From: "roger gascoigne", [EMAIL PROTECTED] Had not seen this in Cybershooters. Gives you another opportunity to point out the pointlessness of the ban. Roger -----Original Message----- From: roger gascoigne [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2001 10:07 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Neil Mackay should really check his facts as he claims he does. Dear Sir or Madam, In http://www.sundayherald.com/news/newsi.hts?section=Magazine&story_id=13892 Neil Mackay has written about the Second Amendment Sisters with as much intellectual rigour as a house brick. As a visitor to the US or even a resident he has missed a lot of detail that as a journalist he should have investigated the way he claims he does. This is a quote from him, "And then there's crime. "Ninety per cent of all crimes are carried out with the use of a weapon," she says. When I try to explain that, perhaps, if guns were banned then there would be lower gun crime, Heil responds by telling me her country is different to mine: "We live in a democracy," I'm told. What that means, I'm not sure, but I remind her that King George is definitely dead." If Neil Mackay were to go back to his clipping service he would find the Observer on 31 December 2000 has the following article:- "Observer 31.12.00 Gun crime rockets to record high Arms were used 15,000 times to commit offences this year alone. Tony Thompson investigates GUN CRIME in Britain is soaring to record levels: executions, woundings and related incidents in the past year are set to be the highest ever, an investigation by The Observer has revealed." (rest of the article clipped in the interest of brevity) Now this is in the UK where all handguns were taken from legal gun owners and destroyed. Where is Mr. Mackay's logic and intellectual rigour now ? Has Mr. Mackay read Professor John Lott's multiple works (for example 'More Guns Less Crime') where he analyses, in excruciating detail, those states with concealed carry weapons (CCW) laws and compares their rates of crime to the states without CCW laws? He would find, surprise surprise that CCW prevents crime it does not increase violent crime as he expects. I could go on to point out more flaws in the article, but I feel you get the point, perhaps a rebuttal is needed ? Roger Gascoigne Brit who is resident in Chicago Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ____________________________________________________________ T O P I C A -- Learn More. Surf Less. Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Topics You Choose. http://www.topica.com/partner/tag01
