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AR15.COM
6/28/2005 8:16:53 AM EDT
I posted an anti-gun control topic on another message board. I got this reply:



And sometimes gun control actually does seem to work....

http://www.canadianembassy.org/gove...ncontrol-en.asp

In 1998, Canada had 555 homicides, a rate of 1.83 per 100,000. Guns were involved in 151 of the homicides, 27% of the total, the lowest proportion since statistics were first collected in 1961. Robberies using firearms accounted for 18% of all such crimes in 1998, down from 25% in 1988 and 37% in 1978.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_po..._United_Kingdom

From June 2003 to June 2004, recorded gun crime in the UK rose by 3% to 10,590 incidents. There was also a 14% rise in violent crime in the April-June period (265,800 incidents compared to 223,600 the previous year). Advocates on both sides of the gun control debate have argued how this is correctly interpreted with no consensus.

Yet, Britain remains one of the countries with the lowest homicide rate in the world accounting for 853 homicides in the reporting period 2003/04 according to the UK Home Office for Crime Statistics [3]. At a population of more than 59 million that translates into 1.4 homicides per 100,000 residents.

By comparison, the FBI Uniform Crime Report shows for the reporting period of 2003 a homicide rate in the United States of 16,503 homicides or 5.7 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants [4], with 21.6 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants for African Americans, being the sixth highest cause of death according to the CDC [5].

This puts the statistical likelihood of dying from homicide in the USA at 307% higher than in Britain.

.....and Counterpoint......



As I'm not familiar with foreign statistics and laws, I ask for the hive-mind help.
6/28/2005 8:23:02 AM EDT
[#1]
England is known to cook the books on its crime stats.  Its easier than fighting crime.  
6/28/2005 8:29:29 AM EDT
[#2]

Quoted:
England is known to cook the books on its crime stats.  Its easier than fighting crime.  



Yep.

In the UK, if there is not a conviction it doesn't make it into the stats.

For example, if a woman is raped, but there is no arrest/conviction, the rape does not get counted in the official statistics, like it didn't happen.
6/28/2005 8:29:58 AM EDT
[#3]
Of course gun control works, sometimes.
And what determines the effectiveness of the gun control program obviously has NOTHING to do with the guns themselves.  If it were the guns themselves, ALL gun control programs would work ALL the time.
So instead of trying to tackle a problem in which guns are only a factor and not a primary cause by means of gun control, why not identify the elements that make the difference between a good gun control program and a bad gun control program, and apply THOSE?
I bet you your debate opponent is so wrapped up in his "gun ba-a-a-a-d!" mindset he won't have the mental capacity to figure out what you're talking about.
6/28/2005 8:30:09 AM EDT
[#4]
When talking about britian and canada you must consider their size in relation to Americas as well as population density. Also the drug trade and gang related activity plays a large role in our dissproportionate numbers. I am unshure of what type of gang activity is present in Britian but I can gurantee that it is not near the scale and breadth of the problem we have here in the United States. Also while gun controll measures may "work" in places like Britian those same measures enacted here would result in nothing short of total failure. We ban guns and what would suddenly become a hot easily smuggleable item? Starts with a G and it could come just as easy from Mexico as all the narcotics. To top it off the large amount of gangs and criminals in possesion of stolen and illegal firearms would remain in circulation.

What works elswhere won't work everywhere. I am not in a gang so I feel I am just as safe as they claim to be in Britian but I also have the advantage of being able to carry a concealed weapon to defend myself if I ever fear for my life.
6/28/2005 8:31:49 AM EDT
[#5]
Also, notice how they always point to other countries for their "evidence."

What is more relevant to us is the stats here in the USA.

Fact: The tighter gun control is, the higher the violent crime rate.  Where law-abiding citizens have ready access to firearms there is a LOWER rate of violent crime.

Try getting a copy of "More Guns, Less Crime."

6/28/2005 8:31:57 AM EDT
[#6]
Firearms are merely tools and have nothing to do with out-of-control murder rates
www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/cri_mur_cap
www.gunsandammomag.com/second_amendment/rk0405/

If you want to get the topic locked, just mention that if firearms murders by blacks and latinos were excluded, the US firearms death rate wuld be lower than the most docile Euroweenie country.