Murder And NRA

-
Let us memorialize the deaths of 20 innocent children in Connecticut by finally addressing the issue of gun control in this country. When will we no longer allow the National Rifle Association to be the only decision maker to decide how we control guns? Something needs to be done.

Below is an excerpt from an article appearing in the Guardian on July 22, 2012, Gun Homicides And Gun Ownership by Country, comparing murder rates by country.
"The Small Arms Survey is also useful - although it is from 2007, it collates civilian gun ownership rates for 178 countries around the world, and has 'normalised' the data to include a rate per 100,000 population. So, given those caveats, we can see which countries have the highest ownership rates for firearms - and which have the highest gun murder rates.
The key facts are:
• The US has the highest gun ownership rate in the world - an average of 88 per 100 people. That puts it first in the world for gun ownership - and even the number two country, Yemen, has significantly fewer - 54.8 per 100 people.

• But the US does not have the worst firearm murder rate - that prize belongs to Honduras, El Salvador and Jamaica. In fact, the US is number 28, with a rate of 2.97 per 100,000 people
• Puerto Rico tops the world's table for firearms murders as a percentage of all homicides - 94.8%. It's followed by Sierra Leone in Africa and Saint Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean"
I extracted the data below from the above article and tried to include those countries that were most relevant when comparing them to the United States. My conclusion is the United States has a serious problem.

Click Chart To Enlarge
Here is what caught my attention.
  • The countries having worse homicide rates by firearm per 100,000 in population than the United States include Columbia, Puerto Rico, Brazil, South Africa, Mexico and Nicaragua.
  • The United States had a homicide rate by firearm per 100,000 in population of 2.97. The next closest country below us is Turkey with .77 per 100,000 in population.
  • Canada, England, Germany, France and Spain have the following respective homicide rates by firearm per 100,000 in population: .51, .07, .19, .06 and .2.
  • The United States had 88.8 firearms per 100 people. The next closest country was Switzerland with 45.7 per 100 people. Switzerland's homicide by firearm per 100,000 in population was .77 while ours is 2.97.
This problem needs to be addressed. In this article I am not advocating gun control. I am advocating that serious thought be given to what we are going to do about it. Gun control is only one solution and the NRA should not be allowed to be the sole decision maker on this important issue.

Look at the countries above that have higher homicide rates by firearm than the United States. Except maybe for Brazil, the remainder of the these countries we would expect to have higher murders per capita than the U.S..

Comments

  1. AnonymousDecember 16, 2012 at 10:24 AM

    I used to be a proponent of total gun control but I have changed my position some time ago. While a terrible and high profile tradegy as this shows the danger of legally obtained guns failing into the hands of mentally disturbed people with violent intent, the vast majority of gun crimes are committed by the criminals. Disarming the law abiding citizens (who account for the small percentage of all gun crimes) would do very little to stop these crimes, and would only make it easier for the criminals to assault people without any fear of retribution. You can only count on the police to show up after the crime has been committed. The fact is, the USA had traditionally been a more violent country than the UK.

    Looking at the countries like Russia or Mexico where there is gun control and a very high murder rate, or Washington DC where it's practically impossible for a law abiding citizen to own a gun yet the gun violence is very high, shows that the gun ban in a violent society is never going to work. Just like drug ban doesn't.

    It appears that many of the adults shot at the school died trying to stop the shooter with their bare hands. Had at least one of them been armed, the events could turn out differently.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

China And The Five Baits

-
Image
If you are under the age of 50 you should be concerned about China from an economic and global power standpoint. Some believe China is seeking peace with the rest of the world. Based on their long history, I am not convinced. For China long term is hundreds of years and for the United States it is the next election cycle. China's focus is always on the long term. Much of this post is drawn from a book,  On China , written by Henry Kissinger, the Secretary of State under President Nixon and a research paper of the National Intelligence Council titled  Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds . Whether the future will prove China's desire for peaceful co-existence depends on whether its middle class will sufficiently benefit from economic growth and not allow their leadership to throw it away by creating enemies with trading partners.  This requires the country becoming more democratic and less inclined to be a threat to the remainder of the world.  The jury is still looking
Read More

Keep Freedom on The Internet!

-
Image
Net neutrality under attack:   Don't let Verizon and Google dictate the future of the Internet. Contact the FCC! This post reflects a comment received from Common Cause. It is time to stand up with them and keep the internet free . As the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) considers how to write the rules to protect freedom and openness on the Internet,   who should they turn to: consumers like you and me, or the oligopolistic telecommunications companies?   Verizon and Google announced this week that they have it all figured out when it comes to net neutrality.* They unveiled a policy framework that would give telecom companies the right to speed up or slow down certain kinds of content, and to block outright  applications or content on wireless networks.
Read More

Save Some Art or Save Detroit

-
Image
  This is something I wrote back in 2014 while Detroit was struggling with a bankruptcy. I profess not to know the value of all the art held at the Detroit Institute of Art (DIA). Further, I do not know how much of the art is owned by the city of Detroit. I think we should find out and use it in the best way possible to save Detroit and its citizens. I  commend all the foundations and the state of Michigan who have stepped up with hundreds of millions of dollars in proposed contributions to save the DIA and the art work that it holds. Is the plan presented to the creditors concerning these donations and the leveraging of the art the best way to save Detroit and its citizens? Is saving the artwork more important than saving the city and its citizens? Stephen Henderson of the Detroit Free Press made a valid point with his editorial titled “ Detroit’s Rebirth Must Include More Than Downtown, Midtown “. Detroit will not succeed  if it does not cultivate a middle class and we cannot wait de
Read More