Excuse me for taking a break in my life from Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and the Iranian situation, but does anybody remember ANY of our major news networks spending a lot of time on this story?
I mean, the report came out just last month, based on statistics from the CDC. From the story (emphasis added by me):
In Louisiana, 45.6 percent of households are gun-owners, leading to a gun-related death rate of 19.58 per 100,000, the highest in the nation.
But in Hawaii, only 9.7 percent of households own at least a gun, keeping the gun-related death rate there at 2.58 per 100,000 residents, the lowest among the 50 states.
The study, conducted by the Violence Policy Center, was based on just-released 2006 national data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Following Louisiana, other four states with the highest per-capita gun death rates were Alabama, Alaska, Mississippi and Nevada.
Each of these states had a per-capita gun death rate far exceeding the national per-capita gun death rate of 10.32 per 100,000 for 2006.
According to the Violence Policy Center, a Washington D.C.-based gun-control advocacy group, the states with the most gun deaths all have something in common: high rates of gun ownership and loose gun laws.
Click on this chart to see where the two states smart enough not to have conceal carry rank.
9 responses so far ↓
1
ollie
// Jun 28, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Will you quit talking sense and us enjoy our outrage?
2
28 June 09 (am) « blueollie
// Jun 28, 2009 at 1:46 pm
[...] A local blogger points out that states with “concealed carry” gun laws have higher rates of gun deaths. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Asus going big(ger) with 11.6-inch Eee PC later [...]
3
Rix
// Jun 28, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Thank you for posting this…it only makes sense.
4
Michael
// Jul 5, 2009 at 9:11 am
We should ban cell phones … people texting kill. Trains, planes and automobiles too. Death-by-Doctor happens … ban doctors. Kitchen knives, ball bats, hockey sticks, whatever. People kill people and you can’t ban crime, criminals or stupidity. You can try though.
5
BJ Stone
// Jul 8, 2009 at 12:21 pm
Tell you what, Michael, let’s take a scenario and see what you would do:
A) You get to live in a house with 10 people and 10 guns
B) You get to live in a house with 10 people and 10 cell phones.
Now, you tell me, which one has a better chance of seeing someone get killed, accidental or otherwise, based on the “10″ items listed.
Billy Dennis and 11Bravo and David P. Jordan’s diatribes aside, HANDguns are fucking stupid. Yes, fucking stupid. Again, want a rifle or shotgun to hunt? Fine, I’m not in favor of stopping that in the least. Handguns? Law enforcement officials only. They’re the only ones I see that really, really need a handgun.
Conceal carry? Fuck it, why conceal it, just strap on a holster and wear the thing on the outside. Why go to the trouble of concealing your stupidity? Just wear it on the outside, have a few shootouts in malls and grocery stores…that’ll make us all a safer species, right? Jeezus.
6
Michael
// Jul 10, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Sorry BJ … we simply disagree. I have no problem with living with a thousand people all owning handguns if they are responsibly trained adults. And a gun should be concealed for the reasons you fear … open carry can encourage hostility. I can stand and talk to you (who obviously hate handguns) all day with a concealed weapon you know nothing about. Were I to openly wear it you would be frightened. No responsible adult wishes to frighten people or swagger about.
7
Michael
// Jul 10, 2009 at 6:40 pm
I meant to preface my remarks and then forgot when I jumped up on my soap box (again). A postscript will do. I wouldn’t want anyone to think anything I say (or said) is meant in any way as a personal attack. I don’t think anyone is “stupid” or an “idiot” for not agreeing with my opinions. But neither do I wish anyone to believe it would be “irresponsible” for me to carry a gun. I believe myself to be a responsible person … and I believe most people are until proven otherwise. In that light, I am simply stating my disagreement on the subject, not that I find anyone else disagreeable as a person.
8
BJ Stone
// Jul 10, 2009 at 7:56 pm
Michael, as always I respect your opinions, and any harsh language I used in that last response had to do with the mood that day after reading the other responses over on Billy’s blog.
I would not “fear” standing next to someone who is openly displaying a weapon, if, as you said, that was a responsible person I was talking to.
Sadly, I find many…if not most…of the people in favor of conceal carry to be OPPOSITE of what you described above. I believe many who want conceal carry WISH to frighten people and swagger about, daring anybody they see as a possible threat to approach them.
Like Ollie described on Billy’s blog, it’s the innocent bystanders that I fear for, and in that case, no matter how responsible the conceal carrier is, there is a chance he/she will miss the target and take out an innocent person in the act of defending themselves. It is that scenario that is not discussed enough by the conceal carry lobby.
9
Michael
// Jul 10, 2009 at 9:14 pm
I do understand your concerns. I think a little research would reassure you that what you fear is very rare in those states which screen, train and license concealed carry. It is rarely the licensed gun carrier that causes the grief. Statistics do bear this out.
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