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Gun banners: rhetoric replaces reality
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(Photo courtesy of Oleg Volk)
In the previous article, a reader attempted to invalidate my conclusions:
Wow, you can draw a line! How clever. What are the r-values and p-values, though? If you can't show significance, it doesn't count.
In his rush to derogate without performing his own analysis of the data, two points were neatly avoided:
· The comment distracts from the fact that, “significant” or not, there is a negative correlation between Brady grades and violent crime, personal freedom, etc. In simpler words, the higher Brady regards a state, the more dangerous it is to live in for law-abiding citizens, and they suffer more at the hands of the criminals and also their own government.
· None of the charts show a positive correlation. In other words, there is no data to support the idea that Brady may at least be partially correct.
I left a response that I would provide Excel data and formulae, but no response yet. While this is not surprising–my book includes a positive comment from Peter Hamm, Communications Director of the Brady Campaign, praising me as a “very good writer” while challenging none of my datasets or conclusions–we will re-examine the data in the near future to ensure that those final nails are firmly secured in the Brady Campaign’s coffin.
Meanwhile, there is this curious aspect shared by gun banners: their “guilty until proven innocent” philosophy which spills over into their “sensible” gun laws. As a result, you get “leaders” like Governor Fenty of Washington, D.C., with their personal, armed police escorts, promoting gun bans on rhetoric alone:
And making it tougher on people to get a handgun makes it tougher for them to kill somebody. We are trying to make it as tough as possible for bad guys to get handguns.
He makes this claim despite the numbers which define a different reality: In the last five years of FBI crime data, the District of Columbia averaged a murder rate over 6 times higher than that of the entire country.
U.S. Versus D.C. Murder Rates | |||
Year | U.S. | D.C. | Ratio |
2003 | 5.7 | 44.7 | 7.8 |
2004 | 5.5 | 35.7 | 6.5 |
2005 | 5.6 | 35.4 | 6.3 |
2006 | 5.7 | 29.1 | 5.1 |
2007 | 5.6 | 30.8 | 5.5 |
Average | 5.6 | 35.1 | 6.2 |
Not only that, but the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that for the last 4 years of reporting data (2003-2006) D.C. averaged a non-firearms homicide rate higher than the total homicide rate for entire country.
U.S. Total Versus D.C. Non-firearms Murder Rates | ||
Year | U.S. Total Homicide Rate | D.C. Non-firearms Homicide Rate |
2003 | 6.1 | 6.6 |
2004 | 5.9 | 6.4 |
2005 | 6.1 | 6.4 |
2006 | 6.2 | 5.1 |
Average | 6.0 | 6.1 |
And just in case you are a numbers nut like me, the firearms homicide rates reported by the CDC reflect the overall homicide ratios reported by the FBI, where Fenty’s “legal-gun-free” and Brady’s “safest gun laws in the country” District of Columbia averages a firearms homicide rate nearly 6 times that of the entire country.
U.S. Versus D.C. Firearms Murder Rates | |||
Year | U.S. | D.C. | Ratio |
2003 | 4.1 | 27.0 | 6.6 |
2004 | 4.0 | 23.6 | 6.0 |
2005 | 4.2 | 24.4 | 5.9 |
2006 | 4.3 | 20.5 | 4.8 |
Average | 4.1 | 23.9 | 5.8 |
Considering these numbers, any claims by Fenty about wanting to protect D.C. residents via gun control is incredible.
Keep in mind that, when derogation and name-calling is the only recourse available, anti-self-defense proponents have just publicly admitted defeat. As Cam Edwards, host of NRA News, noted recently, what makes them act this way is the fact that the “gun lobby” is us, the American People. This reality terrifies them, and we may be on the edge of a sea-change in American history, so take heart and work harder than ever for Liberty.
*************************************
For in-depth analysis of the issues surrounding gun control, read Four Hundred Years of Gun Control: Why Isn’t It Working?, which deconstructs the gun control agenda and motivates more people to support our civil right of self-defense.
Check out other Gun Rights Examiners:
- Atlanta: Armed customer stops robbery
- Austin: Brady Campaign: More government, more crime
- Boston: The hunter, Massachusetts’ first and best conservationist (Part I)
- Charlotte: Dangers of gun registration: 'The Belgian Corporal'
- Cleveland: Gun grabbers don't let facts get in the way of gun registration scheme
- DC: Under Obamacare, where will Canadians go for medical services?
- Denver: What happens to you when you buy a gun?
- Los Angeles: SoCal Churches go concealed carry.
- Minneapolis: Dirty Deeds in Virginia
- National: 'Terrorist watch list' gun ban favors hysteria over rights
- Seattle: Lautenberg’s legislation cloak’s anti-gun senator’s true intention
- St. Louis: Restrictive gun laws violate civil rights
- Wisconsin: Gun rights advocates make progress
More About:
civil rights ·
self-defense ·
Constitutional rights ·
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence ·
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