🚀 go-pugleaf

>In article <380qel$g11@news.utdallas.edu> goyal@utdallas.edu (Mohit K Goyal) writes:
>
>Handguns are used in far more violent crimes than any other type of
>gun.


I don't think anyone would dispute this. However for the purposes of
the discussion at hand, it's beside the point. For example, it's also
the case that in drunk-driving fatalities, automobiles are used far
more than any other method of transportation.

The more pertinent question is whether additional gun control
legislation will reduce crime. 


>Are you sure about this?  Didn't the dallas morning news have a fornt
>page story not too long ago saying that death by shootings were about
>to be the #1 killer in the US?  I'm not sure how long ago this article
>appeared.

Perhaps you were thinking of the study put out by the Department of
Transportation which showed that gun-related deaths have overtaken
automobile-related deaths. This is somewhat different from the
statistic you quoted.

Since you seem interested in this subject, let me recommend a couple
of books. You might be able to find them in a bookstore which caters
to academics, but it's more likely that you'll have to go to a
university library.

        "Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America" by Gary Kleck,
        published by A. de Gruyter, 1991.

        "The Gun Control Debate: You Decide", edited by Lee Nisbet.
        Prometheus Books, Buffalo, N.Y., 1990

Kleck is a sociologist at FSU. He is widely regarded as one of the
foremost authorities on gun issues. For writing "Point Blank", Kleck
was given the 1993 Hindelang Award from the American Society of
Criminology for "the book published in the past two years that makes
the most outstanding contribution to criminology."  He is one of the
few people who takes pains to preserve his neutrality on the issue of
gun control [in real life, Kleck is moderately pro-control, but that
makes little difference]. The Nisbet book similarly takes a neutral
stance, offering a collection of articles from both pro- and anti-gun
authors.

I read them last fall, and I'm glad I did. There is so much
ideological "flak" surrounding the issue of gun control that it's very
difficult to get accurate information.

Nat
--
Nathaniel McIntosh     |    Department of Computer Science
mcintosh@cs.rice.edu   |    Rice University, P.O. Box 1892
713-527-8101 x2740     |    Houston, Texas 77251   USA