OKAY FOLKS … MY FIRST POSTING OF THE MORNING AND I NEED SOME HELP HERE. GUNS,GUNS.
on 09/19/2008 at 03:39 AM
Well just in my brief ‘research’ it appears to be a CDC study that ‘shocked’ everyone in that in 2005, half of all gun deaths were suicides. The line, the numbers and stats in all the stories (to include al Jazeera) are the exactly the same.
The second problem with this is her Britain gun death line - one must post say America’s knifing death rate and Britains knifing death rate. Bet the numbers there are highly reversed too. Perspective people. Of course where there are stringent gun laws, the gun deaths are going to be lower, however has the knifing rate increased or baseball bat beating deaths? And I bet here, those rates are low. It goes to reality, guns don’t kill people, people kill people. How is not and should not be the ‘issue.’ Why should be.
Always remember their are lies, damn lies and statistics.
Oh, yeah, btw - the highest suicide rate group [in America] is male 15 to 24 which tend to use the most violent (therefore most successful) means possible. Sort of skews that stat too. Heck of a difference between shooting oneself and swallowing a bottle of tylonol.
Wardmama is on track. Tania’s comment is ill focused. For the US she cites “gun deaths” which include suicide, hunting accidents, murders, accidental discharge, and perhaps military casualties. For the UK she cites only gun homicides. That is not a level playing field.
To get a relevant pair of numbers, you might have to extrapolate a bit. Figure out the population ratio, then figure out the gun owning population. Example: If 1 in 3 Americans owns a gun, but only 1 in 3000 Brits, then her numbers need major adjustment. What you are looking for is a RATE not an ACTUAL NUMBER. “homicides per gun owning percent of the population” would be what you are looking for.
That doesn’t take culture into consideration. Culturally, Americans don’t muddle through. We fight.
Dig up the Kates & Mauser report from a year or 2 ago and read it. Take Away Fact: some cultures are more violent.
Then go read http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2006/01/questions-from-audience.html and the related posts. Take Away Fact: Young Urban Ghetto Males commit most of the violence.The US has a MUCH larger population of people who are violence prone! Hell, we even make cartoons about it:
<center><object width="425" height="344"></param></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0B9QGrpdu5Y&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center>This is nonsense. As Drew rightly points out gun ownership is much higher in the US. However
I would be interested to know how many people top themselves in Britain by throwing themselves under trains, or putting a hose from their exhaust into the car. People will always find a way to off themselves. Guns may be an easier option in the US but I doubt the overall suicide rate is different. Probably higher in Britain per capita I would say. In any event in Britain these days (Wardmama says) you are more likely to get stabbed by a nutter who has been released from the local loonie bin, or some immigrant who wants what you have.Personally, if someone insists on offing themselves, I’d much rather they did it privately with a gun than being forced to throw themselves in front of a bus or train *that I’m riding*.
09/19/2008 at 08:56 AM
09/19/2008 at 10:56 AM
