Text 892, 140 rader
Skriven 2007-05-03 22:02:00 av LEE LOFASO
     Kommentar till en text av JEFF SMITH
Ärende: Shootings
=================
Hello Jeff,

>NK>And whatever anyone says here, I will never subscribe to banning
>NK>guns period.

>LL>Banning handguns would be appropriate.

>RW>Banning handguns would not be appropriate and it probably never
>RW>will come to be.

[..]

>LL>Then perhaps you would be able to explain why the murder rate in the
>LL>USA is eight to ten times higher than in Japan.

JS>There are several factors involved. Just a few of which are that the
JS>US is made up of more nationalities than almost any other country.

The nationality of a people, and the number of nationalities within a
country has nothing to do with it.

JS>The US has almost three times the population and is over 20 times the
JS>size of Japan.

Perhaps I should have mentioned the murder rate is per capita.  IOW,
per 100,000 people.  And that makes your argument bogus.

JS>Why are these factors you ask?

They aren't.

JS>Because if you stick 120 million Japanese people in an area that
JS>small.

The murder rate in Japan is 0.03 percent.  The murder rate in the USA
is 3.42 percent.  Do the math.  I'll give you a hint.  The total number
of murders in Japan since the end of WWII is 53 people.  Well, 54 if
you include the murder of a Japanese mayor last week.

JS>They will either kill each other off or learn to live together.

The Japanese have learned their lesson quite well.  Americans still
have much to learn, as noted by an Australian newspaper which in regards
to the massacre at VT, had as its headline -

"America, the gun club"

JS>Even so the Japanese crime rate has steadily increased up to 2005
JS>before they saw a small drop in the crime rate.

Pickpockets and murder are two very different kinds of crime.

JS>While in the the US the statisics paint quite a differant picture
JS>than the one that you are trying to suggest.

If only America had 53 murders since the end of WWII...

JS>Nonfatal firearm crime rates have been declining since 1994, before
JS>increasing in 2005.

Nonfatal firearm crime is not murder.
The 13 murders at Columbine High School was a firearm crime.
The 32 murders at Virginia Tech was a firearm crime.
How many more Columbines and Virgina Techs does it take to convince
Americans to give up membership in their exclusive gun club?

JS>After 1996, less than 10% of nonfatal violent crimes involved guns.
JS>After 1993, the number of gun crimes reported to police declined and
JS>then stabilized at levels not seen si 1988. Since the conceal carry
JS>law was passed which allowed people to legally carry a handgun in my
JS>state. The ability to carry a gun has not resulted in even a
JS>noticable increase in gun related crime.

Lets not forget mass murderer Timothy McVeigh, who chose to use a
homemade bomb to blow up a federal building in Oklahoma City, leaving
dozens of innocent men, women and children DEAD.

JS>The facts Lee don't support what you would like people to believe. I
JS>would suggest that you do a little research first.

The facts speak for themselves, showing America as an armed camp with
thousands of innocent people getting hurt and/or killed for no reason
every year.

>JS>If I were a dealer of illegal drugs how much do you think I would
>JS>care about having an illegal gun? Making guns illegal to have would
>JS>NOT make guns any harder to get if wanted. If anything it would
>JS>only mean that there would be more illegal guns available to the
>JS>bad guys.

>LL>While it is true that most criminals shoot other criminals, it is also
>LL>true that banning such weapons would also lower the number of
>LL>criminals getting shot, for the simple reason that fewer criminals
>LL>would have guns.

JS>How so? If hanguns are banned. Then the criminals will have even more
JS>guns to rob and kill with. I seriously doubt that they would limit their
JS>killing to mainly just other criminals. Not when there are alot easier
JS>and unarmed people out there. Hmm... should I use my gun to rob that guy
JS>with a gun or that other guy without a gun. Pretty much a no brainer for
JS>th criminal I would think. But as I stated above people being able to carry
JS>guns has not been the source of more crime and killing.

Golly gee.  Handguns are banned in Japan.  And there are very few cases
of murder as a result.  Handguns are banned in the UK.  And there are
very few cases of murder as a result.  Handguns are banned in virtually
every civilized country in the world.  And there are very few cases of
murder as a result.  Why is it then that the murder rate in America is
so high in comparison with the rest of the civilized world?  Could the
reason be that handguns are so easily accessible here, for virtually
anyone who wants one to get one?  Or is it that America simply has not
yet joined the civilized world?

>LL>Even the yakuza in Japan learned that basic lesson.

>LL>Although admittedly drug dealers rarely if ever off themselves.
>LL>Except suicide by cop.  They kinda like that.

>LL>By banning handguns, there would also be fewer cases of suicide by
>LL>cop. IOW, criminals without handguns are not likely to challenge cops
>LL>to shoot them, being that cops are not likely to shoot an unarmed
>LL>criminal.

JS>Then ya better not piss off the cops around here. <g>

That would be a problem in Stalinist Russia.
That would be a problem in Maoist China.
That would be a problem in Hussein's Iraq.
That would be a problem in any anti-democratic country.

But this is America, home of the gun club.
Where law-abiding citizens do not need cops to shoot them,
being that law-abiding citizens do it themselves.

--Lee


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