From: fcrary@ucsu.Colorado.EDU (Frank Crary)
Subject: Re: Gun Control (was Re: We're Mad as Hell at the TV News)
Nntp-Posting-Host: ucsu.colorado.edu
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Lines: 24

In article <C518B1.AMF@magpie.linknet.com> manes@magpie.linknet.com (Steve Manes) writes:
>: >: > Last year the US suffered almost 10,000 wrongful or accidental
>: >: > deaths by handguns alone (FBI statistics).  In the same year, the UK
>: >: > suffered 35 such deaths (Scotland Yard statistics).  The population
>: >: > of the UK is about 1/5 that of the US (10,000 / (35 * 5)).  Weighted
>: >: > for population, the US has 57x as many handgun-related deaths as the
>: >: > UK.  And, no, the Brits don't make up for this by murdering 57x as
>: >: > many people with baseball bats.

>: If you examine the figures, they do. Stabbing is favourite, closely
>: followed by striking, punching, kicking. Many more people are burnt to
>: death in Britain as are shot to death. Take at look and you'll see for
>: yourself. 

>It means that very few people are shot to death in Great Britain.

And I'm sure that is a great comfort to the widows and children of
those stabbed, beaten and burned to death. The real question is,
"Did the crime rate in England go down, after they enacted 
gun control laws?" If you look at the rates before and after their
first such law in 1920, you will see no effect.

                                          Frank Crary
                                          CU Boulder
