I'm going to try to dissect this one paragraph at a time:
http://www.lethallogicthebook.com/?page_id=16The gun lobby says, “Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.” But assaults with guns are twenty-three times more deadly than assaults with other weapons. Guns enable people to kill people – more efficiently and effectively than other weapons.
Fair enough, guns are pretty efficient weapons, giving the physically weak more power than a knife-wielding attacker or strong-armed robber.
The gun lobby dismisses the connection between gun availability and suicide, but 92% of attempted suicides with guns are completed, by far the most lethal suicide method. Since those who unsuccessfully attempt suicide with guns are actually less likely to try again than those who attempt suicide by other means, making guns less available to the suicidal will save lives.
Huh? That last sentence makes no sense. If unsuccessful suicide attempts with guns leads survivors to be LESS LIKELY to try again, isn't that a good thing? :shrug:
Most people assume that gun violence is almost entirely an urban problem, while rural areas have little gun violence though they have lots of guns. But, in fact, rural, high-gun ownership states like Montana and Mississippi have firearm death rates three times higher than urbanized states like New Jersey and New York. Why? Because the gun suicide problem in rural areas is as significant as the gun homicide problem in major cities.
This says more about the rate of suicide by rural states than it does about guns. If guns were taken completely out of the equation, I suspect suicide rates would still be just as high in rural states. This has more to do with diversity, culture and acceptance, things that are often lacking in small rural towns, where being different is much less tolerated. How many LGBT suicides in conservative rural areas where kids feel so ashamed of who they are they see no other way out? Many go to the grave without anyone ever knowing why.
The gun lobby’s refrain is, “When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns,” conveying the idea that gun control will never be effective in preventing criminal access to guns. Leaving aside the red herring of “outlawing guns,” the one category of guns that has long been subject to a strict federal licensing and registration system – machine guns – is an insignificant crime problem, even though machine guns have an obvious appeal to criminals. The National Rifle Association has admitted that, after over 50 years of strict federal regulation, possession of machine guns “has never been a crime problem.” According to federal data, machine guns account for around 0.1% of guns traced to crime.
Same can be said about so-called "assault rifles" -- very few used in crimes, even though they are completely legal. Fact is, gang-bangers and most criminals prefer handguns. No big secret.
The gun lobby insists that “An armed society is a polite society,” because in areas with more guns, criminals allegedly live in fear of law-abiding gun owners. But, in fact, residents of the states with the highest rates of gun ownership (like Louisiana and Alabama) are over twice as likely to become homicide victims as those in the states with the lowest rates of gun ownership (like Massachusetts and New Jersey).
Again, this says more about the culture of conservative southern Bible Belt states versus more liberal New England states. Take away the guns, and the same bat-shit crazy fundie religious ideas fucking up people's minds would still be in play. Moms would still be drowning their babies in bathtubs to "save them from Satan," people would still be murdering abortion doctors, and rebels and misfits would still be brainwashed thinking they are going to hell anyway, so why not party it up and live as if only your life mattered?
Likewise, make guns more prevalent in New England states and I doubt the murder rate would suddenly increase. You have to be fucked up in the head enough to want to murder in the first place. Access to guns don't suddenly turn everyone from Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde. You have to be predisposed to resorting to violence. Classic case of correlation, NOT causation.
The gun lobby claims that “An armed society is a polite society,” yet surveys show that guns are used in crime 4-6 times more frequently than they are used in self-defense.
Bullshit. Even if you count all suicides as "crimes", that statistic is simply false. Defensive Gun Uses are far more common than even reported, as simply brandishing is often enough to dissuade attackers, and the police are often never called.
The gun lobby claims that “an armed society is a polite society,” yet Florida, which in 1987 became the first state to pass a gun lobby-supported law making it easier to carry concealed weapons, has ranked as one of the top three states in violent crime every year since it enacted its concealed carry law.
And how much of that overall violent crime rate was committed by concealed-carriers with permits? Not very much, I fathom.
I'm not even going to bother with the rest.
You can read it all (and buy his book!) here:
http://www.lethallogicthebook.com/?page_id=16
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