Gun control lowers crime

Rebuttals My opponent makes a single comparison: Canada vs. US crime rates. However, the problem with his source is that is only measures gun crime, not overall crime. Now, when looking at a mere comparison of rates, the only country that should be compared with the US is Canada—sociologists have argued our societies are very similar—however the way my opponent does it is very flawed. Comparing a mere rate of these two nations is illogical due to the fact Canada has the same population as California, and the only way that would be valid to measure the effect of Canada’s gun laws is two fold: 1) Compare the crime trends of the USA and Canada, far different from the rate. Ask which country had larger drops in crime. 2) See if Canada’s crime rate dropped One, although is semi-credible, is still flawed as comparing statistics may fall into endogenous factors among other problems, however is much more credible then comparing the rate. Number two is the most credible way to measure the effects of gun control. This erases any problems of comparing societies and are much more specific, and can tell us how the law affected the crime in Canada that a mere comparison would fail to accomplish. I will now use both of these methods and prove Canada’s gun laws have been a failure. 1) Comparing the crime trends of the USA and Canada Starting with their 1970’s laws, these restrictions have been a failure. Interestingly, although gun crime fell overall crime rose. (my opponents source only measures gun crime. If gun crime decreases but overall crime increases, this would prove gun control cost lives). David Kopel Notes in his 1991 law review, “{Criminologist] Blackman observes that in the late 1970s and early 1980s, while Canada was enforcing its new strict controls, America added no new federal control and relaxed control at the state level. Nevertheless, northern-tier American states (arguably the most comparable to Canada) saw a much slower rise in the robbery rate than did Canada. … Only 13% of United States residential burglaries are attempted against occupied homes. Most Canadian residential burglaries occur in the nighttime, while American burglars prefer daytime entry to reduce the risk of a confrontation. When an American burglar strikes at an occupied residence, his chance of being shot is at least equal to his chance of being sent to jail.” The first emphasis (mine) showed although both saw increases in crime (the 80’s was a time of increased crime for unknown reasons) the USA had less of an increase. Using Criminologists Blackman’s study, who controls for many variables, found Canada had a larger increase in crime, meaning Canada’s gun control has little effect (or an effect that increases crime) on their crime rates. The second emphasis (mine) shows American robbers are shot fairly often. In the words before that, it shows robbers in the US are deterred by people in the home, likely because people can shoot back, whereas in Canada there is no such deterrent effect and robbing homes with occupants with no means to defend themselves is not “scary”. That basic comparison shows guns have a capability to deter criminals and, therefore, save lives. Kopel further points out “Domestic homicide fell in Canada, and dropped even more sharply in the United States.”[1] As we can see, as the US loosened gun laws and Canada made them more strict, the USA experienced a larger drop in crime, giving more data for the deterrence hypothesis and the Canadian gun control failure. Further study by Gary Mauser finds the Canadian gun control had, at best, no effect on crime. He further noted the US had extremely faster rates of crime decline, and in cases when crime increased, a slower increase. His basic comparison proves the Canadian gun control has failed and that these comparisons prove gun control has had no success [2]. 2. Looking at Canada itself Canadian crime rates have remained fairly stable before and after their gun laws were passed, proving their gun laws have been ineffective. After the 1977 law, homicide did drop BUT homicide was dropping since 1975, and actually stabled the year after, and as stated above its drops in crime were negligible compared to other countries. Canada’s gun control has been a failure [3]. Case Is it possible that more guns causes less crime? Interestingly, many studies believe this is so. According to the most credible studies, gun defensive usage (DGU’s) range from 1.5 million through 2.5 million, but other small studies have actually reached the number of 4.5 million DGU’s per year. A 1999 study by Lawrence Southwick, using measurements from deterrence studies done on the death penalty and other crimes (which is a good proxy when measuring if criminals can be deterred, and by how much), finding that the 299 justified civilian killings of criminals would have prevented 2,200 murders that year. However, when you add in the fact criminals often thwart criminals without killing them, often through injury, and other numbers provided by Kleck 1991, the number increases to 8,900 murders deterred. When going through every single variable, study, and violent crime, Southwick concludes 800,000 crimes deterred each year by gun owners, merely by them being there (no confrontation of anyone), and 400,000 would be a lower estimate (using NCVS data). If Klecks study is preferred, the number becomes 1,700,000 – 3,300,000 violent crimes deterred by gun owners, meaning with guns existing crime is hugely decreased [4]. Some more facts: --In the UK, murder was 52% higher after the 1968 ban and 15% higher after the 1997 ban. --In Chicago, handgun crime increased (but depending on the data I use, the data either claims an increase in crime or a slight decrease. But all of the data agreed initial after the law crime increased). --In Washington DC, the homicide rate was 73% higher after their gun ban. --In all of the conceal carry states listed, crime decreased. All from [5]. Conclusion: Here is a fact: Gun control does not decrease crime Here is a data point: there is some evidence that gun control increases crime The resolution is negated. 1. http://www.guncite.com... 2. http://www.fraserinstitute.org... 3. http://www.saf.org... 4. http://saf.org... 5. http://www.justfacts.com...