At 02:04 PM Saturday 12/31/2005, Doug Pensinger wrote:
William wrote:
Gary wrote:
I apologize in advance, because I know this topic can get a
bit heated on this list. The reason I'm posting this, is because this is the
first media article that I've seen, from a major media outlet,
that makes an attempt to be fair and accurate.
If the difference in violent crime or murder rates or whatever was
really obviously significantly different between
gun-control/non-gun- control areas then one side or the other of
the debate would be
trumpeting that fact loudly. So whatever difference guns make
it isn't enough for either side to have proved it after years of argument.
Given that we have strict controls over the sale of alcohol, tobacco,
fireworks and other possibly harmful materials it seems entirely
sensible and in line with other regulation to control firearms sales
especially since there is no compelling evidence that they
significantly improve (or harm) personal safety *in general* but are
obviously dangerous items individually.
Most comparisons of gun ownership/crime rates are apples/oranges
comparisons. Anomalies like Switzerland crop up.
I'd be interested in a comparison of the USA with places that are
similar such as Canada or Australia. That might be more enlightening
than comparisons with Europe or South America.
A few points. First, its very disturbing to me that people feel the
need to carry deadly force with them in order to feel safe. Second,
how fair is it that the article doesn't mention that the reason the
gun laws don't work might be that they are not enforced?
<http://w3.agsfoundation.com/enf2nationalpr.html> Third, the
article points out that fewer than 100 kids died in gun accidents
last year, but fails to point out how many were killed in all
firearm incidents. I'd be surprised if that number was lower than
2,500. Fourth, the fact is that no matter how poorly gun laws are
working at present, gun violence is a plague.
I'm a realist when it comes to firearms in this country; we'd sooner
ban pizza than guns. But that doesn't negate the fact that they're
a serious problem.
Even if you count the number of suicides as well as homicides and
accidents in the total of deaths due to firearms, IIRC about as many
or more people die in the US each year due to AIDS, and IIRC about
twice as many die in automobile accidents, of which about half
(according to those who collect the statistics) are due to alcohol
use. What do you suggest might be banned to prevent those
deaths? Or is the one thing common to all three personal responsibility?
--Ronn! :)
"Since I was a small boy, two states have been added to our country
and two words have been added to the pledge of Allegiance... UNDER
GOD. Wouldn't it be a pity if someone said that is a prayer and that
would be eliminated from schools too?"
-- Red Skelton
(Someone asked me to change my .sig quote back, so I did.)
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