Posted on 02/02/2008 12:26:11 PM PST by snowsislander
In January, the Brady Campaign released its annual "State Report Cards," scoring the states according to their gun laws.
Once again, the Brady rankings clearly demonstrate that states that have the most gun control tend to have the most violent crime.
Brady says that a state could get a perfect "100" if it would: limit the frequency of gun purchases; prohibit private transfers of firearms; require gun show attendees to sign a ledger to be provided to the police; prohibit the sale of firearms that do not engrave a serial number on fired ammunition and require registration such firearms' purchasers; license and regulate firearm dealers at the state level; prohibit handguns that do not have "smart" gun features; prohibit detachable-magazine semi-automatics and some pump-action rifles and shotguns; allow the arbitrary rejection of Right-to-Carry permit applications; allow local jurisdictions to impose gun control laws more restrictive than the state legislature; and allow the criminal prosecution of people who use firearms in legitimate self-defense.
Since most states do not have these kinds of laws -- gun control having been rolled back and rejected at the federal, state, and local levels in the last 15-20 years -- Brady gave most states "failing" scores. Forty-two states received 28 points or fewer, and only one state received a score higher than 63--California.
But, as usual, Brady's scores correlate inversely with states' crime rates. Using crime data published by the FBI for 2006, the most recent year available:
* California, the state that has the most gun control and received Brady's highest score (79), has violent crime and murder rates that are 14% and 23% higher, respectively, compared to the rest of the country.
* Brady didn't bother giving a score to Washington, D.C., which has more gun control than California and even higher crime rates.
* Most of the 38 states that Brady gave 20 or fewer points to, have total violent crime, murder, and robbery rates that are below the national rates.
* For states that have total violent crime, murder, and robbery rates that are below the national rates, Brady gave average scores of 19, 19, and 14, respectively.
* For the 10 states with the lowest total violent crime, murder, and robbery rates, Brady gave average scores of 12, 12, and 9, respectively.
Meh... it’s not like we’ve used them for that purpose in FAR too long. May as well drop that line of reasoning altogether. Not because it isn’t still valid, but because no one still has the balls to use it.
This is born out by the killing of 5 women in a Chicago mall documented on this thread Chicago is well known for its strict gun control laws.
The money trail.....
LOL. Utah: 4 out of 100 points, tied for 44th place.
Neener neener :o)
That list the Brady Campaign is a good one to have. To know where you shouldn’t live or to which states you should not move your business.
Very handy.
Yes, it is. Most states weren't a surprise, but there was at least one that I wouldn't have guessed its place.
Texas came in 29th which was a surprise. We need to get working to further drop its rank.
I'd like to see some zeros myself. Kentucky and Oklahoma are doing very well, tied at 2; Alaska, Louisiana, Missouri, North Dakota, and Utah are also holding up well at 4.
I am a little surprised that the "Gunshine State" of Florida managed only an eight and "no-permit-needed" Vermont a nine.
(Figures from the Brady Campaign's State Scorecard Ratings.)
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