Tim wrote:

> Cramer appears to have missed the reason why Donohue raised this
> issue, even though it was in the same paragraph:
>
>     means that anything that increases gun ownership (and carrying a
>     la Sean Penn) is likely to put more guns into the hands of
>     criminals.

Post hoc ergo proctor hoc.  If we assume for a moment that a fixed portion
of the population has criminal intent, and specialize in theft, and that
there are a finite number of hours in a day in which such thieving is
possible, there is some upper limit on possible gun thefts.

Let's complicate the situation further.  For gun theft to be possible, the
thief has to know who owns the guns, when they can be stolen, and hope that
they are not secured (if gun theft is such a huge problem as Donohue
alleges, can we infer then that "safe storage" laws are not working?).

Donohue makes the incorrect assumption that "anything that increases gun
ownership" automatically increases the volume of firearms falling into the
hands of criminals (or is he using Penn to postulate that it increases the
number of firearms being left in automobiles, which are more convenient
targets for theft).  I am unaware of any research that shows a direct
correlation (all this is based on theft from gun owners and not those
enterprising thieves who know how to hijack shipments).

--------------------
Guy Smith
Silicon Strategies Marketing
630 Taylor Avenue
Alameda, CA 94501
510-521-4477 (T)
510-217-9693 (F)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.SiliconStrat.com

Reply via email to