famousringo said:
You can back out suicide if you like, that still leaves Americans seven times more likely to be murdered by firearm than Canadians, and four times more likely to die from firearm-related accidents: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_firearm-related_death_rate The US has three times the guns. Interestingly, the three point spread between the two countries' gun murder rates matches the three point spread between their overall murder rates. Edit: However, I would never argue that poverty isn't a very important, perhaps the most important, factor in violent crime rates. |
Like... 3 times the guns per capita? Because when it comes to people own guns only like 34% of americans own guns so it's only a 1.4X difference.
And outside that you totally are arguieng that poverty isn't very important, because despite the US having more poverty (and really more importantly, gangs caused by defacto segregation poverty) since you are argueing the violent crime rate differene is caused by the difference in gun murders.
A simple way to show you why your preise is flawed is simply to look at something a bit more comparable. The US states with each other.
VS
The US states with higher gun ownership rates actually tend to have significantly HIGHER poverty too... (additionaly murder has decreased while crime has increased)
it's not so much pvoerty as certain kinds of poverty. The kind that lends to people feeling completlely isolated from society... just how for people who "take the law in their own hands" it's mostly out of feeling they have to.
People are more likely to die buy guns in places with more guns for the same reason more bottled soft drinks are going to be consumed over cans in states with lots of bottle openers vs states with less.
