Number of Murders, United States, 2009: 16,204Number of Murders by Firearms, US, 2009: 9,369
Number of Murders, Britain, 2009: 1,201
(Since Britain’s population is 1/5 that of US, this is equivalent to 6,005 US murders)
Number of Murders by firearms, Britain, 2008: 39 (equivalent to 195 US murders)
The international comparisons show conclusively that fewer gun owners per capita produce not only fewer murders by firearm, but fewer murders per capita over all. In the case of Britain, firearms murders are 48 times fewer than in the US.
Juan Cole, of all people, should know better. He’s a scholar. He had to have dealt in stats and analyses. But maybe he just forgot argumentation. The comparisons could show what he says they conclusively show, but they could just as easily show that Americans are more murderous or more psychotic than Brits, and that they have an affinity for guns.
What I'm seeing in those stats is that Americans murder roughly 3 times the Brits, and they use guns to do it roughly 6 times. If guns weren't as handy, then maybe in fact the murders would be roughly three times in both areas, but the number of murders wouldn't change. Frankly, if I'm going to be murdered, I think I'd just as soon have it done with a gun rather than, say, beating to death or stabbing.
....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.
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