Bush: New gun limits not way to prevent shooting tragedies

[vogie]

A lot of these American bashing comments come from people who are from countries that were once Great. You should not detract from just about the only active country trying to help this world. We are spending our future families money on you.

How do you define help, Iraq?

[digibum]

I've got a good idea. Give everyone in the US a gun. Make it mandatory to own a gun and join the NRA. No problems then. They wouldn't be called massacres then - just an everyday event.

When I first saw that 38 people were killed in a shooting I didn't think Tunisia I thought USA - again.

Here are some stats that may surprise you and the gun grabbers probably won't want to believe.

If you go to the official FBI website you will find that according to their own stats from 1992 until 2012 violent crime in the USA has declined by 49%. It has continued to decline and is over 50% now. One analyst believes it is now down by 61% since 1992.

Gun ownership has increased by about 400% since Obama took office.

The US states that have the highest gun ownership per capita have the lowest crime rates.

Switzerland has the lowest crime rate in Europe accept for Monaco which isn't really a country. Every man is required to serve in the military and is then required to take his full auto military machine gun home with him. They even have sold surplus ammo to civilians to keep in practice. It's part of the national defense strategy. I have confirmed this with several Swiss including a guy who rents from me. Who is going to break into a house if they know the owner has a machine gun? Point being, it's the mental health of the society that matters, not how many guns exist.

Although I haven't done any research to confirm this, I heard a very established talk show host say the other day that statistically Britain is actually a more violent society than the US is. Yes I know, more people die from gunshots in the US, but they are talking about violence in general.

OK, enough.

And there are some economists who link the decline in violent crimes with Roe vs. Wade. Their position is that when women had greater access to abortions, less children grew up in situations where their parents were unprepared to raise them which resulted in lower crime rates.

But, you've "heard" things so . . . that's good enough for me.

[samran]

The unedifying picture of one of the few serious potential GOP cantidates running to the right to get nomination then having to moderate their tone once nominated so as to have a snowflakes chance of actually getting elected.

This bloke is a catholic which in the eyes of the evangelists view papists with distain at worst and distrust as best. If he is truely faithful he'll oppose abortion which will appease them somewhat but he should also oppose the death penalty, which will just make the teabagers go nuts.

Being a bush, he'll most likely favour rational economics and free trade. which is all good for the Wall Street crowd, but the economic Neanderthal teabagggers will find his economic literacy challenging to comprehend.

So off to the right he goes....for now.

Edited June 29, 2015 by samran

[quandow]

Another Bush, another Dunce!

Did you live in Florida under Jeb Bush's governorship? Why do you say he is a dunce...as compared to what current leader? Name it, Boy.

Floridian who actually experienced JEB! Very simply 'JEB' on election signs. Get used to it folks, he will be the next president and just might be able to repair all the 'dunce' acts from Oboy.

Although I admittedly have no information to back this up I have to wonder if Jeb truly wants to be president or if it's just " OK Jeb, your turn to do your thing for the family". That's what Donald Trump suggested in an interview yesterday. Unless I discover skeletons in Trumps closest that could be used to compromise him [ like Hilary] I'm thinking Trump might actually be the best choice to try to undue some of the damage done to the country by previous administrations. He's a proven business man [ not a "community organizer" - ha ] and an excellent negotiator. And he has his own money [ 9 billion net ] thus far less likely to be owned by special interests or indirect donations from other countries [ like Hilary ] . But many would not vote for Trump because they don't like his hair style but will vote for Hilary because she is a women. What a world! Cheers.

My personal opinion (which I know EVERYONE has been waiting to hear! 555) is that people the world over are tired of cookie-cutter politicians. If Trump's personality wasn't so abrasive, he'd have a chance. If he wins the election, the U.S. will become the pariah of the planet. He has great ideas, his delivery is just unacceptable on a global scale. Remind you of anyone else currently leading a nation in a manner of a bull in a china shop?

Senator Bernie Sanders is the Democrat's answer to Trump, and while the Senator has remained steadfast to his sincere and admirable positions, he doesn't really have that "presidential look." It's a damn shame, I think he would really turn things around. He gets it, he speaks truth and has a growing number of followers, he's just up against the Hilldog war machine.

My prediction: Hillary will win the office, flounder around her first term, just like Arnold did as governor of California, and Senator Elizabeth Warren will oust Hilldog from a second term. THAT woman has more balls and integrity than anyone else I know, as well as the intelligence and humility to know she could never beat Hilldog - until the U.S. gets a taste of what it's REALLY like to have Clinton version 2.0 at the helm.

Edited June 29, 2015 by quandow

[Miami Bob]

I've got a good idea. Give everyone in the US a gun. Make it mandatory to own a gun and join the NRA. No problems then. They wouldn't be called massacres then - just an everyday event.

When I first saw that 38 people were killed in a shooting I didn't think Tunisia I thought USA - again.

Here are some stats that may surprise you and the gun grabbers probably won't want to believe.

If you go to the official FBI website you will find that according to their own stats from 1992 until 2012 violent crime in the USA has declined by 49%. It has continued to decline and is over 50% now. One analyst believes it is now down by 61% since 1992.

Gun ownership has increased by about 400% since Obama took office.

The US states that have the highest gun ownership per capita have the lowest crime rates.

Switzerland has the lowest crime rate in Europe accept for Monaco which isn't really a country. Every man is required to serve in the military and is then required to take his full auto military machine gun home with him. They even have sold surplus ammo to civilians to keep in practice. It's part of the national defense strategy. I have confirmed this with several Swiss including a guy who rents from me. Who is going to break into a house if they know the owner has a machine gun? Point being, it's the mental health of the society that matters, not how many guns exist.

Although I haven't done any research to confirm this, I heard a very established talk show host say the other day that statistically Britain is actually a more violent society than the US is. Yes I know, more people die from gunshots in the US, but they are talking about violence in general.

OK, enough.

And there are some economists who link the decline in violent crimes with Roe vs. Wade. Their position is that when women had greater access to abortions, less children grew up in situations where their parents were unprepared to raise them which resulted in lower crime rates.

But, you've "heard" things so . . . that's good enough for me.

No need for sarcasm. I said " Although I haven't done any research to confirm this", I didn't state it as an absolute fact.

Yes the Roe VS Wade position may have resulted in the lower crime rate. There were probably many factors. One factor I know of is the end of the crack cocaine epidemic that ravaged the in the inner cities in the 80's.

[Miami Bob]

Another Bush, another Dunce!

Did you live in Florida under Jeb Bush's governorship? Why do you say he is a dunce...as compared to what current leader? Name it, Boy.

Floridian who actually experienced JEB! Very simply 'JEB' on election signs. Get used to it folks, he will be the next president and just might be able to repair all the 'dunce' acts from Oboy.

Although I admittedly have no information to back this up I have to wonder if Jeb truly wants to be president or if it's just " OK Jeb, your turn to do your thing for the family". That's what Donald Trump suggested in an interview yesterday. Unless I discover skeletons in Trumps closest that could be used to compromise him [ like Hilary] I'm thinking Trump might actually be the best choice to try to undue some of the damage done to the country by previous administrations. He's a proven business man [ not a "community organizer" - ha ] and an excellent negotiator. And he has his own money [ 9 billion net ] thus far less likely to be owned by special interests or indirect donations from other countries [ like Hilary ] . But many would not vote for Trump because they don't like his hair style but will vote for Hilary because she is a women. What a world! Cheers.

My personal opinion (which I know EVERYONE has been waiting to hear! 555) is that people the world over are tired of cookie-cutter politicians. If Trump's personality wasn't so abrasive, he'd have a chance. If he wins the election, the U.S. will become the pariah of the planet. He has great ideas, his delivery is just unacceptable on a global scale. Remind you of anyone else currently leading a nation in a manner of a bull in a china shop?

Senator Bernie Sanders is the Democrat's answer to Trump, and while the Senator has remained steadfast to his sincere and admirable positions, he doesn't really have that "presidential look." It's a damn shame, I think he would really turn things around. He gets it, he speaks truth and has a growing number of followers, he's just up against the Hilldog war machine.

My prediction: Hillary will win the office, flounder around her first term, just like Arnold did as governor of California, and Senator Elizabeth Warren will oust Hilldog from a second term. THAT woman has more balls and integrity than anyone else I know, as well as the intelligence and humility to know she could never beat Hilldog - until the U.S. gets a taste of what it's REALLY like to have Clinton version 2.0 at the helm.

Well said. Yes, I suspect that witch may win unless people wake up which is unlikely. She will play the gender card for all it's worth just like the race card. Your referring to Putin. Yes the Don can be very abrasive. He has a tough demeanor. Some may see that as what the country needs in a leader now. But yes the rest of the world might be freaked out by that. How much would the Don give in to the global banks and multi-national corps - hard to say. Tough job but at least he might try instead of being a total puppet. I just think the US needs a really good proven business person that can really negotiate

and it doesn't get any better than Trump in that respect. We shall see.

[oneday]

"...Bush, who plans to meet with black ministers in Charleston, South Carolina, on Monday, said identifying potentially violent people before they commit such crimes is a better approach than further restrictions on gun ownership..."

Bush is nothing but a delusional jerk as are all the gun happy NRA are.

[Oziex1]

Another Bush, another Dunce!

Did you live in Florida under Jeb Bush's governorship? Why do you say he is a dunce...as compared to what current leader? Name it, Boy.

Floridian who actually experienced JEB! Very simply 'JEB' on election signs. Get used to it folks, he will be the next president and just might be able to repair all the 'dunce' acts from Oboy.

If repairs require another bloody pointless middle east invasion will you go or encourage a family member to volunteer.

[Mot Dang]

The power of the National Rifle Association is so dominant that no Republican dares to ignore its business interests.

In the USA it is unthinkable to repeat what happened in Australia where strict gun control was introduced in 1996.

I quote from a 2 year old article in The Guarduan :

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/14/america-mass-murder-australia-gun-control-saves-lives

QUOTE

Every country is unique, but Australia is more similar to the US than is, say, Japan or England. We have a frontier history and a strong gun culture. Each state and territory has its own gun laws, and in 1996 these varied widely between the jurisdictions. At that time Australia's firearm mortality rate per population was 2.6/100,000 – about one-quarter the US rate (pdf), according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the US Center for Disease Control. Today the rate is under 1/100,000 – less than one-tenth the US rate (pdf). Those figures refer to all gun deaths – homicide, suicide and unintentional. If we focus on gun homicide rates, the US outstrips Australia 30-fold.

UNQUOTE

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_firearm-related_death_rate

Excellent !

[elgordo38]

Another Bush, another Dunce!

2nd amendment rights are caste in stone in the USA vs parts of the constitution that are there to protect your privacy. You have none. Personal seizure protection gone. Freedom of speech is being attacked.

[samran]

Another Bush, another Dunce!

2nd amendment rights are caste in stone in the USA vs parts of the constitution that are there to protect your privacy. You have none. Personal seizure protection gone. Freedom of speech is being attacked.

It's called an ammendment. It isn't one of the 10 commandments.

[Seastallion]

The power of the National Rifle Association is so dominant that no Republican dares to ignore its business interests.

In the USA it is unthinkable to repeat what happened in Australia where strict gun control was introduced in 1996.

I quote from a 2 year old article in The Guarduan :

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/14/america-mass-murder-australia-gun-control-saves-lives

QUOTE

Every country is unique, but Australia is more similar to the US than is, say, Japan or England. We have a frontier history and a strong gun culture. Each state and territory has its own gun laws, and in 1996 these varied widely between the jurisdictions. At that time Australia's firearm mortality rate per population was 2.6/100,000 – about one-quarter the US rate (pdf), according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the US Center for Disease Control. Today the rate is under 1/100,000 – less than one-tenth the US rate (pdf). Those figures refer to all gun deaths – homicide, suicide and unintentional. If we focus on gun homicide rates, the US outstrips Australia 30-fold.

UNQUOTE

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_firearm-related_death_rate

And for NZ, another similar frontier history, comparing deaths by firearm to the US, the figure is circa 40-fold!

I think the evidence is clear, but simply not wanted. The "you can kill our children and our church congregants, but don't take our guns" crowd just do not want to know.

[oslooskar]

We have a frontier history and a strong gun culture.

Somehow I just can’t imagine covered wagons in nineteenth century Australia being surrounded by boomerang throwing Aborigines. And to be quite frank I don't know why anyone would compare Australia to the United States because the former does not have any land borders with any other country as does the United States, nor does it have a large racially diverse population like that found in the U.S.A.

Why not compare the gun ownership and homicide rates of New Zealand and Australia? After all, they're more similar to each other than they are to the United States.

[HughJass]

I've got a good idea. Give everyone in the US a gun. Make it mandatory to own a gun and join the NRA. No problems then. They wouldn't be called massacres then - just an everyday event.

When I first saw that 38 people were killed in a shooting I didn't think Tunisia I thought USA - again.

Here are some stats that may surprise you and the gun grabbers probably won't want to believe.

If you go to the official FBI website you will find that according to their own stats from 1992 until 2012 violent crime in the USA has declined by 49%. It has continued to decline and is over 50% now. One analyst believes it is now down by 61% since 1992.

Gun ownership has increased by about 400% since Obama took office.

The US states that have the highest gun ownership per capita have the lowest crime rates.

Switzerland has the lowest crime rate in Europe accept for Monaco which isn't really a country. Every man is required to serve in the military and is then required to take his full auto military machine gun home with him. They even have sold surplus ammo to civilians to keep in practice. It's part of the national defense strategy. I have confirmed this with several Swiss including a guy who rents from me. Who is going to break into a house if they know the owner has a machine gun? Point being, it's the mental health of the society that matters, not how many guns exist.

Although I haven't done any research to confirm this, I heard a very established talk show host say the other day that statistically Britain is actually a more violent society than the US is. Yes I know, more people die from gunshots in the US, but they are talking about violence in general.

OK, enough.

looks like the govt and media brainwashing is working

[Time Traveller]

Another Bush, another Dunce!

2nd amendment rights are caste in stone in the USA vs parts of the constitution that are there to protect your privacy. You have none. Personal seizure protection gone. Freedom of speech is being attacked.

It's called an ammendment. It isn't one of the 10 commandments.

The right to protect your life - even using lethal force - is a basic human right. I know you feel that some people's lives are more worthy than others, but the American constitution and ideals of "all men created equal" say otherwise.

Edited June 29, 2015 by Time Traveller

[oslooskar]

When I first saw that 38 people were killed in a shooting I didn't think Tunisia I thought USA - again.

I usually think of Eastern Europe and the Middle East where ethic cleansing is very popular with the locals.

[Merzik]

The big elephant in the room that most candidates and the mainstream media will not talk about is that most all of these nutcase shooters are on SRI drugs [ basically anti-depressants ] that say right on the insert that they can make you violent and even more so when coming off the drugs. A ridiculous number of Americans are on those drugs. The drug companies make billions off those drugs and the mainstream media gets lot's of advertising money from them.

And then there are the documented links between several of the shooters in recent decades like the unibomber and Sirhan - Sirhan who had connections to MK Ultra which is the division of the CIA that does mind control research. But that sounds to much like conspiracy theory talk so I won't go there.

The USA has over hailf of the SSRI patients in the world and they are indeed linked to nearly all these sensational mass killings. The first was in 1967 at the University of Texas . As the number of patients on these drugs have gone up dramatically; so have the murders.

I just heard that there are already 22,000 federal and local gun laws on the books. I am not opposed to all gun control laws; but we probably have enough already. While violent crime has dropped dramatically in the last 20 years; there are still many things we can do to reduce them. Getting people off these pharmaceuticals is one of them. My own nephew was put on one years ago; and tried to committ suicide twice. They do more harm than good IMHO; but there is a lot of money changing hands because of this trade. As Napoleon said " Doctors will have more to answer for in the next life than we generals ." He really wasn't off target.

MK Ultra does indeed sound like a conspiracy theory; yet most of it came to light in an open Congressional investigation in the 1970s under Senator Frank Church. There were more than 17,000 pages of documents released; though much was redacted before release. It was actually reported in the MSM at the time; but not anymore. Unfortunately it was all too real.

Edited June 29, 2015 by Merzik

[Time Traveller]

Yes, because taking away guns is taking away freedom! But using government resources to spy on your citizenry to "identify potentially violent people" is not taking away freedom. Actually, I can quite easily identify potentially violent people. Here's my survey. 1. Do you own or possess a gun? If you answer "yes", then you're a potentially violent person. Now it's true, even if you don't own a gun you can be a potentially violent person. But you're far less likely to do anything other than end up in the local clink after some punch-up at the bar.

The location of Jeb Bush's speech - Henderson, NV - is where I live. It's not only a very gun friendly place. In fact, it's also a very friendly place with one of the lowest violent crime rates of all cities in the United States.

And I've never seen a punch-up in a bar there nor much in the way of a loud argument. So no being a violent person has nothing to do with owning firearms.

Y'all need to stop watching those hollywood movies about gangstas, and come on over and visit to see how real people live.

Edited June 29, 2015 by Time Traveller

[Time Traveller]

The power of the National Rifle Association is so dominant that no Republican dares to ignore its business interests.

In the USA it is unthinkable to repeat what happened in Australia where strict gun control was introduced in 1996.

I quote from a 2 year old article in The Guarduan :

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/14/america-mass-murder-australia-gun-control-saves-lives

QUOTE

Every country is unique, but Australia is more similar to the US than is, say, Japan or England. We have a frontier history and a strong gun culture. Each state and territory has its own gun laws, and in 1996 these varied widely between the jurisdictions. At that time Australia's firearm mortality rate per population was 2.6/100,000 – about one-quarter the US rate (pdf), according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the US Center for Disease Control. Today the rate is under 1/100,000 – less than one-tenth the US rate (pdf). Those figures refer to all gun deaths – homicide, suicide and unintentional. If we focus on gun homicide rates, the US outstrips Australia 30-fold.

UNQUOTE

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_firearm-related_death_rate

And for NZ, another similar frontier history, comparing deaths by firearm to the US, the figure is circa 40-fold!

I think the evidence is clear, but simply not wanted. The "you can kill our children and our church congregants, but don't take our guns" crowd just do not want to know.

The evidence is clear what exactly?

I'm pretty sure every non-partisan statistical analysis over the last 15 years has shown that gun control have very little effect on gun crime and gun crime is much more to do with levels of poverty unemployment and alcholism.

But what do I know, I'm only a mathematician quoting the reseach from numerous statisticians.

For the layman, the results are summarized in this book

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/More_Guns,_Less_Crime

Edited June 29, 2015 by Time Traveller

[Merzik]

I've got a good idea. Give everyone in the US a gun. Make it mandatory to own a gun and join the NRA. No problems then. They wouldn't be called massacres then - just an everyday event.

When I first saw that 38 people were killed in a shooting I didn't think Tunisia I thought USA - again.

Here are some stats that may surprise you and the gun grabbers probably won't want to believe.

If you go to the official FBI website you will find that according to their own stats from 1992 until 2012 violent crime in the USA has declined by 49%. It has continued to decline and is over 50% now. One analyst believes it is now down by 61% since 1992.

Gun ownership has increased by about 400% since Obama took office.

The US states that have the highest gun ownership per capita have the lowest crime rates.

Switzerland has the lowest crime rate in Europe accept for Monaco which isn't really a country. Every man is required to serve in the military and is then required to take his full auto military machine gun home with him. They even have sold surplus ammo to civilians to keep in practice. It's part of the national defense strategy. I have confirmed this with several Swiss including a guy who rents from me. Who is going to break into a house if they know the owner has a machine gun? Point being, it's the mental health of the society that matters, not how many guns exist.

Although I haven't done any research to confirm this, I heard a very established talk show host say the other day that statistically Britain is actually a more violent society than the US is. Yes I know, more people die from gunshots in the US, but they are talking about violence in general.

OK, enough.

Good post. A few additional points;

The violent crime rate is starting to go up in Switzerland now and immigration from Africa and the ME is responsible for this. Still Switzerland is a great example of why citizens having weapons is a good idea. In contrast; countries with highly restrictive gun control laws ( like Brazil and Mexico) have some of the highest violent crime rates in the world.

[Merzik]

I've got a good idea. Give everyone in the US a gun. Make it mandatory to own a gun and join the NRA. No problems then. They wouldn't be called massacres then - just an everyday event.

When I first saw that 38 people were killed in a shooting I didn't think Tunisia I thought USA - again.

Our Founding Fathers all agreed on having an armed population was essential for ensuring our freedom. This was not for the purpose of ordinary crime control ; but so that Americans could protect themselves from any potential tyrannical government in the future. As Jefferson stated " When government fears the people there is liberty; where the people fear the government there is tyranny."

[Merzik]

"...Bush, who plans to meet with black ministers in Charleston, South Carolina, on Monday, said identifying potentially violent people before they commit such crimes is a better approach than further restrictions on gun ownership..."

Bush is nothing but a delusional jerk as are all the gun happy NRA are.

Typical fact-free emotional rant by an hysterical liberal. Not a fan of the Bush family myself though.

[endure]

Gun crime in UK is at an all time high despite two knee-jerk reactions which only served to stifle legitimate pursuit.

Gun crime in the UK has fallen 50% in the past 10 years...

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/crime-stats/crime-statistics/year-ending-december-2014/crime-in-england-and-wales--year-ending-december-2014.html#tab-Offences-involving-firearms

[oslooskar]

I've got a good idea. Give everyone in the US a gun. Make it mandatory to own a gun and join the NRA. No problems then. They wouldn't be called massacres then - just an everyday event.

When I first saw that 38 people were killed in a shooting I didn't think Tunisia I thought USA - again.

Here are some stats that may surprise you and the gun grabbers probably won't want to believe.

If you go to the official FBI website you will find that according to their own stats from 1992 until 2012 violent crime in the USA has declined by 49%. It has continued to decline and is over 50% now. One analyst believes it is now down by 61% since 1992.

Gun ownership has increased by about 400% since Obama took office.

The US states that have the highest gun ownership per capita have the lowest crime rates.

Switzerland has the lowest crime rate in Europe accept for Monaco which isn't really a country. Every man is required to serve in the military and is then required to take his full auto military machine gun home with him. They even have sold surplus ammo to civilians to keep in practice. It's part of the national defense strategy. I have confirmed this with several Swiss including a guy who rents from me. Who is going to break into a house if they know the owner has a machine gun? Point being, it's the mental health of the society that matters, not how many guns exist.

Although I haven't done any research to confirm this, I heard a very established talk show host say the other day that statistically Britain is actually a more violent society than the US is. Yes I know, more people die from gunshots in the US, but they are talking about violence in general.

OK, enough.

looks like the govt and media brainwashing is working

How is that? If anything both the government and the media in the United States would like nothing better than to see the citizenry disarmed. And I might add that their reasons for wanting this have nothing to do with saving innocent human lives. In fact, if Uncle Sam had a genuine concern with the preservation of human life he'd be focusing his attention on the tobacco industry which kills more Americans in one year than World War II did in more than three years.

[samran]

Another Bush, another Dunce!

2nd amendment rights are caste in stone in the USA vs parts of the constitution that are there to protect your privacy. You have none. Personal seizure protection gone. Freedom of speech is being attacked.

It's called an ammendment. It isn't one of the 10 commandments.

The right to protect your life - even using lethal force - is a basic human right. I know you feel that some people's lives are more worthy than others, but the American constitution and ideals of "all men created equal" say otherwise.

Um, now you are just making sh!t up.

[Merzik]

Gun crime in UK is at an all time high despite two knee-jerk reactions which only served to stifle legitimate pursuit.

Gun crime in the UK has fallen 50% in the past 10 years...

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/crime-stats/crime-statistics/year-ending-december-2014/crime-in-england-and-wales--year-ending-december-2014.html#tab-Offences-involving-firearms

There was actually less gun control in the UK than the USA until the 1960s; yet there was very little violent crime at the time. Today the weapon of choice in the UK is the knife; and there is a high rate of violent crime with these and other objects. British citizens are unfortunately in a state of almost total dependence to their government for their protection now; and at their mercy. This is your choice of course; and I am still quite fond of your people even though you made the mistakes of disarming your population and inviting millions of people into your country who don't really fit in and are causing innumerable problems.

[oslooskar]

Gun crime in UK is at an all time high despite two knee-jerk reactions which only served to stifle legitimate pursuit.

Gun crime in the UK has fallen 50% in the past 10 years...

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/crime-stats/crime-statistics/year-ending-december-2014/crime-in-england-and-wales--year-ending-december-2014.html#tab-Offences-involving-firearms

It's been years since I read this study but as I remember it concluded that England's restrictive gun control laws had no effect on crime one way or the other.

http://www.hoplofobia.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Greenwood.pdf

[Miami Bob]

I've got a good idea. Give everyone in the US a gun. Make it mandatory to own a gun and join the NRA. No problems then. They wouldn't be called massacres then - just an everyday event.

When I first saw that 38 people were killed in a shooting I didn't think Tunisia I thought USA - again.

Here are some stats that may surprise you and the gun grabbers probably won't want to believe.

If you go to the official FBI website you will find that according to their own stats from 1992 until 2012 violent crime in the USA has declined by 49%. It has continued to decline and is over 50% now. One analyst believes it is now down by 61% since 1992.

Gun ownership has increased by about 400% since Obama took office.

The US states that have the highest gun ownership per capita have the lowest crime rates.

Switzerland has the lowest crime rate in Europe accept for Monaco which isn't really a country. Every man is required to serve in the military and is then required to take his full auto military machine gun home with him. They even have sold surplus ammo to civilians to keep in practice. It's part of the national defense strategy. I have confirmed this with several Swiss including a guy who rents from me. Who is going to break into a house if they know the owner has a machine gun? Point being, it's the mental health of the society that matters, not how many guns exist.

Although I haven't done any research to confirm this, I heard a very established talk show host say the other day that statistically Britain is actually a more violent society than the US is. Yes I know, more people die from gunshots in the US, but they are talking about violence in general.

OK, enough.

Good post. A few additional points;

The violent crime rate is starting to go up in Switzerland now and immigration from Africa and the ME is responsible for this. Still Switzerland is a great example of why citizens having weapons is a good idea. In contrast; countries with highly restrictive gun control laws ( like Brazil and Mexico) have some of the highest violent crime rates in the world.

Merzik,

Didn't know that about the immigration to Switzerland, thanks. Haven't been there for decades. If your in Phuket there is a 4th party on Saturday night at the "Stoned Crab" bar on Sai Luan. Owner also has a bar in N. Dakota. Great all you can eat American food buffet. I'll be there.

Bob

[chuckd]

2nd amendment rights are caste in stone in the USA vs parts of the constitution that are there to protect your privacy. You have none. Personal seizure protection gone. Freedom of speech is being attacked.

It's called an ammendment. It isn't one of the 10 commandments.

You are correct, it is not one of the 10 Commandments.

It is the Second of the first Ten Amendments that constitute the US Bill of Rights.

Legally speaking the Ten Commandments have no connection whatsoever to the Second Amendment nor gun laws in general.

So why the irrestible urge to even bring it up?

[Time Traveller]

The right to protect your life - even using lethal force - is a basic human right. I know you feel that some people's lives are more worthy than others, but the American constitution and ideals of "all men created equal" say otherwise.

Um, now you are just making sh!t up.

Well I did not write the constitution or more correctly the bill of rights as chuckd pointed out. But I really don't see the point in arguing about guns because it is a slam dunk argument.

If guns did not serve a legitimate purpose in the protection of human life, then please explain why Police have guns. Please explain why banks and airports and Politicians and rich folk are protected by guards carrying guns?

In every country, everyone in positions of power - even in Australia that bastion of anti gun hysteria - are protected by guns. What you are saying is the elite are allowed priveledges in terms of personal security that the average person is not entitled to.

Edited June 29, 2015 by Time Traveller