,184 replacement pistols were imported.^{[citation needed]} .

One government policy was to compensate shooters for giving up the sport. Approximately 25% of pistol shooters took this offer, and relinquished their licences and their right to own pistols for sport for five years.^{[citation needed]}

There is contention over the effects of the gun control laws in Australia, with some researchers reporting significant drops in gun-related crime,^[79] and others reporting no significant effect in gun related or overall crime rates.^[80][81][82]

See also[link]

• Concealed carry
• Constitutional carry (in USA)
• Gun politics
• Gunfire locator
• Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO)
• National Rifle Association (NRA)
• Second Amendment Sisters
• Second Amendment to the United States Constitution

References[link]

External links[link]

• Packing.org - concealed carry law information
• A Human Right
• Gun Owners of America
• Gun Ownership in India
• GunCite: Gun Control and Second Amendment Issues
• Guns Save Lives
• Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership
• Keep and Bear Arms
• Libertarian Party
• National Rifle Association of America
• Pink Pistols
• Second Amendment Foundation
• Stonewall Shooting Sports of Utah

Ice-T
Ice-T near the Meat Packing District in Manhattan on set of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in March 2011
Background information
Birth name	Tracy Marrow
Also known as	Ice T
Born	(1958-02-16) February 16, 1958 (age 54) Newark, New Jersey
Origin	Crenshaw, Los Angeles, California
Genres	Hip hop, heavy metal, punk rock, crossover thrash
Occupations	Musician, actor, CEO, record producer, screenwriter, author
Instruments	Vocals, sampler, turntables
Years active	1982–present (rapping) 1984–present (acting)
Labels	Sire/Warner Bros. Records Rhyme Syndicate/Priority/EMI Records Virgin/EMI Records Atomic Pop Records
Associated acts	Afrika Islam, Body Count, Beastie Boys, Low Profile, Quincy Jones, Eazy-E, 2Pac, Donald D, Six Feet Under (band)
Website	www.icet.com
Notable instruments
Roland TR-808, E-mu SP-1200

Tracy Marrow (born February 16, 1958), better known by his stage name Ice-T, is an American musician and actor. He was born in Newark, New Jersey, and moved to the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles when he was in the 7th grade. After graduating from high school, he served in the United States Army for four years. He began his career as a rapper in the 1980s and was signed to Sire Records in 1987, when he released his debut album Rhyme Pays, the first hip-hop album to carry an explicit content sticker. The next year, he founded the record label Rhyme Syndicate Records (named after his collective of fellow hip-hop artists called the Rhyme Syndicate) and released another album, Power.

He co-founded the heavy metal band Body Count, which he introduced in his 1991 album O.G.: Original Gangster. Body Count released its self-titled debut album in 1992. Ice-T encountered controversy over his track "Cop Killer", which was perceived to glamorize killing police officers. Ice-T asked to be released from his contract with Warner Bros. Records, and his next solo album, Home Invasion, was released later in the fall of 1993 through Priority Records. Body Count's next album was released in 1994, and Ice-T released two more albums in the late 1990s. Since 2000, he has portrayed NYPD Detective Odafin Tutuola on the NBC police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Early life[link]

Ice-T was born Tracy Marrow, son of Solomon and Alice Marrow,^[1][2] in Newark, New Jersey. As a child, his family moved to upscale Summit, New Jersey.^[1] Solomon was an African American, and Alice was Creole.^[1] For decades, Solomon worked as a conveyor belt mechanic at the Rapistan Conveyor Company. The first time race played a major part in Tracy's life was at the age of 7, when he became aware of the racism leveled by his white friends toward dark-skinned children, and that he escaped similar treatment because they thought that Marrow was white because of his lighter skin.^[1] Relating this incident to his mother, she told him "Honey, people are stupid"; her advice and this incident taught Marrow to control the way the negativity of others affected him.^[1]

His mother died of a heart attack when Tracy was in third grade. Solomon raised Tracy while he was a single father for four years, with help from a housekeeper.^[1] Tracy's first experience with an illegal activity occurred after a bicycle that Solomon bought him for Christmas was stolen. After Tracy told his father, Solomon shrugged, "Well, then, you ain't got no bike."^[1] Tracy stole parts from bicycles and assembled "three or four weird-looking, brightly painted bikes" from the parts; his father either did not notice, or never acknowledged this.^[1] When Tracy was 12 years old, Solomon died of a heart attack.^[1][3] For many years, AllMusic.com has stated that his parents "died in an auto accident",^[4] but Ice-T has stated that it was actually he who had been in a brutal auto accident and that was decades later.^[1]

Following his father's death, Tracy lived with a nearby aunt briefly, and was sent to live with his other aunt and her husband in View Park-Windsor Hills, a middle-class black neighborhood by South Los Angeles.^[5] While his cousin Earl was preparing to leave for college, Tracy shared a room with him. Earl was a fan of rock music and listened to only the local rock stations; sharing a room with him spurred Tracy's interest in heavy metal music.^[6]

Gang affiliation, criminal life and time in the Army[link]

Tracy attended Palms Junior High, which was predominately made up of white students, and included black students bused in from South Central.^[5] After graduating, he attended Crenshaw High School, which was almost entirely made up of black students.^[5][7] Marrow stood out from most of his friends because he did not drink alcohol, smoke tobacco, or use drugs.^[8] During high school, gangs began to intensify in the Los Angeles school system. Students who belonged to the Bloods and Crips gangs attended Crenshaw, and fought in the school's halls.^[5] Tracy aligned with the Crips,^[5] and began reading the novels of Iceberg Slim, which he memorized and recited to his friends, who enjoyed hearing the excerpts and told him, "Yo, kick some more of that by Ice, T,"^[8] and the handle stuck. Marrow and other Crips wrote and performed "Crip Rhymes", long before the advent of hip hop and recorded rapping.^[9]

At the age of 17, Tracy received the Social Security death-benefit money for the death of his father to rent an apartment for $90 a month.^[8] Marrow sold cannabis and stole car stereos for money, but was not making enough money to support his girlfriend and daughter, leading him to join the United States Army for the financial benefits; he served for four years in the 25th Infantry Division.^[8][10] Marrow was in a group that were jailed for the theft of an infantry rug.^[8] While awaiting trial, he received a $2,500 bonus check, and decided to escape from the jail and desert his Army duties, returning a month later after the rug had been returned.^[8] He received an Article 15 non-judicial punishment, and completed Advanced Infantry Training.^[8]

Marrow became interested in hip hop music while serving in the Army. During this period, he heard Sugar Hill Gang's newly-released single "Rapper's Delight", which inspired him to perform his own raps over the instrumentals of this and other early hip-hop records, but the music did not fit his lyrics or form of delivery, leading Marrow to try to develop his skills as a rapper.^[9]

As a squad leader at Schofield Barracks, Marrow met a real-life pimp named Mac in Hawaii, where prostitution was not heavily prosecuted, due to the high level of visits from soldiers during their weekends, as well as tourists, in order to keep the level of violence low.^[8] Mac admired that Marrow could quote Iceberg Slim, and taught Marrow how to pimp.^[8] Marrow was also able to purchase stereo equipment cheaply in Hawaii, including two Technics turntables, a mixer, and large speakers, and began to learn turntablism and rapping.^[9]

Towards the end of his time in the Army, Marrow learned from his commanding officer that he could receive an honorable discharge and leave the Army early because he was a single father, and left four months ahead of schedule.^[8][10]

Music career[link]

Early career[link]

After leaving the Army, Marrow wanted to stay away from gang life and violence, and decided to make use of the stereo equipment he had purchased in Hawaii, and make a name for himself as a disc jockey.^[9] As a tribute to Iceberg Slim, Marrow adopted the stage name Ice-T.^[9] While performing as a DJ at parties, he received more attention as a rapper, and decided to pursue a career as a rapper.^[9] After breaking up with his girlfriend Caitlin Boyd, he returned to a life of crime, and robbed jewelry stores with his high school friends, pretending to be customers in order to plan the thefts, and later smashing the display glass with baby sledgehammers, events Marrow later described in his raps.^[9][11]

One of Marrow's friends, Sean E. Sean, was arrested for possession of not only cannabis, which Sean sold, but also material stolen by Marrow. Sean took the blame, and served two years in prison. Marrow stated that he owed a gratitude to Sean, because his prison time allowed Marrow to pursue a career as a rapper.^[12] Concurrently, Marrow wound up in a car accident and was hospitalized as a John Doe because he did not carry any form of identification due to his criminal activities.^[13] After being discharged from the hospital, he decided to abandon the criminal lifestyle and pursue a professional career rapping.^[13] Two weeks after being released from the hospital, he won an open mic competition judged by Kurtis Blow.^[14]

Professional career[link]

Ice-T with Body Count performing in 2006.

In 1982, Marrow met producer William Strong from Saturn Records, who recorded his first single, "Cold Wind Madness", also known as "The Coldest Rap", which became an underground success, becoming popular even though radio stations did not play it due to the song's hardcore lyrics.^[12] Marrow appeared as a featured rapper on "Reckless", a single by DJ Chris "The Glove" Taylor, and recorded the songs "You Don't Quit" and "Dog'n the Wax" with Unknown DJ, who provided a sound for the songs.^[14]

Marrow received further inspiration as an artist from Schoolly D's gangsta rap single "P.S.K. What Does It Mean?", which Marrow heard in a club. Marrow enjoyed the single's sound and delivery, as well as its vague references to gang life, although the real life gang, Park Side Killers, was not named in the song.^[14]

Marrow decided to adopt Schoolly D's style, and wrote the lyrics to his first gangsta rap song, "6 in the Mornin'", in his Hollywood apartment, and created a minimal beat with a Roland TR-808. Marrow compared the sound of the song, which was recorded as a B-Side on the single "Dog'n The Wax", to that of the Beastie Boys.^[14] The single was released in 1986, and Marrow learned that "6 in the Mornin'" was more popular in clubs than its A-side, leading Marrow to rap about Los Angeles gang life, which Marrow described more explicitly than any previous rapper. He intentionally did not represent any particular gang, and wore a mixture of red and blue clothing and shoes to avoid antagonizing gang-affiliated listeners, who debated his true affiliation.^[14]

Ice-T finally landed a deal with a major label Sire Records. When label founder and president Seymour Stein heard his demo, he said, "He sounds like Bob Dylan."^[15] Shortly after, he released his debut album Rhyme Pays in 1987 supported by DJ Evil E, DJ Aladdin and producer Afrika Islam, who helped create the mainly party-oriented sound. The record wound up being certified gold by the RIAA. That same year, he recorded the title theme song for Dennis Hopper's Colors, a film about inner-city gang life in Los Angeles. His next album Power was released in 1988, under his own label Rhyme Syndicate, and it was a more assured and impressive record, earning him strong reviews and his second gold record. Released in 1989, The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech... Just Watch What You Say established his popularity by matching excellent abrasive music with narrative and commentative lyrics.^[16]

Ice-T performing in August 2006

In 1991, he released his album O.G. Original Gangster, which is regarded as one of the albums that defined gangsta rap. On OG, he introduced his heavy metal band Body Count in a track of the same name. Ice-T toured with Body Count on the first annual Lollapalooza concert tour in 1991, gaining him appeal among middle-class teenagers and fans of alternative music genres. The self-titled debut album by Body Count followed.^[16] For his appearance on the heavily collaborative track "Back on the Block", a composition by jazz musician Quincy Jones that "attempt[ed] to bring together black musical styles from jazz to soul to funk to rap", Ice-T won a Grammy Award for the Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, an award shared by others who worked on the track including Jones and fellow jazz musician Ray Charles.^[17]

Controversy later surrounded Body Count over its song "Cop Killer", a song intended as a narrative from the view of a criminal getting revenge on racist police officers guilty of brutality, from the National Rifle Association and various police advocacy groups.^[16] Consequently, Time Warner Music refused to release Ice-T's upcoming album Home Invasion because of the controversy surrounding "Cop Killer". When Ice split amicably with Sire/Warner Bros. Records after a dispute over the artwork of the album Home Invasion, he reactivated Rhyme Syndicate and formed a deal with Priority Records for distribution. Priority released Home Invasion in the spring of 1993.^[18] The album peaked at #9 on Billboard magazine's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and at #14 on the Billboard 200,^[19] spawning several singles including "Gotta Lotta Love", "I Ain't New To This" and "99 Problems" – which would later inspire Jay Z to record a version with new lyrics in 2003. Ice-T had also collaborated with certain other heavy metal bands during this time period. For the film Judgment Night, he did a duet with Slayer on the track "Disorder".^[20] In 1995, Ice-T made a guest performance on Forbidden by Black Sabbath.^[2] Another album of his, VI - Return of the Real came out in 1996, followed by The Seventh Deadly Sin in 1999.^[21]

His first rap album since 1999, Gangsta Rap, was released on October 31, 2006. The album's cover, which "shows [Ice-T] lying on his back in bed with his ravishing wife's ample posterior in full view and one of her legs coyly draped over his private parts," was considered to be too suggestive for most retailers, many of which were reluctant to stock the album.^[22] Some reviews of the album were unenthusiastic, as many had hoped for a return to the political raps of Ice-T's most successful albums.

Ice-T appears in the film Gift. One of the last scenes includes Ice-T and Body Count playing with Jane's Addiction in a version of the Sly and the Family Stone song "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey."

Besides fronting his own band and rap projects, Ice-T has also collaborated with other hard rock and metal bands, such as Icepick, Motörhead, Slayer, Pro-Pain, and Six Feet Under. He has also covered songs by hardcore punk bands such as The Exploited, Jello Biafra, and Black Flag. Ice-T made an appearance at Insane Clown Posse's Gathering of the Juggalos (2008 edition).^[23] Ice-T was also a judge for the 7th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists.^[24] His 2012 film Something From Nothing: The Art Of Rap features a who's who of underground and mainstream rappers.^[25]

Ice T announced via Twitter that he is in the process of collecting beats for his next LP which as of November 2011 is expected sometime during 2012.^[26]

Other ventures[link]

Acting career[link]

Ice-T's first film appearances were in the motion pictures, Breakin' (1984), and its sequel, Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo (1985). These films were released before Ice-T released his first LP, although he appears on the soundtrack to Breakin'. He has since stated he considers the films and his own performance in them to be "wack".^[27]

In 1991 he embarked on a serious acting career, portraying police detective Scotty Appleton in Mario Van Peebles' feature film New Jack City, gang leader Odessa (alongside Denzel Washington and John Lithgow) in Ricochet (1991), gang leader King James in Trespass (1992), followed by a notable lead role performance in Surviving the Game (1994), in addition to many supporting roles, such as J-Bone in Johnny Mnemonic (1995), and the marsupial mutant T-Saint in Tank Girl (1995). Marrow was also interviewed in the Brent Owens documentary Pimps Up, Ho's Down,^[28] in which he claims to have had an extensive pimping background before getting into rap. He is quoted as saying "once you max something out, it ain't no fun no more. I couldn't really get no farther." He goes on to explain his pimping experience gave him the ability to get into new businesses. "I can't act, I really can't act, I ain't no rapper, it's all game. I'm just working these niggas." Later he raps at the Players Ball.

In 1993 Marrow along with other rappers and the three Yo! MTV Raps hosts Ed Lover, Doctor Dre and Fab 5 Freddy starred in the comedy Who's the Man?, directed by Ted Demme. In this movie, Marrow is a drug dealer who gets really frustrated when someone calls him by his real name, "Chauncey," rather than his street name, "Nighttrain."

Ice-T with Christopher Meloni on the set of ‘’Law & Order: SVU’’ on October to, 2008 in Broome St, SoHo, New York.

In 1995 Marrow had a recurring role as vengeful drug dealer Danny Cort on the television series New York Undercover, co-created by Dick Wolf. His work on the series earned him the 1996 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. In 1997 Marrow co-created the short-lived series Players, produced by Wolf. This was followed by a role as pimp Seymour "Kingston" Stockton in Exiled: A Law & Order Movie (1998). These collaborations led Wolf to add Marrow to the cast of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Since 2000 he has portrayed Odafin "Fin" Tutuola, a former undercover narcotics officer transferred to the Special Victims Unit. In 2002 the NAACP awarded Marrow with a second Image Award, again for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, for his work on Law & Order: SVU.

In 1997 Marrow had a pay-per-view special titled Ice-T's Extreme Babes which appeared on Action PPV, formerly owned by BET networks.^[29]

In 1999 Marrow starred in the HBO movie Stealth Fighter as a United States Naval Aviator who fakes his own death, steals a F-117 stealth fighter, and threatens to destroy United States military bases. He also acted in the movie Sonic Impact, released the same year.

Ice-T made an appearance on the comedy television series Chappelle's Show as himself presenting the award for "Player Hater of the Year" at the "Player-Haters Ball", a parody of his own appearance at the Players Ball. He was dubbed the "Original Player Hater."

Beyond Tough, a 2002 documentary series, aired on Discovery Channel about the world's most dangerous and intense professions, such as alligator wrestlers and Indy 500 pit crews, was hosted by Marrow.^[30]

Ice-T at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival for the premiere of Burning Down the House

In 2007 Marrow appeared as a celebrity guest star on the MTV sketch comedy show Short Circuitz. Also in late 2007 Marrow appeared in the short-music film Hands of Hatred, which can be found online.

Ice-T was interviewed for the Cannibal Corpse retrospective documentary Centuries of Torment, as well as appearing in Chris Rock's 2009 documentary Good Hair, in which he reminisced about going to school in hair curlers.^[31]

Voice acting[link]

Ice-T voiced Madd Dogg in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, as well as Agent Cain in Sanity: Aiken's Artifact. He also appears as himself in Def Jam: Fight for NY and UFC: Tapout fighting video games.

He also voiced the character Griffin in the video game Gears of War 3.^[32]

He was the voice of Jackie A in Tommy and the Cool Mule.^[33]

Reality television[link]

On October 20, 2006, Ice-T's Rap School aired and was a reality television show on VH1. It was a spin-off of the British reality show Gene Simmons' Rock School, which also aired on VH1. In Rap School, rapper/actor Ice-T teaches eight teens from York Preparatory School in New York called the "York Prep Crew" ("Y.P. Crew" for short). Each week, Ice-T gives them assignments and they compete for an imitation gold chain with a microphone on it. On the season finale on November 17, 2006, the group performed as an opening act for Public Enemy.

On June 12, 2011, E! reality show Ice Loves Coco debuted. The show is mostly about his relationship with his wife of ten years, Nicole "Coco" Austin.^[34][35]

Style and influence[link]

Marrow cites writer Iceberg Slim and rapper Schoolly D as influences, with Iceberg Slim's novels guiding his skills as a lyricist.^[9][14] Marrow's favorite heavy rock acts are Edgar Winter, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath.^[6] Marrow's hip hop albums helped shape the gangsta rap style, with music journalist tracing works of artists such as Tupac Shakur, Notorious B.I.G., Eminem and N.W.A to "6 in the Mornin'".^[14]

His love of rock music led Marrow use electric guitar in the instrumentation of his hip hop albums in order to provide his songs with edge and power, and to make his raps harder; he used the fusion of rock and hip hop of Rick Rubin-produced acts like Beastie Boys, Run-DMC and LL Cool J, which featured rock samples in their songs.^[6] His work with Body Count, whose 1992 debut album Marrow described as a "rock album with a rap mentality",^[36] is described as paving the way for the success of rap rock fusions by bands like Kid Rock and Limp Bizkit;^[6][36] however, Marrow states that the band's style does not fuse the two genres, and is solely a rock band.^[6] He is also a fan of the British singer Phil Collins; Collins claimed he was "incredibly flattered" when he learned this.^[37]

Personal life[link]

Relationships and family[link]

Ice-T and wife Coco attend the Billboard-Children Uniting Nations After-Party

In 1976, Marrow's girlfriend Adrienne gave birth to their daughter, LeTesha, and they attended high school while raising the child. She gave her father two grandchildren.^[8] Later in 1984, while filming Breakin', Marrow met Darlene Ortiz, who had been at the club in which the film was being shot, and the two began a relationship; Ortiz was featured on the covers of Rhyme Pays and Power.^[14] Marrow and Ortiz had a son, Ice Tracy Marrow, in 1992.^[14] On December 31, 2001, Marrow married swimsuit model Nicole "Coco Marie" Austin.^[2][35] In celebration of their 10th wedding anniversary, the couple renewed their wedding vows on June 4, 2011.^[34]

Activism[link]

CIA involvement[link]

He has condemned the involvement of the Central Intelligence Agency in drug trafficking (in connection with the Iran-Contra scandal, as documented in the Kerry Committee report and elsewhere)^[38] on tracks such as "This One's for Me" and "Message to the Soldier", in sections of his book.

Politics[link]

On June 5, 2008, Ice-T jokingly stated that he would be voting for John McCain in the 2008 American elections. Ice-T also speculated that his past affiliation with Body Count could hurt Barack Obama's chances if he endorsed him, so he'd choose instead to ruin John McCain's campaign by saying he supported him.^[39][40]

Feuds[link]

LL Cool J[link]

Ice-T had a non-publicized feud with LL Cool J in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Apparently, this was instigated by LL's claim to be "the baddest rapper in the history of rap itself"^[41] Ice-T recorded two disses against LL on his 1988 album Power. On the album was the track, "I'm Your Pusher", in which a rap music addict declines to buy an LL Cool J record. The album also contains the posse rap track, "The Syndicate", which took aim at LL's lyrical ability, claiming that rapping about oneself so frequently was a "first grade topic".^[42] The song also mocked the song's hook "I'm Bad", which identified it as an LL diss specifically.

On LL's response, "To da Break of Dawn" in 1990, he dissed Kool Moe Dee (Whose feud with LL was far more publicized) as well as MC Hammer. He then devoted the third verse of the song to dissing Ice-T, mocking his rap ability ("take your rhymes around the corner to rap rehab"), his background ("before you rapped, you was a downtown car thief"), and his style ("a brother with a perm deserves to get burned"). Ice-T appeared to have ignored the insults and he had also defended LL Cool J after his arrest in the song "Freedom of Speech".^[43]

Soulja Boy Tell 'Em[link]

In June 2008, on DJ Cisco's Urban Legend mixtape, Ice-T criticized DeAndre Cortez "Soulja Boy Tell 'Em" Way for "killing hip hop" and his song "Crank That" for being "garbage" compared to the works of other hip-hop artists such as Rakim, Das EFX, Big Daddy Kane and Ice Cube. One of the comments in the exchange was when Ice-T told Way to "eat a dick".^[44] The two then traded numerous videos back and forth over the Internet. These videos included a cartoon and video of Ice-T dancing on Way's behalf and an apology, but reiteration of his feelings that Way's music "sucks", on Ice-T's behalf.^[45] Rapper Kanye West defended Way by arguing that the younger artist created a new, original work for hip hop, thus keeping the authentic meaning of the music.^[46]

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• 1987: Rhyme Pays
• 1988: Power
• 1989: The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech...Just Watch What You Say
• 1991: O.G. Original Gangster
• 1993: Home Invasion
• 1996: VI - Return of the Real
• 1999: The Seventh Deadly Sin
• 2006: Gangsta Rap

Collaboration albums

• 1988: Rhyme Syndicate Comin' Through (with Rhyme $yndicate)
• 1992: Body Count (with Body Count)
• 1994: Born Dead (with Body Count)
• 1997: Violent Demise: The Last Days (with Body Count)
• 2000: Pimp to Eat (with Analog Brothers)
• 2004: Repossession (with SMG)
• 2006: Murder 4 Hire (with Body Count)
• 2008: Urban Legends (with Black Ice)

Awards and nominations[link]

Grammy Awards

MTV Video Music Awards

Filmography[link]

Television[link]

Video games[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Allison, Kugel (May 31, 2011). "Ice-T & Coco Austin on Married Life, the Business of Being Ice, & Coco's Bodacious Body". PR.com. http://www.pr.com/article/1177. 
• Video: Ice-T interview with Adam Horovitz
• Conspiracy Worldwide Radio Ice T interview (December 2009)
• Marrow, Tracy; Century, Douglas (2011). Ice: A Memoir of Gangster Life and Redemption—from South Central to Hollywood. Random House. ISBN [[Special:BookSources/97804345523280|97804345523280]]. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ice-T

• Official website
• Ice-T at the Internet Movie Database
• Ice-T on Twitter