Americans widespread ownership of firearms is associated with higher rates of gun homicides

Miscellaneous
#1

A friend who is anti-gun shared the attached article. I wanted to get some thoughts and perhaps counter statistics. Thanks.

Americans also own a disproportionate share of the world’s firearms: The U.S. has just 4% of the world’s population but owns about 40% of civilian-owned guns globally, according to a 2018 report from the Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey. The SAS estimates that American civilians own 393 million guns, ranking the U.S. number one in firearms per capita. And there are costs associated with these high levels of gun ownership: Researchers at Harvard have found that across developed nations, this widespread ownership of firearms is associated with higher rates of gun homicides.

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#2

Just look up the FBI stats for firearms. Anything coming out of harvard is flawed and suspect in my opinion.
@Jymm Welcome to the community, we are glad to have you here. Stay safe, Bruce and Nancy.

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#3

Sorry, not interesting at all.

I love studies like that one since they are geared towards giving fodder to those devoid of logic and those with no understanding of statistics.

Let’s listen to that again, If you live in a country with high firearm ownership you are more likely to experience a firearm related deaths.

Hummmmm

Let’s try that with other things…

People who have pools in their houses are more likely to drown in them than people who don’t…

Groups that have a high ownership of cars are more likely to die in car accidents than the Amish…

There’s lies, damn lies and statistics.

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#4

Thank you Bruce and Nancy. I’ll be sure to check the FBI stats.

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#5

When you outlaw guns folks find other creative ways of killing others. You have to look at overall murders per capita as the only number that matters. By that measure we are nowhere near the top. You know who’s higher than us? Canada! A country known worldwide for their restrictive gun laws. Interesting list to look at in here.

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#6

Thank you Enzo. I’ll be sure to scrub this data.

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#7

Correlation is different from causality. Higher rates of violent crime, gun homicides, causes people to arm themselves against criminals.

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#8

People that live in apartments are more likely to die in apartment fires.

People that fly in planes are more likely to die in plane crashes.

People that play football are more likely to sustain football injuries.

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#9

And yet, California, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York, with the most restrictive firearm laws have higher rates of violent crime and murder compared to New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine, that have the lowest rates in the USA. Even Maryland, just North of Virginia, has much higher rates than Virginia, and Virginia still has liberal firearm laws. The data does not prove a relationship as there are also states with more liberal laws than the former mentioned, but have higher rates of violent crime and murder. One other stat reported by the CDC, 2017 data here (.pdf), is the rates of accidental deaths; firearm-related accidental deaths are the least likely cause reported. And that rate has been declining since it has been reported - more than several decades. That is not only the rate, but the total number, even considering how many more people there are in the USA and how many more firearms are owned by private citizens.

The data is readily available, but those that seek to destroy our rights are not going to provide you, nor anyone else, with the data that proves their claims are false. They intentionally mislead and lie, they have no other choice as the facts prove otherwise.

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#10

Welcome to the community @Jymm!!!

Agree with others who cite that the Harvard research is flawed in how they’re pulling their data (e.g. including suicides) and concur with other who suggest looking at BOJ/FBI stats particularly as it relates to actual violent crimes.

Also I would propose…our percentage of vehicle ownership compared to the rest of the world…is exceptionally high (perhaps only exceeded by China) and as a result we have more vehicle homicides…see how that works?

I would also propose you take guns out of it all together and see how we rank as far a homicides overall…

That will really show you how a gun is just a tool…in countries that have fewer homicides, their homicide rate is not necessarily lower (they just kill each other with other tools).

Good luck in you research.

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#11

Alternative data here…

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#12

First off I don’t believe anything that comes out of these places that talk about statistics, just like I don’t believe in the media, look at how they report about the virus and the numbers, this is how people get into the panic mode, look at whats happening in this country today, the riots, looting, burning businesses, and killing people, this is why gun sales have soared, because people are tired of the chaos and they want to protect their business , homes , property and most of all their family and loved ones, this is why I own and carry a firearm, I might be wrong but this is how it is.

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#13

Is this written by the same people who blame the DC and Chicago crime on their neighbors (who own guns but dont commit crimes at anywhere near the same rate)?

Almost makes sense… kinda like ‘I have problems because you…’

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#14

393 million guns? So, what?
No. 1, it’s not a bad thing.
Proper response is, “yay!”

America is a totalitarian’s nightmare.

Let’s keep our republic that way.

If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on earth.
-Ronald Reagan

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#15

Amen. Remember Alvarez at the RNC? “I choose America. I choose freedom. There is no other place to go!”

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#16

@Jymm I know these are just conversation starters and for those that have been shooters and hunters for most of our lives these studies are full of what Cows leave on the ground. The minute a anti gun person says something like more gun ownership makes for the higher homicide rate you simply look at a raw chart and disprove such a contention at first blush. Looking at the following chart it would be just as easy to say, non English speaking countries have a higher rate of homicides . Simply step over the southern border to Mexico and south and by the time you get to Brazil or Honduras the statement about more guns sinks like the Hood after getting hit by the Bismark. Don’t even take a look at African nations or Russia. When you hear the statement toss the fertilizer flag and let them go about their business trying to prove UFOs are real. Just drag your mouse over the example in this link. https://ourworldindata.org/homicides

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#17

Excellent. Great source and information.

More Guns Less Crime.

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#18

He gave an excellent speech…

And Reagan was correct.

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#19

The “It’s not my fault, it is somebody else’s fault” crowd.

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#20

Indeed.
Reagan was correct.

Reagan also stated ‘Freedom is only one generation from extinction’… and he was correct on that also.

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