IMHO, most of us believe more guns means less crime primarily because law abiding gun owners can defend ourselves against potential criminals. This is true, and over 2.5 million potential crimes are stopped every year because the good guy had a gun and the bad guy knew it:
http://rense.com/general76/univ.htm
However, there may be another mechanism at work too that allows more guns to reduce less crime. To understand this mechanism, let's look at a few facts:
The USA has a murder rate of about 4.2 per 100,000. The UK has a murder rate of about 1.2 per 100,000.
The USA has a violent crime rate of about 480 per 100,000, the UK has a violent crime rate of about 2500 per 100,000.
The USA has a murder rate much more than the UK, and a violent crime rate much less.
Most of the murders in the USA happen because criminals are killing each other: http://www.saf.org/LawReviews/Elliott1.htm
It may be that allowing the general population to own firearms results in 2 things:
-good people can protect themselves from bad guys, and
-bad guys can bump each other off more efficiently.
Disarming the population may result in fewer homicides in that criminals will not be able to bump each other off with the same ease, but it will also mean that these criminals will be left alive then to prey on the population, and of course, the population will have nothing to defend itself.
These 2 mechanisms may explain why, when guns are severely controlled, homicide rate may fall, but violent crime rate will go up dramatically.
Just my 2 cents.
http://rense.com/general76/univ.htm
However, there may be another mechanism at work too that allows more guns to reduce less crime. To understand this mechanism, let's look at a few facts:
The USA has a murder rate of about 4.2 per 100,000. The UK has a murder rate of about 1.2 per 100,000.
The USA has a violent crime rate of about 480 per 100,000, the UK has a violent crime rate of about 2500 per 100,000.
The USA has a murder rate much more than the UK, and a violent crime rate much less.
Most of the murders in the USA happen because criminals are killing each other: http://www.saf.org/LawReviews/Elliott1.htm
It may be that allowing the general population to own firearms results in 2 things:
-good people can protect themselves from bad guys, and
-bad guys can bump each other off more efficiently.
Disarming the population may result in fewer homicides in that criminals will not be able to bump each other off with the same ease, but it will also mean that these criminals will be left alive then to prey on the population, and of course, the population will have nothing to defend itself.
These 2 mechanisms may explain why, when guns are severely controlled, homicide rate may fall, but violent crime rate will go up dramatically.
Just my 2 cents.
