Quote from TheBlackHand:
1. The more guns that are in circulation, the more gun crime you will have. Anyone with a brain can figure that one out....
Myth: The availability of guns causes crime
Fact: Though the number of firearms owned by private citizens has been increasing steadily since 1970, the overall rate of homicides and suicides has not risen.
There is no correlation between the availability of firearms and the rates of homicide and suicide in America.
Fact: Internationally speaking âThereâs no clear relationship between more
guns and higher levels of violence.â
Fact: â... a detailed study of the major surveys completed in the past 20 years or more provides no evidence of any relationship between the total number of legally held firearms in society and the rate of armed crime. Nor is there a relationship between the severity of controls imposed in various countries
or the mass of bureaucracy involved with many control systems with the apparent ease of access to firearms by criminals and terrorists.â
Fact: Handgun ownership among groups normally associated with higher violent crime (young males, blacks, low income, inner city, etc.) is at or below national averages.
Fact: The most significant correlation between the use of guns in the commission of crimes occur when parents (27.5% of inmates) abuse drugs or have friends engaged in illegal activities (32.5% with robberies and 24.3% for drug trafficking)
Fact: Five out of six gun-possessing felons obtained handguns from the secondary market and by theft, and â[the] criminal handgun market is overwhelmingly dominated by informal transactions and theft as mechanisms of supply.â
Fact: The majority of handguns in the possession of criminals are stolen, and not necessarily by the criminals in question.
In fact, over 100,000 firearms are stolen in burglaries every year,
and most of them likely enter the criminal market (i.e., sold or traded to criminals).
Fact: In 1968, the U.K. passed laws that reduced the number of licensed firearm owners, and thus reduced firearm availability. U.K. homicide rates have steadily risen since then.
Ironically, firearm use in crimes has doubled in the decade after the U.K. banned handguns
[here is where are bleeding heart liberals are to blame]
Fact: Most violent crime is caused by a small minority of repeat offenders. One California study found that 3.8% of a group of males born in 1956 were responsible for 55.5% of all serious felonies. 75-80% of murder arrestees have
prior arrests for a violent (including non-fatal) felony or burglary. On average they have about four felony arrests and one felony conviction.
Fact: Half of all murders are committed by people on âconditional releaseâ (i.e., parole or probation). 81% of all homicide defendants had an arrest record; 67% had a felony arrest record; 70% had a conviction record; and 54% had a felony conviction.