MikeZ

Less than one third of the population actually owns guns. Guns have always been part of the "culture" but but high homicide rate was not until the 1980's. What changed from 80's. the drug war... What are you going to do about Eric Holder giving Mexican cartels guns and those finding their way on the streets??

scrubbedexpat091

Chicago is a city. I was talking about state level.

Top 10 worst states for gun violence are the most lax on gun laws.

California ranks #1 on gun laws and 42 on gun violence. The states in the top 10 least amount of gun violence are all strict gun control states.

Giantaxe

"MikeZ" has a posting history of under three hours and has already compiled an "interesting" selection of posts... somebody's sock?

MikeZ

it's a conspiracy, it's a conspiracy!

MikeZ

Show me the study on that. Downtown LA alone has pretty serious gang killings.

scrubbedexpat091

gunlawscorecard.org

Top 10 states with toughest laws, are in the bottom 20 for gun deaths.

Then you have Louisiana who ranks 50th in gun laws, and 2nd for gun deaths.

IL ranks 8th for gun laws and 38th for gun deaths.

California ranks 1 in gun laws and 42nd in gun deaths.

http://politicsthatwork.com/graphs/gun-deaths-by-state

dc koop

Gun shows are where firearms are bought and sold without the required registration and back ground checks being done.

scrubbedexpat099

Nope

Next

dc koop

I used to attend the annual gun show at the Fairplex in Pomona. Never missed one in several years. Never bought a firearm there though.

Several years ago the Los Angeles Board of County Supervisors banned it after the Sherriff's department found guns being sold under the table.

That's all I know and that's all I'm saying

dc koop

It's too late by far. Part of the culture and here to stay

scrubbedexpat099

Not what you originally said, perhap a mod will edit it.

AhCrap

True but then again just because it would work doesn't mean you are obligated to pass it or make it law. For example if the UK was to raise the minimum drinking age to 21 it would work to reduce alcohol related violence and deaths but that doesn't mean it should be law.

Also how are we defining sensible?

The difference between the gun violence rates between the states is almost entirely due to suicide rates. Wyoming and Alaska have lower homicide rates, which are around 2 per 100k, than California, which are around 4-4.5 per 100k, but their suicide rates are between 15-20 per 100k. Texas, if I'm not mistaken, actually has a lower overall homicide rate than California but again their suicide rate is higher than California.

Laws like magazine capacity limits or assault weapon bans are not going to make much of a difference on suicide rates and the truth of the matter is they probably wouldn't make much of a difference in the overall gun homicide rate either.

Ah so any one who has an issue with the laws in California is a fringe loon.

scrubbedexpat091

I was not talking specifically homicide, but gun violence. If a gun was not accessible good chance many of those suicides would not happen. Suicides tend to be impulsive for most, remove the gun, and it takes more planning and more effort and more time which gives the person time to come back down to a more rational mindset.

I didn't say everyone with an issue with the laws in California were fringe loons, I said most who have an issue with them tend to be, difference between the 2.

California's laws are perfectly acceptable in my view, those who wan't a gun and have no questionable stuff in their background can still obtain one, just takes more time and effort.

scrubbedexpat099

So why has say France have a higher rate than the US?

Steve_

What makes me laugh about this whole issue is when they compare with other countries, like Australia and the UK.

I mean, when handguns were banned in GB, there were 200,490 owned by roughly 57,000 people.

I saw on the news that FBI NICS ran 185,000 background checks on Black Friday. And bear in mind not all States use NICs, some have their own systems and moreover, one background check can cover the purchase of multiple guns.

So most likely on ONE DAY, more firearms were sold in the US than were prohibited in the UK in 1997. There's something like 80 million people who own guns in the US, so if you wanted to licence them all that would be like licensing the entire population of Germany.

I remember years ago I think it was some silly thing in the Daily Telegraph where he'd done a back-of-the-fag-packet calculation that there are probably more guns in circulation in the US than umbrellas.

This idea you could take the gun laws from Australia or the UK and apply them in the US is completely laughable.