Gun control really works — here's the science to prove it

[Wingnut]

There are close to as many guns in the US as there are people. There may be more, or there may be fewer, depending on which study you look at — there's no exact count, since there isn't a national database of gun purchases or firearm owners, and federal law does not require a prospective gun owner to get a license or permit.

That's one of the many obstacles researchers come up against when trying to evaluate why so many people die from guns in the US.

But what they do know is that the number of gun deaths in the US is incredibly high. According to the American Public Health Association, guns kill more than 38,000 people per year and cause approximately 85,000 non-fatal injuries.

As the country tries to figure out what — if anything — can be done in the wake of mass shootings, suicides, and murders, it's worth taking a look at the evidence we have on the effects of gun regulations.

Despite some congressional limitations on gun research, scientists have sought to evaluate the effects of gun-control legislation in the US and in other places around the world.

Here's what the data shows.

https://www.businessinsider.com/science-of-gun-control-what-works-2018-2

[Elderberry]

Putting Gun Death Statistics in Perspective

Gangs Remain Key Unaddressed Problem in Gun Debate

http://jpfo.org/articles-assd03/gun-stats-perspective.htm

There are roughly 32,000 gun deaths per year in the United States. Of those, around 60% are suicides. About 3% are accidental deaths (less than 1,000). About 34% of deaths (just over 11,000 in both 2010 and 2011) make up the remainder of gun deaths. Sometimes the 32,000 and 11,000 figures are used interchangeably by gun control advocates. Clearly, the 32,000 figure is a far more dramatic number and is often used for impact. These numbers are also regularly compared to other countries' gun statistics. But are they true? Here, we will examine some of the most common gun control arguments used and put those figures into perspective.

Gang Violence Driving Force of Gun Violence

To hear gun control advocates speak, one would be led to believe that gun violence is a widespread problem whereby the mere existence of a gun is as much a problem as the person who intends to wield it. But the reality is that gun homicides are overwhelmingly tied to gang violence. In fact, a staggering 80% of gun homicides are gang-related. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), gang homicides accounted for roughly 8,900 of 11,100 gun murders in both 2010 and 2011. That means that there were just 2,200 non gang-related firearm murders in both years in a country of over 300 million people and 250 million guns.

Cities such as Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Cleveland, and New Orleans all have very high per-capita murder rates. Individual police estimates usually find at least 65% and often more than 80% of all murders in those cities are gang-related. Solve the problem of gang violence, and a huge chunk of the gun homicide and violence problem is solved. And what national gun control measures would slow the gang violence problem, when local gun control laws have failed in cities like Chicago? If politicians were really worried about gun deaths, wouldn't they be specifically targeting where a majority of the problems exist?

2,200 Gun Homicides Per Year Beyond Gangs

The 2,200 figure is perhaps the most relevant of all gun statistics in the gun control debate given that the gun control laws are specifically targeted to this segment. If the government were interested in stopping gangs - and as a result also stopping the major contributor of gun violence - the gun laws would be more targeted. Yet most gun control legislation would do little-to-nothing to slow the growing gang problem. Most of the gun laws are aimed at a segment of the population that is mostly law-abiding and outside of the gang culture and would likely do little to stop any of the violence.

[Smokin Joe]

There are close to as many guns in the US as there are people. There may be more, or there may be fewer, depending on which study you look at — there's no exact count, since there isn't a national database of gun purchases or firearm owners, and federal law does not require a prospective gun owner to get a license or permit.

That's one of the many obstacles researchers come up against when trying to evaluate why so many people die from guns in the US.

Because it is easier and more effective than beating yourself to death with a stick--or someone else, for that matter.  People really are into convenience.

But what they do know is that the number of gun deaths in the US is incredibly high.

Why are all these guns dying?

According to the American Public Health Association, guns kill more than 38,000 people per year and cause approximately 85,000 non-fatal injuries.

I think I see part of the problem. Guns don't kill any more than a parked car does. It's the person who fires the gun or the person who left little sallyann in the kid seat while they went in to check the liquor store for specials on cheap thrills while the temperature in the parking lot hit 100F..

As the country tries to figure out what — if anything — can be done in the wake of mass shootings, suicides, and murders, it's worth taking a look at the evidence we have on the effects of gun regulations.

Despite some congressional limitations on gun research, scientists have sought to evaluate the effects of gun-control legislation in the US and in other places around the world.

Here's what the data shows.

https://www.businessinsider.com/science-of-gun-control-what-works-2018-2

I didn't go see their data, because I'd bet my guns behave much like the vast majority of guns: they stay where I put them until I (or someone else) moves them. They don't spontaneously ":go off" and start spewing bullets, they don't go out in the street or in the car and shoot up the neighborhood, heck, I can;t even get them to just go bag a deer for me without holding them, pointing them, and squeezing the trigger (after I have loaded them, of course).

The guns are not the problem. A vulcan cannon, a 155 howitzer, or a 16 inch naval gun would have killed no more people than my .22 in my hands, simply because I have not needed to shoot anyone.

So, the problem isn't the guns; they're well behaved. It is some of the people running around out there who are not. But unless and until the problem of people who don't behave is addressed in a meaningful way, it will persist.
Keep playing catch and release with killers and they will keep killing.

I would also just about bet my meager paycheck that suicides and police shootings were included in the total number of 'victims' as well.