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US STATES WITH MORE GUN OWNERS HAVE MORE MURDERS
Reuters ^ | 12/04/02 | Reuters - Charnicia E Huggins

Posted on 12/04/2002 10:58:29 AM PST by ServesURight

US States with More Gun Owners Have More Murders

By Charnicia E. Huggins

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Homicides in the United States are more common in states where more households own guns, according to researchers.

The study findings imply "that guns, on balance, lethally imperil rather than protect Americans," lead study author Dr. Matthew Miller of Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, told Reuters Health.

"This inference is consistent with previous...studies that have found that the presence of a gun in the home is a risk factor for homicide, and starkly at odds with the unsubstantiated, yet often adduced, notion that guns are a public good," he added.

Miller and his team investigated the association between homicide and rates of household firearm ownership using 1988-1997 data collected from the nine US census regions and the 50 states.

They found that household gun ownership was linked to homicide rates throughout the nine census regions. At the state level, the link between rates of gun ownership and murder existed for all homicide victims older than age 5, according to the report in the December issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

In fact, the six states with the highest rates of gun ownership--Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Wyoming, West Virginia and Arkansas--had more than 21,000 homicides, nearly three times as many as the four states with the lowest rates of gun ownership--Hawaii, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Jersey.

Further, people who lived in one of the six "high gun states" were nearly three times as likely to die from any homicide and more than four times as likely to die from gun-related homicide than those who lived in "low gun states," the report indicates. Their risk of dying in a non-gun-related homicide was also nearly double that of those who lived in states with the lowest rates of gun ownership.

On average, about half of households in high gun states had firearms, according to data reported by three of the six states, in comparison to 13% of households in low-gun states.

Although homicide rates were higher in poor areas and in states with higher rates of non-lethal violent crime and urbanization, the association between household firearm ownership and homicide remained true when the researchers took these and other factors into consideration.

Still, Miller's team notes that it is not clear whether the higher rates of household gun ownership caused or resulted from the increased number of homicides.

"It is possible, for example, that locally elevated homicide rates may have led to increased local gun acquisition," they write.

SOURCE: American Journal of Public Health 2002;92:1988-1993.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: banglist; guncontrol; propaganda
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Where's the FReeper who usually posts that "Man on the lifeboat" BS graphic??
1 posted on 12/04/2002 10:58:29 AM PST by ServesURight
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To: ServesURight
BUMP
2 posted on 12/04/2002 10:58:44 AM PST by ServesURight
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To: *bang_list

3 posted on 12/04/2002 11:00:32 AM PST by Joe Brower
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To: ServesURight
"It is possible, for example, that locally elevated homicide rates may have led to increased local gun acquisition," they write.

Our boy, Sherlock, is on the case.

4 posted on 12/04/2002 11:01:27 AM PST by Hodar
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To: ServesURight
Hawaii, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Jersey.

Rhode Island?!?!? RI has less people than a medium size city! Not exactly a state large enough for such studies to arive at an accurate conclusion.

And how many people live in Hawaii?

5 posted on 12/04/2002 11:04:02 AM PST by Phantom Lord
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To: ServesURight
And people who live in states with a higher number of automobiles have more drunk drivers. So what?
6 posted on 12/04/2002 11:04:08 AM PST by Blood of Tyrants
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To: ServesURight
A correlation but not a causation.
7 posted on 12/04/2002 11:04:29 AM PST by One More Time
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To: Joe Brower
I don't see any BS in the article at all. Just because you don't want to believe something, don't cover your eyes. AAMOF, the last sentence could very well be the conclusion to be drawn from the article.
8 posted on 12/04/2002 11:04:45 AM PST by gcruse
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To: ServesURight
Miller and his team investigated the association between homicide and rates of household firearm ownership using 1988-1997 data collected from the nine US census regions and the 50 states.

I checked the US census website. I saw NO references to data about firearms ownership.

9 posted on 12/04/2002 11:05:30 AM PST by dirtboy
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To: ServesURight
Further, people who lived in one of the six "high gun states" were nearly three times as likely to die from any homicide and more than four times as likely to die from gun-related homicide than those who lived in "low gun states," the report indicates. Their risk of dying in a non-gun-related homicide was also nearly double that of those who lived in states with the lowest rates of gun ownership.

So, in other words, there is definitely SOME OTHER FACTOR at play here. Plus, you gotta love the wording. If the baseline in the low-gun states is 1, the non-firearms murder rate could be 2.2 (nearly double) and the firearms murder rate could be 2.7 (nearly triple) - when I see general words in a study like this, it usually means some fudging is going on.

10 posted on 12/04/2002 11:08:12 AM PST by dirtboy
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To: ServesURight
I think they might be on to something. I know Id rather walk around alleys in Newark at midnight than in Cheyenne. < /sarcasm >
11 posted on 12/04/2002 11:08:41 AM PST by gnarledmaw
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To: ServesURight
Burglaries in the United States are more common in states where more households have dead bolt locks, according to researchers.

Floods in the United States are more common in states where more households have flood insurance, according to researchers.

Earthquakes in the United States are more common in states where more households have reinforced structures, according to researchers.

ergo,...

dead bolts cause burglaries
flood insurance causes floods
reinforced structures cause earthquakes

Look at me! I'm a researcher! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

12 posted on 12/04/2002 11:09:35 AM PST by avg_freeper
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To: ServesURight
Their risk of dying in a non-gun-related homicide was also nearly double that of those who lived in states with the lowest rates of gun ownership.

So, I guess what they're inferring is that the mere presence of guns in greater numbers cause people in those states to commit more non-gun murders?

WOW!

And what exactly is a non-gun- or gun-related homicide anyway? Pistol-whipping?

13 posted on 12/04/2002 11:09:52 AM PST by Trailerpark Badass
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To: ServesURight
How do they know how many households contain guns?
14 posted on 12/04/2002 11:10:27 AM PST by luvtheconstitution
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To: ServesURight
This article is a rewrite of a press release which was a rewrite of a press release from VPC (Bradys).

Amazing that there is still homocides in island states with strict gun control. How could that be?

We're told that Maryland and Jersey still have gun crimes because of buyers going to other states for guns. Whassup with Hawaii?
15 posted on 12/04/2002 11:11:42 AM PST by TC Rider
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To: ServesURight
and starkly at odds with the unsubstantiated, yet often adduced, notion that guns are a public good," he added.

Unsubstantiated? John Lott's studies are FAR more rigorous than this nonsense. Why are they only analyzing rates of firearm ownership? Why not also factor in elements such as income level, educational level, racial makup and whether or not drugs were involved? I would imagine the differences would flatten out rather quickly if that were done. But figuring out the truth was not the objective of this study, from the loaded language the researchers are using here.

16 posted on 12/04/2002 11:11:52 AM PST by dirtboy
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To: ServesURight
Talk about using BS statistics to mislead. Consider this statement: In fact, the six states with the highest rates of gun ownership--Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Wyoming, West Virginia and Arkansas--had more than 21,000 homicides, nearly three times as many as the four states with the lowest rates of gun ownership--Hawaii, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Jersey.

Here's what it means: Over 10 years, the total number of murders in SIX "high gun ownership" states (21,000) was nearly three times the number of murders in four "low gun ownership" states. No per capita calculations, or other adjustments to make a valid comparison. Typical anti-gun BS.

17 posted on 12/04/2002 11:12:28 AM PST by VRWCmember
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To: ServesURight
Umm...if they're serious about this, and not just trying to fabricate headlines, how about the county-level numbers?

OOPS!

Guess that would completely invalidate their theory, eh?

18 posted on 12/04/2002 11:12:48 AM PST by B Knotts
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To: ServesURight
More liberal "science". They couldn't possibly know who owns guns and, therefore, which states have more gun owners.

Liberals do not know science. They only know liberal arts. To them, science is a basic math class.
19 posted on 12/04/2002 11:13:21 AM PST by PatrioticAmerican
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To: Blood of Tyrants
They also have more automobile accidents. Golly gee.
20 posted on 12/04/2002 11:13:30 AM PST by robertpaulsen
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