http://www.cspinet.org/booze/samptest.html
"In our country, we have seen a number of encouraging trends in recent years. Adults are drinking less, and drunk driving has shown a steady decline. Despite this good news, alcohol still ranks as the number-one addicting drug,"
Drunk driving in country, Europe and Austrailia down aswell. It's called stiffer fines and penelties. A type of control.
[National Center for Health Statistics, 1997.]
[Journal of the American Medical Association].
[National Center for Health Statistics, Department of Defense Almanac].
Yes these organizations twist the facts every day. I am going to write to them and tell to make sure it states in their studies that although handguns kill more than any other weapon, Car accidents and Cancer kills more.
In 1996, 2 people were murdered by handguns in New Zealand, 15 in Japan, 106 in Canada, 213 in Germany, and 9,390 in the United States. [FBI Uniform Crime Report]
I know that these stats were just made up. Hmmmm Japan has 150 million population 15 murders. Strange...
Canada has always had stronger firearms regulation than the United States, particularly with respect to handguns. In Canada, handguns have been licensed and registered since the 1930’s, ownership of guns has never been regarded as a right and several court rulings have reaffirmed the right of the government to protect citizens from guns. Handgun ownership has been restricted to police, members of gun clubs or collectors. Very few (about 50 in the country) have been given permits to carry handguns for "self-protection." This is only possible if an applicant can prove that their life is in danger and the police cannot protect them.
As a result, Canada has roughly 1 million handguns while the United States has more than 76 million. While there are other factors affecting murder, suicide and unintentional injury rates, a comparison of data in Canada and the United States suggests that access to handguns may play a role. While the murder rate without guns in the US is roughly equivalent (1.8 times) to that of Canada, the murder rate with handguns is 14.5 times the Canadian rate. The costs of firearms death and injury in the two countries have been compared and estimated to be $495 (US) per resident in the United States compared to $195 per resident in Canada.
Arming For Self Protection Does not Work
The easiest response to suggestions that Canadian civilians need guns to protect themselves is to look south to the US to see where arming for self protection leads. While rates of violence in the US are comparable to countries such as Canada, Australia and Great Britain, rates of lethal violence are much higher. For example, murders without guns in the US are about 40% higher (1.4 times the rate) than in Canada while murders WITH handguns are 1500% higher (15 times the rate).
Statistics compiled from Centre for Justice Statistics; FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Data, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada Homicide Survey; Research and Statistics Division Department of Justice (Kwing Hung) June 2001
Hmmm... Murder rate without guns more or less the same. Muder rate with guns way diferent. Strange...
John Lott, More Guns Less Crime, University of Chicago
University of Chicago Professor John Lott's "More Guns Less Crime", claims that allowing civilians to carry concealed weapons reduces crime. This conclusion runs counter to the bulk of refereed research which shows a direct relationship, among developed countries, between the rate of gun ownership and firearm death. In fact, Lott's study has been widely critiqued by academics, such as Dr. Daniel Webster from the John Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, who cited several methodological and factual flaws, and errors in the statistical models used in the analysis.
Lott's advice following the Jonesboro, Arkansas shootings where an 11 and 13 year old killed 4 school children and their teacher is also revealing: "Allowing teachers and other law-abiding adults to carry concealed handguns in schools would not only make it easier to stop shootings in progress. It would also help deter shootings from ever occurring." Few criminologists or crime prevention experts in Canada or the US would share this view.
"By our readiness to allow arms to be purchased at will and fired at whim; by allowing our movies and television screens to teach our children that the hero is one who masters the art of shooting and the technique of killing... we have created an atmosphere in which violence and hatred have become popular past times" - Martin Luther King, November, 1963
Japan: Japan has a level of community safety which is unmatched by most of the world and reinforced by strong cultural norms. Japan had fewer gun deaths in all of 1995 than occur in an average day in the United States. In 1995, Japan had a total of 168 firearms shootings, in which 34 people were killed and 33 were injured. However, the Japanese are concerned about what they perceive as an escalation in violence.
Gun related crimes have threatened to undermine the fabric of Japan’s peaceful society. A peaceful and safe society is a common desire of the people. In order to stop the spread of firearms and prevent the tragedy of gun-related crimes, it is imperative that each person understand the danger and the anti-social nature of firearms and resolves to eliminate gun-related crimes.
Switzerland: Opponents of gun control often use Switzerland as evidence that access to guns is not linked to crime or violence. They argue that since virtually all adult males are members of the army and have military weapons, there is nearly universal access to deadly weapons yet few gun-related problems in Switzerland. However, Swiss criminologist Martin Killias, of the Université de Lausanne, argues that the rate of households with firearms is actually comparable to that of Canada (27.2%). There is strict screening of army officers and ammunition is stored in sealed boxes and inspected regularly. Despite these controls, Switzerland has rates of gun suicide second only to the US among the countries Killias surveyed and a gun murder rate comparable to Canada's. Although firearms regulations in Switzerland is fragmented and controlled at the regional level, wide ranging reforms are being undertaken to establish national standards.
1. Firearms in Alberta - the Problem
Alberta's average rate of firearm death between 1990 and 1997 is well above the Canadian average.
A new research document released by the Canadian Firearms Centre shows that Alberta’s average annual rate of firearm death (5.8 per 100,000) is well above the Canadian average (4.3 per 100,000).(Kwing Hung. Firearms Statistics (Jurisdictional Tables).March 2000)
Alberta's rate of children killed with guns is more than double the national average and it is in fact comparable to the combined rates of Israel and Northern Ireland.
Alberta has more guns than any other provence
Alberta population 3 million
Ontario population 11 million
Quebec population 8 million
Alberta has less general crime and less homicide than Ontario and Quebec yet more people die from gun related deaths.
Oh good Gang banger analogy. I forgot they don't count and don't present a problem.