"Gunner" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 22 Dec 2003 12:54:47 -0600, "Thirsty Viking"
wrote:


"Carl Byrns" wrote in message
.. .
On Tue, 02 Dec 2003 04:02:06 GMT, Gunner
wrote:


As to side arms being used in drivebys..one would assume you are
unaware that the majority of such are done with handguns, with a
lesser number being done with :

Read a little slower- I'm talking about using a sidearm to fend off a
drive-by. Not start one.

Yes the obligatory distraction case of it wouldn't help you in this case.
your right, remove drivebys from the equation and you'll get better
ratios
of the importance of being armed in cases where it can make a diffrence.

Now the crux of the matter is:

The statement "50% of the states produced 2/3 more homicide than the
other 50% armed states do" is meaningless

Is that a true statement or not. Yes or no?


If you mean "25 States allow anyone to buy a gun, strap it on, and
walk down the street with no permit of any kind: some say it's crazy.
However, 4 out of 5 US murders are committed in the other half of the
country: so who is crazy?" the whole point is that the statement draws
conclusions it can't support- that open carry lowers the murder rate.

Open carry will not protect you from a drive-by or being run down by a
drunk driver or from being stabbed in the back while you sleep or
having your house torched while you're in it or any of a hundred
different ways humans kill off other human beings.
That's a true statement.

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/guns.htm
According to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) in
2002, 442,880 victims of violent crimes stated that they faced
an offender with a firearm.

http://www.gunsandcrime.org/dgufreq.html

I wasn't disputing your numbers there, my quote was
specificly aimed at Violent crimes. Murder, Rape,
Assult. It is from Gov't numbers so if anything it is
probably considerably on the low side. Also it is only
from a survey of victims of reported crimes, Missing
anyone who was happier to leave the Gov't out of it.

For instance, a rancher scaring off cattle rustlers wouldn't be
included unless they had shot at him. Or the famous shotgun
loaded with rocksalt to give trespassers something to remeber.

My point was that even GOV"T numbers show almost 1/2
MILLION defensive uses by Victims of VIOLENT crimes
that were REPORTED in 2002.

And that number is large enough to be sure that numerous
lives were spared Violent termination or injury.


'If you own a gun and have a swimming pool in the yard, the swimming
pool is almost 100 times more likely to kill a child than the gun is.'"
Steven Levitt, UOC prof.