Bill Ramsey sent in this comment about States with Gun Laws:
You may remember the last discussion when I made the assertion (without any data) that Texas had a higher gun death rate than northern states. I ran above search on Google and the first hit was http://www.statemaster.com/red/graph/cri_mur_wit_fir-death-rate-per-100-000&b_printable=1.
This list is full of paradoxes. The worst (#1) is D.C. with 31.2 deaths per year per thousand people followed by #2 Alaska with 20.0. Maryland is #22 with 11.5; Texas is #26 with 11.0; and all the “Northern” states follow Texas. The lowest is Hawaii #51 with 2.8.
D.C. (worst) and Hawaii (best) have strict gun laws, as well as New York #46 with 5.1 (very good) as well as Maryland (mediocre). Alaska (second worse) and Texas (slightly better than Maryland) have virtually no gun laws. Draw conclusions from this, if you can.
It seems that those who favor stronger gun laws are careful to show that they are not against guns. Here is he photo released by the White House. Was this really necessary?
The statistics presented by Bill are interesting, but need to be interpreted with much caution. The statistics presented are "only" relationships and should not be considered as "cause." the populations among the states and DC differ in many important ways that might affect violence using guns or other weapons.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the statistic for DC seems to be in error. 31.2 per 1000 per year represents too large a total. 31.2 X 500,000 DC pop would equal 15,600 deaths per year. A bit high don't you think?
For me gun safety is will take decades to change--like the link between smoking and cancer. I remember people arguing that if smoking caused cancer then all who smoke should get cancer. Gun and smoking are/were part of our culture--tough to change--but can be changed over decades.
Vince
I'm from Hawaii and I am glad that Hawaii is in last place on Bill's list.
ReplyDeleteAbout our emphasis on gun control rather than pro football:
ReplyDeleteMaybe it shows we've got our priorities straight.
About the pic of Obama with a gun:
For me, the pic was not necessary. For the fanatical gun lovers, nothing will likely convince them that he's not out to get their precious guns. So I don't know who the picture helps.
Ken Stevens
Ok. I've got the comment system figured out.
ReplyDeleteWhile the Republicans may still kowtow to the NRA, Democrat politicians are are find their past spport of the NRA a liability. See
ReplyDeletethis article
about Debbie Halvorson primary bid to fill the open seat for Illinois 2nd Congressional District.
Is it possible we have an insoluble problem on our hands? Violence seems to be part of human nature, a mechanism used to kill animals for food as well a defend our assets, food, territory, families, from others. We defend with what we've got whether it's stones, sticks, arrows, knives, spears, cannons, rifles, guns, deadfalls, camoflauged pits, pungi sticks, drones, IEDs, pit bulls, etc.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the problem anyway? Is it a group, or a collection, of people, however large or small, that is causing the problem? And can we solve the problem if we don't know what causes these people to act in this anti-social way.
If we determine the problem is safequarding schools we can do that. Obviously the people in Newtown knew there was a problem as the entry doors were locked when school began, class room doors were locked, and teacher and students had been trained how to react to number of situations. And still it happened. I'll bet there is a significant police presence in Connecticut schools today and I wouldn't be surprised if the local NRA members hadn't volunteered to take a shift along with the paid police.
We can't ask those gunmen who kill themselves why they didn't do it in the privacy of their own room. The shooter in Colorado and the one in Newtown were taken alive. Maybe something will emerge that will give us a clue what to do next.
Finally, should the DC death rate have been 31.2/100,000? That would have brought the death toll down to 156, a lower but still unacceptable number.
Correction: the Newtown killer died at the scene.
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