🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <NEWTNews.9333.782545086.woolfson@woolfson.unicom.net>,
Eric Woolfson  <woolf@unicom.net> wrote:
>
> From: krehn@bashful.cc.utexas.edu (karl rehn)
>
>> Huh?  The statistical evidence is clearly on the side of the 'armed
>> citizens'.  Look at the drop in violent crime in Florida following
>> passage of the CCW law there.  
>
>     Florida passes a concealed weapons law, crimes goes down.
>     Morton Grove bans guns altogther, crime goes down.
>     Texas makes no weapons law changes, crime goes down.
>
>     See a pattern there, do you?  

Let's see some stats, citations, etc. and get quantitative.  Passing
carry laws brings some classes of violent crime down substantially --
20%+ is a year or so, not the noise-level drifts you allude to.
>
>> All the numbers I've ever seen on the subject show that CCW permit
>> holders are *less* likely to misuse their guns than the general public.
>> A CCW permit is only issued after a background check and a considerable
>> amount of training.  
>
>       South Carolina, with CCW has 5.5 gun murders per 100,000
>       North Carolina, without CCW, has 5.3 per 100,000.

Last I was in North Carolina, they had a carry permit system.

>       And Georgia, with CCW, has 6.2, leading them both.

And Washington, D.C., bans everything and leads the nation.  Do yourself
a favor:  read Kleck's _Point Blank_ and get some real numbers.
>
>       So just how effective is CCW in lowering the rate of gun
>      murders?
>
>      Not much, apparently............ 
>
>> Do some research.  It's not paranoia to be concerned about
>> the "slippery slope" when there are numerous examples of where this
>> has already occurred at the state level.  Volunteer NRA instructors
>> offer training courses all over the country to teach safe handling
>> of firearms.  This training has resulted in a continual drop in the
>> percentage of accidents each year for the past 15-20 years.  Look it up.
>
>      Yes, by all means, DO some research.
>
>      And explain to us why with all those NRA instructors and all 
>    those guns that Kleck says prevent crime, the US is the world
>    leader in both civilian gun ownership and civilian gun DEATHS. 
>    Where is the "safety" that all these guns are supposed to be 
>    giving us? 

Easy:  gun ownership rates have increased, yet accidental firearms
deaths are down over 70% in the past 50 years.  Both Japan and
Sweden have higher homicide rates than the US.  Over 2 million
defensive uses of firearms, 99.9% without firing a shot.  

Get a clue!