Gun control measures have historically handicapped the non-criminal far more than the criminal. Criminals, by the very definition, don’t obey the laws targeting them.
The basic problem is the gun control people want to pass laws that will mainly affect all non-criminals while the pro gun people don’t want to pass any laws and let everyone including the mentally ill and criminals to have the right to carry.
We should repeal all speed limits, laws against theft, and drug laws, since some portion of the citizenry will fail to obey them to the letter. That’s just the same as if nobody obeyed them at all. Also, none of this insistence on driving on one particular side of the road. What is this, Fascist Italy?
Yes. MORE gun laws will solve the issue. Let’s make more things illegal, and that will put a stop to them. Just like murder is illegal. Just like attempting murder is illegal. Just like selling and using drugs is illegal. Just like it is illegal to drive over the speed limit. CRIMINALS DON’T FOLLOW LAWS. Please explain how more laws will make us safer.
The following is according to the National Vital Statistics Reports (Division of Vital Statistics: May 8, 2013). In the year 2010 there were 11,086 deaths attributable to homicide by firearms. In the same year there were 25,692 deaths from alcohol-induced causes in the United States. This number excludes unintentional injuries, homicides, and other causes indirectly related to alcohol use. The CDC reports that between the years 2006 -2010 an average of 88,000 people died each year due to alcohol. This far exceeds the number of firearm deaths even with the suicide numbers added in, and yet there is no outcry against alcohol..If you gun control advocates are that concerned with fatality rates, why not start with a cause that is attributable for almost 3X the number of fatalities as firearms? Oh that’s right, they tried that with prohibition. As I recall those laws of control really stopped people like Al Capone and Bugs Moran. Those laws really put a stop to Mob violence..I also seem to recall that the Columbine shooters were responsible for breaking at least 19 state and federal laws. Do you think it would have made a difference if there were 20 or more laws on the books?
“Still, gun homicides (like all homicides) are declining:”
“The good news is that all firearm homicides, like all homicides and crime, are on the decline. There’s still a lot of debate among criminal justice experts about why this crime drop is occurring — some of the most credible ideas include mass incarceration, more and better policing, and reduced lead exposure from gasoline. But one theory that researchers have widely debunked is the idea that more guns have deterred crime — in fact, the opposite may be true, based on research compiled by the Harvard School of Public Health’s Injury Control Center.”
“States with more guns have more gun deaths”
"Using data from a study in Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mother Jones put together the chart above that shows states with more guns tend to have far more gun deaths. And it’s not just one study. “Within the United States, a wide array of empirical evidence indicates that more guns in a community leads to more homicide,” David Hemenway, the Harvard Injury Control Research Center’s director, wrote in Private Guns, Public Health.“
”States with tighter gun control laws have fewer gun-related deaths"
“When economist Richard Florida took a look at gun deaths and other social indicators, he found that higher populations, more stress, more immigrants, and more mental illness didn’t correlate with more gun deaths. But he did find one telling correlation: States with tighter gun control laws have fewer gun-related deaths.”
“It’s not just the US: Developed countries with more guns also have more gun homicides”“America’s biggest gun problem is suicide”“The states with the most guns report the most suicides”“Guns allow people to kill themselves much more easily”“In states with more guns, more police officers are also killed on duty”
“The findings could help explain why US police officers appear to kill more people than cops in other developed countries. For US police officers, the higher rates of guns and gun violence — even against them — in America mean they not only will encounter more guns and violence, but they can expect to encounter more guns and deadly violence, making them more likely to anticipate and perceive a threat and use deadly force as a result.”
That Link again: Gun violence in America, in 17 maps and charts
Gun lovers don’t seem to notice or care that, of all the so-called developed nations, the United States has the highest per capita death rate from shootings.
There is that old saw about the Devil’s Greatest Feat was in convincing people that the Devil does not Exist..The Devil’s Second Greatest Feat was convincing thousands of Americans that the Constitution forbids any sort of Gun Control when, In FACT, it says exactly the Opposite..Article 1 – The Legislative BranchSection 8 – Powers of Congress.The Congress shall have Power … To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;.Which is why the 2nd Amendment starts with the words:A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, ….The Founding Fathers were very aware of the Inherent Danger involved in allowing Untrained Idiots access to Firearms. And They lived in the era of Single Shot Muzzle Loading Muskets..They would Weep at the thought of what the NRA claims is the “God Given Right” of idiots to Fully Automatic Murder Capability.
To the ’toon; I think it was Palladin on “Have Gun, Will Travel” who did just this to a guy. While it might indeed be painful, even a slight blockage of the barrel CAN make a gun blow up in your hand (commonly fatal with rifles).
Gun “control” could be made much more effective if the NRA and manufacturers would go along, but the politics still aren’t there. Or is that just “financial contributions” to campaigns?
Dave Ferro over 8 years ago
This cartoon sums it up nicely. I’d rather have my finger on the trigger as opposed to standing in front of the gun wishing I had one…
nospam4sdo over 8 years ago
Gun control measures have historically handicapped the non-criminal far more than the criminal. Criminals, by the very definition, don’t obey the laws targeting them.
Theodore E. Lind Premium Member over 8 years ago
The basic problem is the gun control people want to pass laws that will mainly affect all non-criminals while the pro gun people don’t want to pass any laws and let everyone including the mentally ill and criminals to have the right to carry.
Kip W over 8 years ago
We should repeal all speed limits, laws against theft, and drug laws, since some portion of the citizenry will fail to obey them to the letter. That’s just the same as if nobody obeyed them at all. Also, none of this insistence on driving on one particular side of the road. What is this, Fascist Italy?
tryoung71 over 8 years ago
Yes. MORE gun laws will solve the issue. Let’s make more things illegal, and that will put a stop to them. Just like murder is illegal. Just like attempting murder is illegal. Just like selling and using drugs is illegal. Just like it is illegal to drive over the speed limit. CRIMINALS DON’T FOLLOW LAWS. Please explain how more laws will make us safer.
sofartotheleftimright over 8 years ago
This topic is a waste of time. No one is going to agree and nothing is going to be done as usual. It’s a waste of a conversation.
rnapiera over 8 years ago
The following is according to the National Vital Statistics Reports (Division of Vital Statistics: May 8, 2013). In the year 2010 there were 11,086 deaths attributable to homicide by firearms. In the same year there were 25,692 deaths from alcohol-induced causes in the United States. This number excludes unintentional injuries, homicides, and other causes indirectly related to alcohol use. The CDC reports that between the years 2006 -2010 an average of 88,000 people died each year due to alcohol. This far exceeds the number of firearm deaths even with the suicide numbers added in, and yet there is no outcry against alcohol..If you gun control advocates are that concerned with fatality rates, why not start with a cause that is attributable for almost 3X the number of fatalities as firearms? Oh that’s right, they tried that with prohibition. As I recall those laws of control really stopped people like Al Capone and Bugs Moran. Those laws really put a stop to Mob violence..I also seem to recall that the Columbine shooters were responsible for breaking at least 19 state and federal laws. Do you think it would have made a difference if there were 20 or more laws on the books?
OmqR-IV.0 over 8 years ago
Gun violence in America, in 17 maps and charts
“Still, gun homicides (like all homicides) are declining:”
“The good news is that all firearm homicides, like all homicides and crime, are on the decline. There’s still a lot of debate among criminal justice experts about why this crime drop is occurring — some of the most credible ideas include mass incarceration, more and better policing, and reduced lead exposure from gasoline. But one theory that researchers have widely debunked is the idea that more guns have deterred crime — in fact, the opposite may be true, based on research compiled by the Harvard School of Public Health’s Injury Control Center.”
“States with more guns have more gun deaths”"Using data from a study in Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mother Jones put together the chart above that shows states with more guns tend to have far more gun deaths. And it’s not just one study. “Within the United States, a wide array of empirical evidence indicates that more guns in a community leads to more homicide,” David Hemenway, the Harvard Injury Control Research Center’s director, wrote in Private Guns, Public Health.“
”States with tighter gun control laws have fewer gun-related deaths"“When economist Richard Florida took a look at gun deaths and other social indicators, he found that higher populations, more stress, more immigrants, and more mental illness didn’t correlate with more gun deaths. But he did find one telling correlation: States with tighter gun control laws have fewer gun-related deaths.”
“It’s not just the US: Developed countries with more guns also have more gun homicides”“America’s biggest gun problem is suicide”“The states with the most guns report the most suicides”“Guns allow people to kill themselves much more easily”“In states with more guns, more police officers are also killed on duty”“The findings could help explain why US police officers appear to kill more people than cops in other developed countries. For US police officers, the higher rates of guns and gun violence — even against them — in America mean they not only will encounter more guns and violence, but they can expect to encounter more guns and deadly violence, making them more likely to anticipate and perceive a threat and use deadly force as a result.”
That Link again: Gun violence in America, in 17 maps and charts
DrDon1 over 8 years ago
Gun lovers don’t seem to notice or care that, of all the so-called developed nations, the United States has the highest per capita death rate from shootings.
Tarredandfeathered over 8 years ago
There is that old saw about the Devil’s Greatest Feat was in convincing people that the Devil does not Exist..The Devil’s Second Greatest Feat was convincing thousands of Americans that the Constitution forbids any sort of Gun Control when, In FACT, it says exactly the Opposite..Article 1 – The Legislative BranchSection 8 – Powers of Congress.The Congress shall have Power … To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;.Which is why the 2nd Amendment starts with the words:A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, ….The Founding Fathers were very aware of the Inherent Danger involved in allowing Untrained Idiots access to Firearms. And They lived in the era of Single Shot Muzzle Loading Muskets..They would Weep at the thought of what the NRA claims is the “God Given Right” of idiots to Fully Automatic Murder Capability.
Anweir88 over 8 years ago
Citation please? Thought not.
Dtroutma over 8 years ago
To the ’toon; I think it was Palladin on “Have Gun, Will Travel” who did just this to a guy. While it might indeed be painful, even a slight blockage of the barrel CAN make a gun blow up in your hand (commonly fatal with rifles).
Gun “control” could be made much more effective if the NRA and manufacturers would go along, but the politics still aren’t there. Or is that just “financial contributions” to campaigns?
Kentcee over 8 years ago
If we controlled guns, all the suicide people would have to use poison or drugs or…..Oh wait . If there were no guns ,there wouldn’t be any suicides.
Gerald Henley over 8 years ago
@Kent Christenson
Maybe we should confiscate bridges to keep suicidal people from jumping off them.