Quote Originally Posted by MMI View Post
If we can't prevent gun crime, then perhaps gun control will reduce suicides and accidental deaths.
Except you aren't advocating gun controls. You're looking for gun bans! A different subject altogether.

"Homicide rates tend to be related to firearm ownership levels. Everything else being equal, a reduction in the percentage of households owning firearms should occasion a drop in the homicide rate".
The key word in that quote is should. I wonder if that's true? From what you've been saying about the crime rates in England rising I tend to think that it's not.

I also came across the following random snippets:
Gun crime in London has doubled recently.
Despite a total ban on civilian gun ownership. Gee, why am I not surprised?
Most shootings involve young people and are for petty reasons (and are termed "respect" shootings).
This isn't surprising either, given the modern "macho" culture perpetuated on the TV and movies.
Most gun crime takes place in poorer districts and is committed by less well-off people who have become disconnected from society
Pretty common wherever you go. Those who don't have much tend to want more. And some will take it however they can.
Most gun victims have convictions or are known to the police
This one surprised me at first, but after thinking about it, here in the US I think most gun crimes are gang and/or drug related, so it does make some sense.
Where a violent crime takes place and one or other of the people involved - victim or attacker - has a gun, death is likely to result.
Not surprising. Guns are intended to kill, not to wound.
Someone shot in the heart has a 20% chance of survival: someone knifed in the heart has a 70% chance of survival
If you give the knife a good twist before yanking it out, it should cut down those odds considerably.