Gun Control

Hello, Sorry I had much to do this past weekend, more than anticipated and it caused me to be unable to respond to your remarks. You make a great point in recognizing that the study includes all kinds of deaths, but this is something that is not misrepresented by myself or the article. I referenced in my first argument "fire-arms related deaths" not referencing homicides in particular until my second argument. It is also important to note the actual numbers behind what we are seeing, which I contend do not tarnish the findings of the study. Justifiable homicides: 617 (2010) Unintentional deaths: 606 (2010) Gun Suicides: 19,766 (2010) Homicides: 11,078 (2010) Source: http://www.gunpolicy.org... The inclusion of Justifiable homicides and unintentional deaths makes up only 3.8% of the total. Granted a significant portion of the amount are suicides it still does not negate the total number of homicides which is extremely high. It should also be noted the % of homicides in America that are committed by fire-arms. Total Homicides (any method): 16,259 (2010) This shows us that 68% of all homicides committed in the USA are done so by a fire-arm, making it the go-to method for how American's kill their fellow citizens. Also, my argument was not attempting to show that gun control somehow cures mankind of their homicidal tendencies, rather I believe fire-arms to be of a more lethal and dangerous nature to a society as they have a larger range, accuracy, lethality, and rapidness by which their ammunition can be unloaded on their victims. We cannot completely rid of the world of murder, but I think something must be done to prevent the kinds of mass shootings only found in countries like ours that have lesser gun controls. I also disagree with the application of the FBI crime report, here below is a list of fire-arms related homicides from 2001 to 2011. 2011: 11,1011 2010: 11,078 2009: 11,493 2008: 12,179 2007: 12,632 2006: 12,791 2005: 12,352 2004: 11,624 2003: 11,920 2002: 11,829 2001: 11,348 As you can see, there are only slight fluctuations with a spike occurring from 2005 to 2008, perhaps resulting from the desperate climate of the recession? However, my point is that this number in relation to fire-arms used in homicides has only slightly decreased in the past few years but this is still much higher than it was in the 1990s and earlier. This "proud tradition" has built up a body count of over 150,000 people over the past decade, and has cost the American people far more than it ever did our founding fathers who only lost 8,000 (not even equal to one year of the homicide rate in America) during the American revolution. Therefore I argue that we should not be enslaved to the traditions and values of men who lived in a very different time and atmosphere, who also I might add gave different reasons for the right to bear arms than we do today. Rather, we should place higher the values of life the American citizens whose lives are far more valuable than some said liberty to own a weapons which are designed to take such lives. I believe the future of civilized societies will universally agree upon strict gun control or even out-right gun bans as is the trend after viewing the success of countries like Japan. It is not only the more beneficial option to the whole of the society, but it makes a statement by the people on their aversion to violence and preference towards peace. Kindest Regards, TrueScotsman