INCONVENIENT FACT: Countries that allow private gun ownership have much lower overall murder, suicide and violent crime rates than countries with pervasive gun control laws.
EVIDENCE: According to no less an authority than the peer-reviewed Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, countries with stringent gun control laws have higher murder and suicide rates than those without.
DOCUMENTATION: “Would Banning Firearms Reduce Murder and Suicide?” A Review of International and Some Domestic Evidence by Don B. Kates and Gary Mauser, Volume 30, Number 2 of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, pages 649-694. (To download a PDF copy of the journal article, simply Google the title. It is available on the web free of charge.)
QUOTE: “If you are surprised by our findings, so are we. We did not begin this research with any intent to “exonerate” handguns, but there it is — a negative finding, to be sure, but a negative finding is nevertheless a positive contribution. It directs us where not to aim public health resources.”
INDIRECTION: The trick hoplophobes always use is to say that America has higher gun-murder rates than other countries, but a lot of those “murders” are criminals killed in the act of committing violent crimes. Compare absolute murder rates, and the result is “more guns, less murder.” (Source: GunFacts.info);
SECOND INCONVENIENT FACT: According to DOJ crime statistics, guns are used by US citizens 2.5 million times per year to prevent violent crimes like rape, robbery, home-invasion and carjacking, 99% of the time without a shot being fired. (Source: GunFacts.info)
THIRD INCONVENIENT FACT: “Assault weapons” (AKA semiautomatic rifles) are used in less than 1% of gun crimes. (Source: GunFacts.info)
QUESTION: If gun-free zones make people safe, then why don’t we declare the immediate vicinity of the President and Vice-President to be gun-free zones and send the Secret Service home? Or are gun-free zones good enough for our kids, but not good enough for our overlords?
METAPHOR: America has more private gun ownership than most other countries, so naturally there are more gun murders. America also has more hospitals than most other countries, so naturally we have more people dying in hospitals. Does that mean we should outlaw hospitals?
marktwain linked Mass Killings Stopped by Armed Citizens on two of my recent threads. I verified all of its links. If someone tries to disable that webpage, I'm linking all of its links below current links and posts.
Two Cautionary Tales of Gun Control
Stopping the spread of deadly assault weapons--summary of Feinstein Bill, incl. registry requirement
Is it True Armed Civilians Have Never Stopped a Mass Shooting?
Mother Jones's Own Reporting Contradicts Its Conclusions on Gun Violence
Guns in schools can save lives - Disarming law abiding citizens left them sitting ducks.
I used the original titles, some are Wikipedia titles, for the links within Mass Killings Stopped by Armed Citizens:
Appalachian School of Law shooting
The Chronicle, Muskegon, MI, 8/23/95
Jeanne Assam and the New Life Church Shooting
Gun-shop employee prevents massacre(California, 1999) by marktwain!
A Massacre We Didn't Hear About
Statistics show concealed carry saves many lives, takes few
RV PARK KILLINGS: 'Witness shooter' recounts shootout with gunman who killed two in Early
Shooter with hit-list shot dead in AT&T store
College Student Shoots, Kills Home Invader
Victims Released; No Charges Filed Against Reno Man In Winnemucca Shootings
Parker Middle School dance shooting
Police identify man who shot, killed pastor’s mother at church
Clackamas Concealed Carry Showdown – The Full Story
P.S. Arthur Kellermann, one of the authors in the JAMA article, has written some of the most outrageous "studies" about guns in the medical literature, e.g. he equated the risk of criminal acquaintances getting killed with family and friends if someone kept a gun in their home.
Some noteworthy articles about politics, foreign or military affairs, IMHO, FReepmail me if you want on or off my list.
marktwain linked Mass Killings Stopped by Armed Citizens on two of my recent threads. I verified all of its links. If someone tries to disable that webpage, I'm linking all of its links below current links and posts.
Two Cautionary Tales of Gun Control
Stopping the spread of deadly assault weapons--summary of Feinstein Bill, incl. registry requirement
Is it True Armed Civilians Have Never Stopped a Mass Shooting?
Mother Jones's Own Reporting Contradicts Its Conclusions on Gun Violence
Guns in schools can save lives - Disarming law abiding citizens left them sitting ducks.
I used the original titles, some are Wikipedia titles, for the links within Mass Killings Stopped by Armed Citizens:
Appalachian School of Law shooting
The Chronicle, Muskegon, MI, 8/23/95
Jeanne Assam and the New Life Church Shooting
Gun-shop employee prevents massacre(California, 1999) by marktwain!
A Massacre We Didn't Hear About
Statistics show concealed carry saves many lives, takes few
RV PARK KILLINGS: 'Witness shooter' recounts shootout with gunman who killed two in Early
Shooter with hit-list shot dead in AT&T store
College Student Shoots, Kills Home Invader
Victims Released; No Charges Filed Against Reno Man In Winnemucca Shootings
Parker Middle School dance shooting
Police identify man who shot, killed pastor’s mother at church
Clackamas Concealed Carry Showdown – The Full Story
P.S. Arthur Kellermann, one of the authors in the JAMA article, has written some of the most outrageous "studies" about guns in the medical literature, e.g. he equated the risk of criminal acquaintances getting killed with family and friends if someone kept a gun in their home.
Some noteworthy articles about politics, foreign or military affairs, IMHO, FReepmail me if you want on or off my list.