Category Archives: guns

more guns, less victims

“Americans overall are far less likely to be killed with a firearm than they were when it was much more difficult to obtain a concealed-weapons permit, according to statistics collected by the federal Centers for Disease Control...  In the 1980s and ’90s, as the concealed-carry movement gained steam, Americans were killed by others with guns at the rate of about 5.66 per 100,000 population.  In this decade, the rate has fallen to just over 4.07 per 100,000, a 28 percent drop.  The decline follows a fivefold increase in the number of “shall-issue” and unrestricted concealed-carry states from 1986 to 2006.”  Mike Stuckey, MSNBC.

Concealed Carry and Firearm Homicide Rates
Source: MSNBC.  H/T AoSHQ and NewsBusters.
Hoven’s Index for March 31, 2010
Number of age-adjusted firearm homicides per 100,000 persons in 2006:
DC (“no issue”):  17.67
Maryland (“may issue” state):  7.55
California (“may issue” state):  4.98
Illinois (“no issue” state):  4.78
US Total:  4.27

more guns, less crime

The Brady Campaign for Gun Control provides a scorecard on how states are doing in regard to gun control legislation. If you don’t have enough gun control laws you get a low score from the Brady bunch. For example, West Virginia receives a score of 4 out of a possible 100. Utah actually scores zero.

Right now, there is a post by a blogger named Don Surber circulating widely around the internet. Don has cleverly compared the homicide rates in some of the states getting low Brady scores with states getting high Brady scores. Consider the following comparison:

*Utah, the state with a zero rating, has only 1.5 homicides per 100,000 citizens. Less than half of those homicides are firearm related.

*California scores the highest according to the Brady report with a whopping 79. But they have 5.83 murders per 100,000, which is a rate nearly four times higher than Utah. Over 2/3 of the homicides in California are firearms related.

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