Is It Too Easy for Criminals to Get Guns?

via Futurity.org

A new survey reveals that 54.9 percent of US firearms dealers and pawnbrokers believe it’s too easy for criminals to get guns in America. 

This study, published in the Journal of Urban Health, provides the first detailed statistical portrait of retail establishments—gun dealers and pawnbrokers—that sell firearms. It also details respondents’ personal characteristics and attitudes toward firearms, including their incentives for and concerns about employment in the firearms industry.

The pro-gun response?

Wintemute (Garen Wintemute, director of the University of California, Davis, Violence Prevention Research Program and author of the study.) notes that gun lobby tried to interfere with the execution of the survey.

“Major national organizations sought to block this research, even though it could help protect the public’s health and safety without undue interference with the legitimate uses of firearms,” Wintemute says.

“Two days after the first questionnaire was mailed, the National Shooting Sports Foundation posted notices on its website ‘strongly discouraging retailers from participating in this study.’ The National Rifle Association (NRA) quickly followed suit, issuing a similar notice and e-mailing its entire membership.”

What's your opinion? Why do you think the major gun-rights organizations would attempt to block the study?

What do you think?  Please leave a comment.

The Lying and Twisting on "Guns Save Lives"

In their recent post about a new survey, Guns Save Lives had this to say.

In a new poll, conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute between August 8-12, it’s been found that over 2/3 of Americans think that the Second Amendment is just as important as the First Amendment. 

"As important as the 1st," I don't think that's exactly what the survey asked. At least I couldn't find that as one of the questions. For biased and mendacious people who interpret surveys with an axe to grind, I suppose you could take that from the results.

Here are some other FACTS that came out of the survey, according to a US News article about it.

- Just 11 percent of people say allowing more private citizens to carry guns for protection is the most important thing that can be done to prevent mass shootings, according to the survey. 

- Fifty-two percent of the public favor passing stricter gun control laws, while 44% are opposed.  

- Nearly 7-in-10 (69%) Americans oppose loosening current gun control laws, while 26% are in favor.

As far as legislative victories over the last few years, there's no question the gun-rights folks are winning. But, where public opinion is concerned, they are losing, losing, losing.

How long do you think it will be before the latter begins to affect the former?

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Survey Questions - General and Specific

via Media Matters

Today's survey asked both the general question of whether voters in the swing states of Colorado, Wisconsin, and Virginia want gun laws to be more strict, less strict, or kept the same; AND the specific question of whether those voters support a ban on high-capacity magazines, which have been used in several recent mass shootings.

The results show that while Americans may not support stricter gun laws in theory, they do support them in practice, with significantly higher percentages of respondents supporting an actual stricter gun law (the hi-cap magazine ban) than supporting "more strict" laws in general:

• 38 percent of likely Colorado voters say they want stricter gun laws, but 58 percent support a ban on high-capacity magazines, a 20-point gap.
• 44 percent of likely Virginia voters say they want stricter gun laws, but 52 percent support the ban, and 8-point gap.
• 43 percent of likely Wisconsin voters say they want stricter gun laws, but 57 percent support the ban, a 14-point gap.

The Great Gun Survey - UK Style

For months now I've been hearing about the UK from my gun enthusiast friends. According to them, England is a living example of what they don't want to happen to America, as far as gun laws go. I've heard about how the gun restrictions there have not worked, how the criminals have learned to resort to knives instead, crime has risen, I thought I'd heard it all. Then, more recently, a few comments have intimated that Merry Old England is on the brink of tyranny. The idea is that now that the government has succeeded with draconian gun laws to disarm the citizens, unimpeded tyranny is right around the corner.

This led me to begin conducting an unofficial opinion poll of British folks I know or cross paths with here in Italy, not unlike the Great Gun Survey we took part in some time ago. Not a single one so far has agreed with the alarmist opinions of the pro-gun Americans, not one. Most acknowledge that the video surveillance London has become famous for is Big Brotherish, but none expressed serious concern that combined with the gun laws, this places their liberty at risk. They all seem to think that fewer guns overall means less gun crime. Of course, you might say, I'm talking to the wrong people. Im sure Tom has some partners in the UK who would give me an earful.

So I asked myself where can I check this out. I mean, the Brady Blog can't be trusted to provide fair information, nor could the Civilian Gun Self-Defense Blog. So I did what any computer savvy truth seeker does in cases like this: I consulted Wikipedia. Now I expected to find nothing useful, figuring the "Gun Laws in the UK" article would have been written by one of the gun guys, but here's what I came up with.

The homicide rate for London was 2.4 per 100,000 in the same year (1.7 when excluding the 7 July bombings). By comparison, 5.5 murders per 100,000 of population were reported by police in the United States in 2004.

The article from which that quote comes contains a dizzying array of statistics, furthering my dislike and distrust of them. Nevertheless, the implication of the simple comparison quoted above is obvious and clear: more guns means more gun crime.

More than any stats, I value the personal opinions of the Royal British Subjects I've spoken with. They feel safer as a result of the gun laws.

What's your opinion? Please let us know.

The Great Gun Survey Results and Conclusions

I thought we'd have something more transparent and trustworthy in taking our own little poll and analyzing our own stats, but now I don't know. I tend to think we're going to see what we want to in these numbers just like we do in any other survey. And, speaking for myself, when I don't see what I want, I discount the whole thing as the product of someone's bias. I'm sure none of you do that.

My Column A is now without Tupac. As Weer'd suggested, stopping at the same traffic light in Vegas is pretty a flimsy connection. But, I have had a few dramatic events up close and personal. I'm convinced the gun made the difference.

I wondered about what Weer'd said: two people he knew killed themselves with guns. Now, I understand the guns didn't do it and I understand they could have used other means, but doesn't anyone see that the gun is so unforgiving as a means of taking one's life that its availability is a major factor? That's my idea anyway.

Bob's two Column A entries weren't all that dramatic and certainly shouldn't offset his Column C.

Although Thomas didn't provide details about his single Column A entry, even if it were an awful tragedy it would be hard to offset his Column C. His is one autobiography I'm looking forward to, as I mentioned before.

Conclusions not only from the Survey but for all the posts and comments:

1. Gun Bans or extreme gun control laws will never work and I do not support them. This is for two reasons: most gun owners won't stand for it and the criminals will continue to do their thing anyway. Yet, I do support some sort of registering and background checks, but they should be only enough to inhibit the criminals from acquiring guns easier than they can now.

2. Guns in the possession of people like Bob, Weer'd, Nomen (no survey ?) and Thomas pose no threat whatsoever and in fact increase the security of their immediate environs. But, I'm afraid that's not the case with all legal gun owners. I believe you guys have exaggerated in describing the exemplary responsible behaviour of the gun owners you know and you have downplayed the fact that in any large group of people you've got some unstable ones and some violent ones, some with anger management problems, etc. I think this is only human nature. The percentages are up for debate.

3. The fact that almost all guns are manufactured legally means that the ones in the hands of criminals are to some extent coming from the pool of legally owned guns, the number of which according to Bob S. is 65 million. Some people might want to increase that number to 100 or 200 million in order to arm not only the teachers in Texas but many more of the good guys. For me, this is wrong because the more you increase the one the more you increase the other. The percentages are up for debate.

4. The small percentage of crimes committed with guns compared to the huge numbers of guns out there, the famous 65 million, is not the point. The small number of murders is ONLY 20,000, we were told. Only? Every single one of them is serious. I think we've become numbed by the numbers. The point is, not that there's an acceptable small percentage of killings, but rather that the killings have nothing or next to nothing to do with you guys - see conclusions 1 and 2.

5. Firing weapons is one of the most thrilling and exhilarating things I've ever done. The fact that you guys, to a man, have tried in various ways to deny that makes me wonder what's up. I think it's defensive manoeuvring. Thomas said strapping on a gun was no different than attaching a flashlight to a utility belt and that there was no "exhilaration" at all involved in shooting. Yet, he said one hasn't lived until he has hunted his own steak. The latter statement sounds more believable to me.

6. Philosophically, I think Ghandi had it right and the gun enthusiasts have it wrong.

What's your opinion? What conclusions have you drawn from our little Survey or from our debates?