AST (After Sean Taylor)-To gun or not to gun?

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by dmek25

more guns = more killings. just say no to guns

Yeah. I'd love to see a report showing gun deaths in the country by year, and gun sales in the country by year. I'd be willing to bet a lot of money that gun deaths go up as gun sales go up, and gun deaths go down as gun sales go down.

I do agree that they can be used responsibly, and in the right situations they save lives, and that if you ban them they'll still fall into the wrong hands via the black market. So a blanket ban for the entire country probably wouldn't be effective.

But you have to admit, having a gun in the house, even if it's locked up and all that stuff, increases the chances of having an accident compared to a house without a gun. If you want to reduce your chances of being the victim of a violent crime, a gun could help you, but the best thing you can do would be move to a safer area. Of course you've got to be able to afford the safer area, so there's a catch 22 as well.

All the more reason to get a haircut and get a real job!

[mheisig]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

Yeah. I'd love to see a report showing gun deaths in the country by year, and gun sales in the country by year. I'd be willing to bet a lot of money that gun deaths go up as gun sales go up, and gun deaths go down as gun sales go down.

I do agree that they can be used responsibly, and in the right situations they save lives, and that if you ban them they'll still fall into the wrong hands via the black market. So a blanket ban for the entire country probably wouldn't be effective.

But you have to admit, having a gun in the house, even if it's locked up and all that stuff, increases the chances of having an accident compared to a house without a gun. If you want to reduce your chances of being the victim of a violent crime, a gun could help you, but the best thing you can do would be move to a safer area. Of course you've got to be able to afford the safer area, so there's a catch 22 as well.

All the more reason to get a haircut and get a real job!

It would appear quite the opposite, actually:

Bureau of Justice Firearms and Crime Statistics

Gun Sales Rise as Crime and Accident Rates Fall

Of course give it about 5 minutes before someone argues that statistics don't mean anything. Oddly enough, statistics relating to firearms and the research methodologies have got to be the most hotly debated thing I've ever seen. Each side claims to have the stats to back it up.

Just stumbled across this too - a diving website, of all things:

Australia's high crime rates prompt travel warning

Just FYI, Australia banned firearms in the mid-90s.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by mheisig

It would appear quite the opposite, actually:

Bureau of Justice Firearms and Crime Statistics

Gun Sales Rise as Crime and Accident Rates Fall

Of course give it about 5 minutes before someone argues that statistics don't mean anything. Oddly enough, statistics relating to firearms and the research methodologies have got to be the most hotly debated thing I've ever seen. Each side claims to have the stats to back it up.

Just stumbled across this too - a diving website, of all things:

Australia's high crime rates prompt travel warning

Just FYI, Australia banned firearms in the mid-90s.

Yeah it depends how you count "firearm and ammunition sales". Are you going by dollars in sales, or are you going by firearm units? If somebody showed me that firearm unit sales are increasing while gun crimes are decreasing, I'd be sold.

The reason people argue the stats is because you can twist the data and hide your definitions for counting things, and present a graph, and slip it past most people. Political lobbyists are notorious for this, they're not objective in any way. They're just trying to find some way, any way, to support their argument and continue their cause - even if it's fallacy.

You have to be completely objective when reviewing data like that. And unfortunately, the people publishing it (on either side of the argument) are most often not objective.