Gun Ownership and Homocides
Friday, December 6, 2002 by Aqua. | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
6 States With Most Guns and Homicides
By Cathryn Conroy, CompuServe News Editor
Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Wyoming, West Virginia, Arkansas, which are the six states with the highest rates of gun ownership, have more than 21,000 homicides combined. That is nearly three times as many as the four states with the lowest rates of gun ownership, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Jersey, according to a new study from Harvard University's School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts.
The study, which used U.S. Census data from nine regions and 50 states, implies "that guns, on balance, lethally imperil rather than protect Americans," lead author Dr. Matthew Miller told Reuters. "This inference is consistent with previous...studies that have found that the presence of a gun in the home is a risk factor for homicide, and starkly at odds with the unsubstantiated, yet often adduced, notion that guns are a public good." Reuters notes that the link between household gun ownership and homicide rate was found in all nine census regions, and at the state level it existed for all homicide victims older than age 5.
People who live in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Wyoming, West Virginia, and Arkansas are more than three times as likely to be murdered and four times as likely to die from a gun-related homicide than people who lived in the low gun-ownership states of Hawaii, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Jersey. In the six high gun-ownership states, about half of all households have firearms, compared with 13 percent of households in the low gun-ownership states. The Harvard team said they are not certain if the higher rates of household gun ownership are a cause or a result of the increased number of homicides. "It is possible, for example, that locally elevated homicide rates may have led to increased local gun acquisition," they write in the December issue of the American Journal of Public Health where the research was published.
Throwing a bone to Jafa
By Cathryn Conroy, CompuServe News Editor
Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Wyoming, West Virginia, Arkansas, which are the six states with the highest rates of gun ownership, have more than 21,000 homicides combined. That is nearly three times as many as the four states with the lowest rates of gun ownership, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Jersey, according to a new study from Harvard University's School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts.
The study, which used U.S. Census data from nine regions and 50 states, implies "that guns, on balance, lethally imperil rather than protect Americans," lead author Dr. Matthew Miller told Reuters. "This inference is consistent with previous...studies that have found that the presence of a gun in the home is a risk factor for homicide, and starkly at odds with the unsubstantiated, yet often adduced, notion that guns are a public good." Reuters notes that the link between household gun ownership and homicide rate was found in all nine census regions, and at the state level it existed for all homicide victims older than age 5.
People who live in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Wyoming, West Virginia, and Arkansas are more than three times as likely to be murdered and four times as likely to die from a gun-related homicide than people who lived in the low gun-ownership states of Hawaii, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Jersey. In the six high gun-ownership states, about half of all households have firearms, compared with 13 percent of households in the low gun-ownership states. The Harvard team said they are not certain if the higher rates of household gun ownership are a cause or a result of the increased number of homicides. "It is possible, for example, that locally elevated homicide rates may have led to increased local gun acquisition," they write in the December issue of the American Journal of Public Health where the research was published.
Throwing a bone to Jafa
 |
|
Page 1 of 2 | |
|
|---|
bakerstreet
Reply #3 Friday, December 6, 2002 11:57 AM
Reply #3 Friday, December 6, 2002 11:57 AM
No offense, but the numbers are stupid anyway. The last *total* I saw for homicides in the US ( 2000 ) was: 16,137. That's guns, knives, vehicular homicide, etc.
Saying that there are 21,000 gun homicides for 6 states is kind of stupid, no? Maybe in a ten year sample. here's a good link: ( http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0005110.html ), and another: ( http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/deaths.htm )
People spend a lot of time twisting numbers to their benefit, and none of it changes anyone's mind. I respect Jafo's beliefs, and I personally don't want to argue with him any more about it. It makes sense when the topic is 'at-hand', i.e. forced upon us by some shared tragedy, but picking fights is needless.
Saying that there are 21,000 gun homicides for 6 states is kind of stupid, no? Maybe in a ten year sample. here's a good link: ( http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0005110.html ), and another: ( http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/deaths.htm )
People spend a lot of time twisting numbers to their benefit, and none of it changes anyone's mind. I respect Jafo's beliefs, and I personally don't want to argue with him any more about it. It makes sense when the topic is 'at-hand', i.e. forced upon us by some shared tragedy, but picking fights is needless.
paxx
Reply #4 Friday, December 6, 2002 12:10 PM
Reply #4 Friday, December 6, 2002 12:10 PM
Yes, lets no go there anymore.
Besides, as the Harvard people pointed out, people could be buying a gun BECAUSE there are a lot of homicides, not the other way around. Or it could be a combination of both.
As everybody knows, I am against gun ownership, but I can be fair when need be: this study doesn't prove anything.
Besides, as the Harvard people pointed out, people could be buying a gun BECAUSE there are a lot of homicides, not the other way around. Or it could be a combination of both.
As everybody knows, I am against gun ownership, but I can be fair when need be: this study doesn't prove anything.
Aqua.
Reply #5 Friday, December 6, 2002 12:19 PM
Reply #5 Friday, December 6, 2002 12:19 PM
Note, from another article on the study I found they included suicides in their gun deaths count.
I have a hard time believing this low grade stuff came out of Harvard.
I have a hard time believing this low grade stuff came out of Harvard.
Aqua.
Reply #6 Friday, December 6, 2002 12:29 PM
Reply #6 Friday, December 6, 2002 12:29 PM
A fairly good thread in response to this article. http://slate.msn.com/default.aspx?id=3936&m=5135793 Note: Passport required to participate in this thread.
Bangkokboy
Reply #7 Friday, December 6, 2002 5:14 PM
Reply #7 Friday, December 6, 2002 5:14 PM
the misspelling of "homicide" in the thread title is going to give some the wrong impression. 
Jafo
Reply #8 Friday, December 6, 2002 5:22 PM
Reply #8 Friday, December 6, 2002 5:22 PM
Jobeleca...
The word is 'homicide'...and my 'name' is JAFO.....and I removed the gratuitous translation of 'jafa'.
I'm not getting into another argument about a few hundred years of misguided social conditioning....[parting jibe]...
Try at least to get my Nick correct...
The word is 'homicide'...and my 'name' is JAFO.....and I removed the gratuitous translation of 'jafa'.
I'm not getting into another argument about a few hundred years of misguided social conditioning....[parting jibe]...
Try at least to get my Nick correct...
bakerstreet
Reply #9 Friday, December 6, 2002 5:25 PM
Reply #9 Friday, December 6, 2002 5:25 PM
listen to moonbeam... er... sunflower... er... Jafo.
snarph
Reply #10 Friday, December 6, 2002 6:31 PM
Reply #10 Friday, December 6, 2002 6:31 PM
watch out for increase in sales of kitchen utensils 
WOM
Reply #11 Friday, December 6, 2002 6:34 PM
Reply #11 Friday, December 6, 2002 6:34 PM
I guess we're safe in Texas, where we have a concealed hand gun permit. I would hate to guess how many of us are carrying at any one time. Except for work I carry all the time.
Aqua.
Reply #12 Friday, December 6, 2002 6:35 PM
at least it was a better translation that what Jafa meant a few weeks ago
Yup, I caught the spelling error right after I clicked submit
Somehow I knew you'd catch (and mention) it.
ttyl Jaf - um - o
Reply #12 Friday, December 6, 2002 6:35 PM
at least it was a better translation that what Jafa meant a few weeks ago Yup, I caught the spelling error right after I clicked submit
Somehow I knew you'd catch (and mention) it. ttyl Jaf - um - o
craeonics
Reply #14 Saturday, December 7, 2002 7:44 AM
Reply #14 Saturday, December 7, 2002 7:44 AM
random thoughts:
1. duh.
2. whatever happened to common sense
3. and might I add: duh.
1. duh.
2. whatever happened to common sense
3. and might I add: duh.
Fuzzy Logic
Reply #15 Saturday, December 7, 2002 8:00 AM
Reply #15 Saturday, December 7, 2002 8:00 AM
My Company makes kitchen knives. Anyone feel the need to make a purchase let me know 
JamMeister33
Reply #16 Saturday, December 7, 2002 9:22 AM
Reply #16 Saturday, December 7, 2002 9:22 AM
Hi there, Jobe!
I own a hand gun, I know how to use it, I don't carry it anywhere, but I "pity the fool" who tries to
break into my home if I'm inside it at the time....
I own a hand gun, I know how to use it, I don't carry it anywhere, but I "pity the fool" who tries to
break into my home if I'm inside it at the time....
paxx
Reply #17 Saturday, December 7, 2002 11:36 AM
Reply #17 Saturday, December 7, 2002 11:36 AM
unless he has a gun himself, in which case it'll be a nice showdown. May the quickest gun in the West win.
JamMeister33
Reply #18 Saturday, December 7, 2002 12:57 PM
Reply #18 Saturday, December 7, 2002 12:57 PM
If he got a gun, me jumping out the window to run!.....
wombat_1
Reply #19 Saturday, December 7, 2002 1:00 PM
Reply #19 Saturday, December 7, 2002 1:00 PM
There are very few on this board who have had to use a weapon to kill another human.
Those who have not should consider themselves very fortunate. >
Those who have not should consider themselves very fortunate. >
bakerstreet
Reply #20 Saturday, December 7, 2002 2:12 PM
Reply #20 Saturday, December 7, 2002 2:12 PM
I would add that anyone who has a handgun properly prepared to defend themselves in the US is probably in violation of law, or at least putting themselves in danger of liability. In many places guns are required to be in a locked container, with ammunition stored in a separate container. I would suggest strongly to anyone sleeping with a loaded gun in the dresser drawer to check their local gun laws. If you 'make it available' to someone who is gonna use it, even if they take it without your permission, you are probably gonna be liable, possibly criminally.
The kid who went on trial for killing a teacher recently stole the gun from a cookie jar in another house. The people he stole it from now owe the teacher's family 13 million dollars. Who knows what will happen on appeal, but if they get off completely fine-free, they still have to think about the dead teacher. Guns are about responsibility, before *and* after they are used. If you aren't responsible before, then you'll most certainly be held responsible after.
The kid who went on trial for killing a teacher recently stole the gun from a cookie jar in another house. The people he stole it from now owe the teacher's family 13 million dollars. Who knows what will happen on appeal, but if they get off completely fine-free, they still have to think about the dead teacher. Guns are about responsibility, before *and* after they are used. If you aren't responsible before, then you'll most certainly be held responsible after.
Please login to comment and/or vote for this skin.
Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:
- Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums and downloading skins.
- Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
- Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
- It's simple, and FREE!
|
|
Page 1 of 2 | |
|
|---|
Reply #1 Friday, December 6, 2002 11:37 AM