"Fortunately, you're more likely to be hit by lightning that ever be involved in such an incident - a fact. "
We have been over this before in great detail.
http://forums.hitechcreations.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=207531&referrerid=54051. I am talking about mass shooting events, the same ones the banners cite. I'll even walk you through it:
a.) you reference "hose down a class room." reading comprehension tells me you are referring to a mass shooting event, like the ones that rarely occur and are statistically insignificant with a gross population of 300 million considered but that get the full media circus treatment (unlike arson, for example). This also ties directly into our "weapon a=bad, weapon b=good discussion.
b.) The Brady bunch has totaled up about 70 people killed in such events in the past 20 years. About 4000 people have been killed by lightning during the same period.
You are also on a norm, 3 times more likely to get murdered than a European. As well as much more likely to end up in an armed robbery situation. And being raped. And bear in mind, that the "Euros" have a bigger headcount than the USA as well as living on smaller turf, as well as having more languages and multicultures.
Where total crime is concerned:
The failure of this general disarmament to stem, or even slow, armed and violent crime could not be more blatant. According to a recent UN study, England and Wales have the highest crime rate and worst record for "very serious" offences of the 18 industrial countries surveyed.
Source: BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2656875.stm
Where firearm crime is concerned:
You have previously refused to read posted studies from European bodies citing the differences between US inner city crime dynamics and European crime dynamics and how the US mode is moving to Europe. Even when I provide you with the specific pages to read. But hey, the link I posted earlier in this thread, which you likely didn't read either, shows that firearm crime has doubled in the UK since the ban, and that illegal smuggled arms can be bought by criminals for less that I pay legally at retail here in the US. It confirms the very same reasons that can be found in those studies I posted the the last thread that you refuse to acknowledge because they directly contradict your position.
Also from that BBC article:
Much is made of the higher American rate for murder. That is true and has been for some time. But as the Office of Health Economics in London found, not weapons availability, but "particular cultural factors" are to blame.
A study comparing New York and London over 200 years found the New York homicide rate consistently five times the London rate, although for most of that period residents of both cities had unrestricted access to firearms.
Where the "3 times more likely to be murdered is concerend..." and
"In metropolitan areas, the homicide rate in 2005 was 6.1 per 100,000 compared with 3.5 in non-metropolitan counties"
3.5 in the countryside? That's twice as high as in the UK yes?
You have apparently never been to the US yet seem to know what life is like. Others have pointed that out to you as well, including Europeans who have actually been to the US. I have yet to even hear a firearm fired in anger, including years spent living in Chicago. The vast majority of people will live and die (of natural causes) with the same experience.
In the worst case scenario, 5.5 out of 100,000 people get killed by a firearm.
In the typical non criminal-on-criminal scenario perhaps 2-3 out of 100,000
In Europe perhaps 1.5 out of 100,000
Tell me. Is the difference great enough even in the worst case scenario to make any real difference to your daily life? Really. Especially since (using the same per capita data I posted before):
Risk by comparison x 100,000:
firearms - 5/2
Automobiles - 14
Tobacco - 650
Alcohol - 150
Heroin - 80 (fully banned, btw)
Cocaine - 4 (fully banned, btw)
You are 30 times more likely to have an alcohol related death (using the worst case firearm statistics) than firearm related, and guess what? The same holds true for Europe. As best as I can determine from a ranged of partial information you are (at least) 30 times more at risk from a liquored up receptionist in Europe than I am at risk from firearm violence in the US even if I were a gang banger. Unless you are a total hypocrite than you must be equally incensed about the ready availability of alcohol.
As your map suggests, there are some states where I'm more likely to get hit by lightning than others. There are some countries where I'm more likely to get eaten by a shark. Should I quake in fear walking down the street to see a tourist spot in Australia because of all the Great White shark killings and mailings that occur in Australia? Should I even be terrified to go for a swim in the ocean?
Outside of a limited number of urban communities in five counties there is virtually no firearm crime. Period. Statistics show that the vast majority of the cases (at least upwards of 80 percent into 90 percent) of firearm homicide involve both the shooter and criminal having extensive previous criminal histories. If you are not a gang banger or career criminal, you are not notably at risk. Retail professions do skew that somewhat, but then there are often policies in place that discourage self defense.
You fail to address why specific weapons like the assault rifles that are a direct part of this discussion should be banned, if they only make up less than 2 percent of firearm crime. Other than the fact that you don't trust yourself, your family or your neighbors with such weapons and it makes you FEEL uneasy.
Up until 1920 firearm ownership in the UK was easier than it was in the US. Still, the US had far more firearm homicides. No correlation based on the banning the "tool" aspect. Firearm crime has increased in the UK since the recent, almost total ban. No correlation based on the banning the "tool" aspect.
We have gone over this all before. You failed to address most of my support materials at the time, falling back to a gross statistic with no analysis of specific counter points. But hey, look at Europe today. They may not be quite there yet but they are working hard to catch up, bans and all. BTW.
Charon
