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To me, this is an extremely important statement. We're living in a free society, and while the VA Tech tragedy was a terrible event, I think that these kinds of things are bound to happen in ANY society with the kind of freedom, diversity, and population that we do.
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I just feel that modifying our right to bear arms, infringing on our personal privacy, and infringing on our right to protect ourselves are far worse than the alternative... which in this case is one random wackjob who didn't get hugged enough as a child.





It's interesting that we agree on the peripheral issues while having diametrically opposite viewpoints on the central one.

I agree that from time to time nutcases will grab a gun (or a bomb cf Tim McVeigh) and kill many many people. I also agree that this will happen regardless of the whether or not there are more or less gun laws (although enforcing the ones you got would help some).

By way of illustration, I live in Canada where virtually nobody can own a pistol, let alone carry one (rifles, shotguns and target guns are exceptions, but heavily restricted). There is no such thing as a concealed carry permit for anyone not in law enforcement.

Does that mean we are immune to random acts of craziness? Hell no. They happen surprisingly often:
Montreal, PQ - December 6, 1989
Taber, Alberta - Aprl 29, 1999
Montreal, PQ - September 13, 2006

My point is that restricting the use and ownership of firearms stops small problems from escalating into deadly ones. I just don't believe the point made earlier, that bar fights do not escalate because everyone knows the other guy has a gun. The theory of mutually assured destruction only works if people are behaving rationally.

There is no question that a drunk 20 year old who feels humiliated will pull out his gun and do something avoidable and regrettable.

In 2002 Canada experienced 867 firearms related deaths (including suicides) or 2.6 deaths per 100,000 population, down from 5.9 per 100,000 in 1979. The US experience is about eight times as high. Is it because you like killing each other more than we do? Of course not - It occurs because there are too many guns floating around and drunk idiots use them to settle disputes.

The Harvard Injury Control Research Center collects statistics and scholarly articles on gun violence. The bottom line is that states with higher levels of gun ownership have higher levels of gun violence - full stop.

More guns = more gun deaths.

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1. Guns and homicide (literature review).
We performed a review of the academic literature on the effects of gun availability on homicide rates.
Major Findings: A broad array of evidence indicates that gun availability is a risk factor for homicide, both in the United States and across high-income countries. Case-control studies, ecological time-series and cross-sectional studies indicate that in homes, cities, states and regions in the US, where there are more guns, both men and women are at higher risk for homicide, particularly firearm homicide.
Publication: Hepburn, Lisa; Hemenway, David. "Firearm Availability and Homicide: A Review of the Literature." Aggression and Violent Behavior: A Review Journal. 2004; 9:417-40.

2. Gun availability and state homicide rates, 1988-1997
Using a validated proxy for firearm ownership, we analyzed the relationship between firearm availability and homicide across 50 states over a ten year period.
Major findings: After controlling for poverty and urbanization, for every age group, people in states with many guns have elevated rates of homicide, particularly firearm homicide.
Publication: Miller, Matthew; Azrael, Deborah; Hemenway, David. "Household Firearm Ownership Levels and Homicide Rates across U.S. Regions and States, 1988-1997." American Journal of Public Health. 2002: 92:1988-1993.


3. Gun availability and state homicide rates, 2001-2003
Using survey data on rates of household gun ownership, we examined the association between gun availability and homicide across states, 2001-2003.
Major Findings: States with higher levels of household gun ownership had higher rates of firearm homicide and overall homicide. This relationship held for both genders and all age groups, after accounting for rates of aggravated assault, robbery, unemployment, urbanization, alcohol consumption, and resource deprivation (e.g., poverty). There was no association between gun prevalence and non-firearm homicide.
Submission: Miller, Matthew; Azrael, Deborah; Hemenway, David. “Homicide Victimization of Americans in Relation to Household Firearm Ownership, by Age and Gender.” Social Science and Medicine. in press..



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