Simon said
Tell me, can you explain the problem that America has with guns? Is it something wrong with American society that makes so many want to manage to blow each others brains out?
Jayson said
Lets see on the topic of guns you said Americans who own guns do so to "blow each others brains out."
So many what Simon? I said "Americans" and Ad thrashed me stating that I am using WT theocratic warfare. So many what? And with what Simon? I said guns. And with what did you mean is used? Please explain.
As for accusations that I am Anti American because I post on topics like this, does this mean then that people who post an equal number of posts (in fact more) on the same topics are being dogmatic (or whatever you want to call it) or anti-UK, anti-peace? Funny, but I don't see you complaining about the "dubla's, thichi's and jayson's"? Am I to assume that you have double standards and don't see anything wrong with these people's posts because you happen to agree with them and share the opinions they express? I am not allowed to post an opposing viewpoint? Or, can I start claiming that they are "war-mongers" for constantly expressing support for the war? (a rhetorical question for Jayson before he starts quoting it)
Simon I'm sure you have choice words for me that you refrain from. I love you too.
US Murder Rates
report concerning homicide trends in the US. Using the FBI Uniform Crime Reports it shows that the US murder rate has declined dramatically throughout the 1990s. The US homicide rate for 1997 dropped to 6.8/100,000 of the population, the equivalent figure for England and Wales continues to increase and now stands at 1.5/100,000 population. The US homicide rate is now at its lowest level since 1967 and recent reports indicate that the US and UK crime figures are converging. UK crime rates are increasing while the US crime rate drops, a trend indicated by the 3rd International Crime Survey and a Dept. of Justice report published in October of last year. The violent crime rate in England & Wales now exceeds that of the US.
Pat Mayhew in her evidence to the Dunblane enquiry[1] notes that the US homicide rate using handguns is over 150 times that of the UK. The Labour party[2] continued in a similar vein in its own submission to the enquiry. As is typical of many advocates of gun control a simple causal relationship is implied in both papers. However, in the period under study the overall US homicide rate remained approximately 8 times that of the UK. The continuing decline in the US crime rate means that the US homicide rate has now dropped to approximately 4 times that of the UK. Why then does a factor of 150 in the homicide rate using handguns not translate into a similar factor in the overall homicide rate?
In part at least the discrepancy can be explained by the "weapon substitution" theory, whereby an offender denied access to firearms would substitute another lethal weapon. The theory would suggest that the crime dictates the weapon rather than the weapon dictating the crime. Mayhew counters that most violent incidents are committed fairly spontaneously and that the presence of a lethal weapon produces a violent outcome. Such spontaneity is in fact myth, a myth generated more by wishful thinking than any basis in fact. Firstly consider domestic violence, many offenders do claim that a violent confrontation with a partner arose spontaneously and that their actions were not premeditated. Yet domestic violence is rarely an isolated outbreak of such violence but simply another episode in a long cycle of abuse. Secondly an armed robber does not discharge a firearm 'spontaneously' during a robbery. The robbery may not have been planned with the intent to discharge a weapon but by carrying a firearm criminals are clearly prepared to do so should the situation demand it.
The difference in the US and UK figures can also be explained by the manner in which they are compiled. The US figure is based upon the Uniform Crime Reports compiled by the FBI. The FBI is solely responsible for classifying crimes and no matter what the subsequent criminal case becomes it is not changed. On the other hand homicide in the UK reflects only those crimes resulting in a criminal conviction for murder, manslaughter or infanticide. The US figure represents a gross estimate of homicide whilst the British estimate reflects a more conservative figure. The difference in methodology would tend to suggest that the difference between the US and the UK is not as pronounced as some gun control advocates would have us believe.
Finally, gun control advocates frequently attribute the UK's low rate of violent crime to its restrictive gun laws. They would do well to bear in mind that in 1919, the year before gun control legislation was introduced, the US homicide rate was almost twelve times that of the UK. After close to 80 years of rigorous gun control the gap has now narrowed to a factor of four.
http://members.aol.com/gunbancon/Frames/US_murder.html
