--- Dan Minette <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Dean Forster <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2001 12:44 PM
> Subject: Re: gun control (newbie) L3
> > ** Directly from the FBI report: of the 12,658
> > murders in the US in 99, 6,678 were other than
> felony.
> > This means that the FBI has made the reasonable
> > assumption that the remainder are related to a
> felony.
>
>
> The presentation of the data does not support that
> analysis.
>
> We have
>
> Total 12,658
>
> Felony type total: 2,137
> Suspected felony type 64
> Other than felony type total: 6,678
> Unknown 3,779
>
> One notices that the four subtypes listed add up to
> the total. One also
> notes that there is clearly a catagory for suspected
> felony type, so it does
> not seem reasonable to assume that the FBI meant
> Unknown to be taken as
> suspected felony.
>
> In general, the catagories are
>
> A
> Suspected A
> ~A
> Unknown.
>
> It is clear to me that unknown means unknown. There
> is no reason to assume
> that, simply because something is not under ~A that
> it must be A. Unknown
> is a very critical catagory in any data analysis of
> this type.
>
The original point you were trying to make is that
people arguing are liable to reach for a gun and shoot
each other if there's one handy, and that your numbers
prove that a substantial portion of gun murders are
under those circumstances. My point was that the
majority of gun murders were related to criminal
activity. I think i've made an error in trying to use
these statistics, as they are inconclusive for either
of our arguments. I must admit that I can't find any
other statistics that are ordered for use in this
debate, but can you sit there and honestly tell me
that you believe that most murder is committed simply
because two people disagree? I shudder at the
thought. Even if statistics bear this out and i'm
wrong, that proves the main thrust of my argument
correct- people need to change - taking away anything
that is hurtful from people when they disagree is not
possible. Indeed, it's not desireable, it further
encourages a lack of self control.
dean
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