An Unbiased Analysis of Gun Crime vs. Gun Control?

lyapunov asks: "I have been trying to become more learned on the issues surrounding gun control and crime. I have had quite a time searching the internet for references about these issues. Practically everything that I have found has been written for, or is a study funded by, one of the groups that hold extreme viewpoints on the subject, e.g. the NRA or the Brady Foundation. The same holds true for references that I have found in our library. I was wondering if any of the members of the slashdot community have come across articles that are objective in dealing with these subjects, and I would also ask what ideas the members of this community have about this issue and what FACTS they can offer to support their ideas."

"Just so everyone knows where I stand, and why I am asking this, I offer the following. I enjoy guns and regularly compete in shooting matches and hunt occasionally. I am a member of the NRA, not for political reasons, but due to the fact that most competitions are closed to non-members (which I do think is screwed up). Having said this I am undecided on what a logical path for the future is. I do believe that an unarmed nation is a bad idea, but as Michael Moore pointed out in 'Bowling for Columbine' Canada has a much higher per capita gun ownership rate compared to the US and has nowhere near the amount of violent crime that the US has. All of the statistics that I have seen about countries that have altogether outlawed guns have been manipulated by those extreme groups. As such I find it hard to believe anything that either side presents.

Thanks, I look forward to reading all of your comments and the references that you provide."

Comments

Re:Guns

[nempo]

Should be, Guns don't kill people, People kill people.

Re: Canada, gun ownership, culture

[CommieLib]

Canada certainly has much more of a monolithic culture than does America. I think much of what America terms as "problems" are simply the costs of having a truly heterogenous society. Every such society has these culture clashes, and that is the source of the violence. The guns are simply the implementation.

Columnist Michael Medved makes the claim that if you isolate the gun crime among people like Canadians (i.e., whites), the numbers even out quite a bit. Without delving into the quagmire of why that might be, if it is indeed true, and I can't confirm or refute it quickly, it sort of makes the whole Canada vs. U.S. argument go up in smoke.

My personal resolution to the argument is simple the question: if you do not allow citizens to own firearms, how shall they protect themselves from criminals? Your answer cannot be "the cops". That's not what they are for. It's easy to sit in front of a computer in suburban America with a BMW in the garage and wonder why in the world anyone would need a handgun to protect themselves. Talk to my sister in law, who was attacked and beaten by her boyfriend, and you might get a different point of view.

Same old NRA rhetoric

[f0dder]

There is NOTHING in the 2nd amendment about the right to bear arms. Only for the formation of a WELL regulated militia.

Letting people own firearms != a well regulated militia

Re:News for Geeks? Stuff that Matters?

[Wyatt Earp]

Exactly.

Guns don't kill.

I have a IMI Jericho with a high-cap mag by the door. It has some decent rounds in it. It is a paperwieght, but if something happens (and you never know when something will happen) it is there.

It is there for my protection and the protection of those within.

I've argued with people on /. before as to the revelence of guns in the People vs. Government world, and I still feel that they are still needed to keep the Government in it's place.

If Police fear for thier lives when they serve a warrent, then the 2nd Amendment is doing it's job. If the Police and Government stop fearing the people, then it's much easier for the Government to control the people.

More Editors, More Errors

[ekrout]

ERIC KROUT
University of OSDN - Department of English

December 2002

Abstract:
This paper examines the relationship between Slashdot editors and writing errors. Previous research has suffered from a lack of reliable data on Slashdot editors. I exploit a unique data set to reliably estimate annual editor hire rates at both the OSDN and the Slashdot level during the past five years. My findings demonstrate that changes in the number of Slashdot editors are significantly positively related to changes in the number of spelling and grammatical errors, with this relationship driven entirely by the impact of reposts, bad links, and troll story submissions about "Linux 8.0" and "DivX on Commodore 64". The effect of editors on all other Web sites is much less marked. Recent reductions in the number of editors (see "Why We Fired Katz", Rob Malda, Lincolnhouse Publishers, (C)opyright 2002 for more details) can explain at least one-third of the differential decline in "your/you're" mistakes relative to non-editor mistakes since 1997. I also use this data to examine the impact of editors on the troll population, and reject the hypothesis that these editor-induced article errors led to increases in members' enjoyment or reductions in trolling activity.

N.B. J/K, Jamie. But I had to reply; it was too easy to roast ya ;-)

Question for you

[ShieldWolf]

2 people died because of a guy in a car shooting people as they drove by.

You think this justifies you carrying a gun.

A few questions:

You having a gun would have helped if you were in one of those cars how?

Do you play the lottery? Do you have any idea how small the odds are that someone will try to kill you with a gun?

Do you know how LARGE the odds are that the guy shooting those people stole his gun from someone just like you who has it legally?

--

I live in a city where ~60 people were murdered last year with a population of over 3 million (isn't it sad that we already know I'm not American). I have NEVER considered owning one. Most people who lvie here feel as I do according to polls. True, I come from a country that doesn't have a history of being scared all the time (Indians, Blacks and Terrorists oh-my), but we have very rational gun laws. It's called Canada, you should move up here with your family - you will be a lot more happy and free. Not free in the right to carry a gun sense, but free in the sense that you don't feel the need to.

Re:Guns

[redshift-systems]

As an Aussie. I'm glad there exists an America. We need somewhere to keep Americans.
Re the gun issue, it's an old debate but dead simple. Guns are stupid. If you believe otherwise, YOU are stupid. If you believe that getting rid of guns (and the pathetic laws in your constitution that allows them) will not dramatically reduce violent crime, you are also stupid but worse, you are ignorant. Common sense people. Noone has a right to own a gun (or any weapon), what we have a right to is to be responsible in a world that is becoming smaller. So long as America sits on it's porch with a shotgun, the world will deride it. Time to wake up America, and grow up.

..the right of the people to keep and bear arms...

[cpuenvy]

...shall not be infringed.

In everything, for some reason, there must be a struggle of some sort. One of the biggest scabs you can open, aside from "abortion rights", is the right to keep and bear arms. If you try to disarm the people, the people may very well disarm you.

But that is the beauty of it all. Even though the United States Government is the most technologically advanced and organized body in the world, our principles are held together tightly by a simple piece of paper. Our forefathers must have held the right to keep and bear arms very dear and close, since they incorporated it the Second Amendment. Because they were persecuted themselves, they made the first Free Speech, and the second the right to keep and bear arms.

That is about all the "evidence" I require for my argument. I believe in the Constitution, and anyone who tries to take our rights, guaranteed by that document, should be dealt with in a just manner. We cannot allow anyone to take away our rights, for any reason. We must stay vigilant.

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759.

That is my rant. I welcome yours.