First, I would like to sincerely thank you for posting an argument based on data. This topic has become so saturated with emotional hyperbole that it's very difficult for anyone to have a meaningful exchange anymore. Thank you also for using a credible source such as the University of Utah.....Utah in particular since it has the most desired CCW in the country (I'm taking the class for it next month). It seems like we 'gunnies' have to pull teeth to get any 'anti' to post any kind of source at all, and when an 'anti' is finally cornered into giving a source, they post something thin, biased and easily taken apart.
Thank you, Jerry I appreciate that.
My concern regarding your source is not so much the small sample, but the manufactured cause-effect. If you are in a situation where you have to choose whether or not to use your gun, should you pull the trigger, you are not causing anyone else to commit suicide or a crime therefore. Your act is independent of their act, not a cause of their act. Your source correctly states that lawful gun ownership, gun crime and suicide were associated, but it then goes on to falsely state that one is caused by the other.
On firearm homicide: Your source does not distinguish between Justifiable Homicide and a crime. It's no secret that the whole point of having a gun in the home is to commit homicide legally with the gun. The point of gun ownership is to reduce crime, and that means sometimes committing Justifiable Homicide, lawful self-defense against a criminal, to kill that person.
I'll have to look at that more closely and get back to you.
See also:
HarvardStudy: Gun Control Is Counterproductive
WouldBanning Firearms Reduce Murder and Suicide?
A Review of International and Some DomesticEvidence.
Din B. Kates* and Gary Mauser**
Check this out....from your source above:
"....For example, Luxembourg, where handguns are totally banned and ownership
of any kind of gun is minimal, had a murder rate nine times
higher than Germany in 2002.9
"....France has infinitely more gun ownership than Luxembourg, which nevertheless has a murder rate five times greater, though handguns are illegal and other types of guns sparse;....
Luxembourg 9.0/100K 2002
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&...pU6iea&sig=AHIEtbTYXNt3RtKGFIYxKi1E_UszIv10HQ
Now compare it to the stats below....
Luxembourg 0.9/100K 2002
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&...UibbkJ&sig=AHIEtbQSh0xwiTD31W526nnvz0mu5YgmcA
I'm sorry Jerry, but your source seems to have skewed the data to fit the author's pro-gun agenda. A simple mistake or typo is one thing, but the author compared Luxembourg's homicide rate to other countries that didn't ban guns several times in the study. The correct homicide rate for Luxembourg is 0.9/100K as evidenced in the second study (same study as the first) but continued to use the wrong rate in the charts. The only conclusion I can draw from that study is that the author's, Kates and Mauser are either dishonest or incompetent. Either way, it doesn't support the pro-gun position that a country with more guns is safer than one that has less. Imo, it's still inconclusive for both sides of the argument as far as backing it up with statistics. So, I'm still inclined to go with logic and empirical evidence that suggest less guns = less death and injuries.
On suicide: Suicide is not connected with firearms ownership. The presence or absence of a gun do not increase or decrease the suicide rate. Suicide is a socially based act, and when someone makes the decision to end their life, they use whatever is available. If there is no gun, they simply kill themselves another way. On this point, your source lied, by falsely stating that the gun causes suicide, which is quite a disappointing mistake for the pro-gun state of Utah to do.
Australia has stats suggesting that after they impleted their gun-buy back program the suicide rate went down considerably...
Firearm suicides
Firearm suicides represent the largest component cause of total firearm deaths in Australia (more than three in four of all firearm deaths). In the 18 years (1979–96), there were 8850 firearm suicides (annual average 491.7). In the 7 years for which reliable data are available after the announcement of the new gun laws, there were 1726 firearm suicides, an annual average of 246.6. Figure 1E and table 3 indicate that while the rate of firearm suicide was reducing by an average of 3% per year, this more than doubled to 7.4% per year after the introduction of gun laws. The ratio of trend estimates differed statistically from 1 (no effect; p = 0.007). Again, we conclude that the decline in total firearm suicides accelerated after the introduction of the gun laws...."
Australia
..On the leading causes of death: Your source states that death buy a gun is one of the top-10 leading causes of death in the US. This is not a true statement according to data available from the CDC: You are 24.91 times more likely to simply trip over something and die then to die by any-kind of unintended gunshot.
That doesn't negate the fact that death by gun is still one of the top 10 leading causes of death in the US and is running neck to neck with death by auto accidents for the last 3 years or so. Most of those gun deaths could have easily been prevented by the absence or easy access to a gun in the home of legitimate gun owners. Nevertheless even if you add the criteria for justifiable homicide that you mentioned, the self defense rate would still be much much lower than all the other gun death rates and undermining a real need or justification for self defense with a gun in a majority of homes.
First, it's insulting and offensive to label us 'righties'. I'm a Conservative, and Conservatives are not part of the GOP. We left the GOP 10 years ago (though DebatePolitics.com still hasn't changed the UserGroup icon to reflect that). The GOP is as much about big government nanny-state as the Left and will sell out any Conservative sympathizers as fast as Obama or Biden.
Gun righty's = "gun rights" advocates. It's more expedient to write gun rightys but I'll try to use pro-gun when I can out of deference to you. People call me a lefty all the time...or worse, and since 2006 I think I've only said once what my affiliation is. The reason for that is because I don't fit any label's entire platform or agenda and I reserve the right to change my mind on any given issue when presented with credible evidence, facts or argument.
Here are my reform suggestions:
- Require all firearms to be stored in a rated gun safe specifically designed for storing firearms, or disabled if the firearm is on display and the removed part stored in a rated safe.
- Federal guidelines for CCW, just like a drivers license, to include knowledge and practical operating tests, just like a drivers license, which all 50 states are forced to honor, just like a drivers license. This would reasonably include basic firearms familiarity and orientation, a close-quarters-combat class (since most defensive gun shots are fired from 8-15 feet away from the criminal), fingerprints and background checked monthly for the entire life of the license (cost included in the license fee, just like the Utah CCW), and passport photo.
- Eliminate arbitrary gun-free zones, to include public schools and gun-buster signs, except for the remaining 1% which would include ERs, court houses, voting stations, and places with a 'known hazard' such as above-ground fuel tanks or homes for the mentally unstable.
That looks good to me. Except for:
Keep the gun-free zones, especially schools 1-12, but don't advertise with a gun buster sign (that's stupid)...and bars or anywhere alcohol is served. If gun owners are unfamiliar with the gun laws and where the gun free zones are then they shouldn't have a gun at all.
Bar all children and students under 18 from carrying or having access to a gun, period. Under adult supervision on private property or business....negotiable.
Guns should not be allowed on private property (including businesses) without the owner's permission.
Nix the required passport photo. A drivers license or equivalent photo ID should suffice.
Now good luck getting the NRA to agree a single one of our suggestions.