On Fri, 19 Jan 2001, Girard wrote:
> Why not look at the statistics? Here are some :
> Percent of households with a handgun:
> United States 29%
> United Kingdom 1
>
> Murders committed with handguns annually:
> United States 8,915
> United Kingdom 7
>
> Murder rate (per 100,000 people):
> United States 8.40
> United Kingdom 1.97
>
> Who needs long dissertations to prove that guns kill?
Nothing is proved. This is post-hoc ergo propter-hoc.
Culture is a key variable here. Given the culture, the freedom to defend
oneself may well be correlated with lower crime rates. Vermont in the US
has the most liberty in self-defense and low crime rates relative to other
states.
Fred Foldvary
