Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Wow, thanks, I knew I was missing something. So that's why we have school shootings while nobody else (in the developed world) does, because we are unique.
Yes, I would like to compare US to the 1st world countries. Is this a problem?
Does the UK and Australia have the same history of racial tension as the US? Does it have the same problem of economic inequality (which is likely the leading cause of violent crime)?
Really the only thing the US has in common with other first world nations is economy. Everything else is completely different. The US has more in common with Mexico than you think.
We shouldn't be comparing the U.S. to any other country. We are unique: we were created that way. No other nation has the unique history that we do. We were are amalgamation of different cultures, ideologies, and religions that no other country even comes close to matching. Comparing the US to countries in Europe that could rattle around in a corner of the southwest, an island nation that has no bordering nations and strictly controlled immigration, or a Central American hellhole where the governing officials really are owned by criminal organizations is just stupid.
While our history hasn't always been pretty, it is that very ugliness of our history that has made us what we are today. Yes, we have our faults, but we have our beauty marks as well. We, like any nation, have done some dastardly deeds. On the other hand, we've done some pretty heroic and extraordinary things as well. We're a young nation, still fighting through the angst of adolescence in some ways. We're having growing pains, but they will eventually settle down and we'll make it to adulthood. But, like most young adults, we'll be different from our parents. Nobody should expect the USA to be like any of the countries that our ancestors came from. In some ways, we'll have a little bit of all their traits. In others, we'll be a unique entity.
Sounds like a cop-out. Which of those differences has made the American psyche more predisposed to gun violence than, say, Canada, Britain or Australia? An expansive claim that "we are all different" does not jive with the fact that every other developed nation has a fraction of the gun violence we have here, despite the differences between them.
Sure, all countries are different, but the only relevant common differences between the US and every other first world country is our lax gun laws and saturation of firearm ownership. And, lo and behold, that difference correlates to a disparity in gun violence. Unless you can point to another reason as to why gun violence would be so prevalent compared to these other countries, just arguing "we are different" is a meaningless deflection and nothing more.
Sounds like a cop-out. Which of those differences has made the American psyche more predisposed to gun violence than, say, Canada, Britain or Australia? An expansive claim that "we are all different" does not jive with the fact that every other developed nation has a fraction of the gun violence we have here, despite the differences between them.
Sure, all countries are different, but the only relevant common differences between the US and every other first world country is our lax gun laws and saturation of firearm ownership. And, lo and behold, that difference correlates to a disparity in gun violence. Unless you can point to another reason as to why gun violence would be so prevalent compared to these other countries, just arguing "we are different" is a meaningless deflection and nothing more.
Statistics show that the UK has more violent crime than the US. In fact, it is the most violent country in Europe.
Sounds like a cop-out. Which of those differences has made the American psyche more predisposed to gun violence than, say, Canada, Britain or Australia? An expansive claim that "we are all different" does not jive with the fact that every other developed nation has a fraction of the gun violence we have here, despite the differences between them.
Sure, all countries are different, but the only relevant common differences between the US and every other first world country is our lax gun laws and saturation of firearm ownership. And, lo and behold, that difference correlates to a disparity in gun violence. Unless you can point to another reason as to why gun violence would be so prevalent compared to these other countries, just arguing "we are different" is a meaningless deflection and nothing more.
Quote:
Gun control is designed to stop people from killing each other, at least that’s what we are always told. Let’s take a look at the data:
Quote:
United Kingdom: The UK enacted its handgun ban in 1996. From 1990 until the ban was enacted, the homicide rate fluctuated between 10.9 and 13 homicides per million. After the ban was enacted, homicides trended up until they reached a peak of 18.0 in 2003. Since 2003, which incidentally was about the time the British government flooded the country with 20,000 more cops, the homicide rate has fallen to 11.1 in 2010. In other words, the 15-year experiment in a handgun ban has achieved absolutely nothing.
Ireland: Ireland banned firearms in 1972. Ireland’s homicide rate was fairly static going all the way back to 1945. In that period, it fluctuated between 0.1 and 0.6 per 100,000 people. Immediately after the ban, the murder rate shot up to 1.6 per 100,000 people in 1975. It then dropped back down to 0.4. It has trended up, reaching 1.4 in 2007.
Australia: Australia enacted its gun ban in 1996. Murders have basically run flat, seeing only a small spike after the ban and then returning almost immediately to preban numbers. It is currently trending down, but is within the fluctuations exhibited in other nations.
Plain and simple. Gun control has no significant impact on murder rates.
“Murder and manslaughter are two of the offences that constitute homicide. Manslaughter can be committed in one of three ways: 1) killing with the intent for murder but where a partial defence applies, namely loss of control, diminished responsibility or killing pursuant to a suicide pact. 2) conduct that was grossly negligent given the risk of death, and did kill, is manslaughter (“gross negligence manslaughter”); and 3) conduct taking the form of an unlawful act involving a danger of some harm, that resulted in death, is manslaughter (“unlawful and dangerous act manslaughter”). The term “involuntary manslaughter” is commonly used to describe a manslaughter falling within (2) and (3) while (1) is referred to as “voluntary manslaughter”. There are of course other specific homicide offences, for example, infanticide, and causing death by dangerous or careless driving.” (CPS – LG)
United States:
“The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program defines murder and nonnegligent manslaughter as the willful (nonnegligent) killing of one human being by another. The classification of this offense is based solely on police investigation as opposed to the determination of a court, medical examiner, coroner, jury, or other judicial body. The UCR Program does not include the following situations in this offense classification: deaths caused by negligence, suicide, or accident; justifiable homicides; and attempts to murder or assaults to murder, which are scored as aggravated assaults.” (FBI – CUS – Murder)
Yes, another example of focus on the real issue rather than all manner of statistics that might mask it...
If only the solution(s) were as easy to come by. I have commented many times that I think gun violence in America is here to stay, and we have little choice but to accept that fact like we do the prospect of natural disasters. However, just like with natural disasters, we can do something to see them coming (sometimes), prepare for them, protect against them, as we should the next yahoo with a gun who wants to kill as many people as possible.
We know that so long as you avoid being a gang member your chance of dying in a mass shooting are less than 1/10 of 1%.
I'm more concerned about my fellow Americans $%^ poor driving habits.
Yes, so why doesn't gun control work in Mexico? That's what you want, right? Gun control? Like in Mexico?
What "I want" is the stupidity ratcheted back a tad.
Mexico, a country beset with corruption and graft is not an example of "gun control". You know this and that's why you use it as opposed to so many other first world countries that do have effective gun controls.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
