So you ask me for data, I provide it, and then you move the goal post by saying 'but but but Switzerland doesn't count because reasons that have nothing to do with guns'?

But hey, this is your lucky day, because as it so happens there are other countries where firearms are available not only to criminals so that those criminals can more easily rob and murder law-abiding citizens!

So you're saying about social programs and tax rates; OK let's take the Czech Republic. Let me copy/paste from Wikipedia to set the stage:

Income taxes in Czech Republic are levied at a flat rate of 15% on gross income with an additional 7% solidarity tax surchage for individuals making over 48 times the average wage (CZK 1,277,328 annually in 2015). The corporate tax rate in 2015 was 19%.

(hey I'd sign for those tax rates! And better than the US too!) and SS you can read on https://www.justlanded.com/english/Czech-Republic/Czech-Repu... .

So how about them guns in CZ? Well you do need a permit, but you can give any reason you want, and you'll be issued a permit unless you have some priors, or failed the exams you need. If you selected 'self defense' as the reason for your permit, you get to carry concealed, too! There are about 1/2 million permits issued, out of a population of 10 million. Not quite US levels but still enough to suspect that the Czechs would be going around shooting each other left and right every day, right? Well actually their homicide rate is 0.7 compared to the 0.5 of the Swiss, and the 1.4 of Canada and 0.9 of the UK.

Sure sure you say, but them Czech are an exception, like the Swiss!

OK then how about Italy? Again, you do need a licence to own a gun, but you'll get one unless you have a criminal record or are an alcoholic or some other restrictions; and once you have your licence it's valid for common 'assault rifle' ammunition like 5.56 nato (for AR15) or 7.62 nato (for your AK74)! Man those murderous Italians with their 'assault rifles' - must be a bloodbath there every day! tabs back to Wikipedia page Uh, look at that, homicide rate of 0.8!

But but but you say - those are all - uh - either ex-commies, or they consume above-average amounts of pasta! Surely those countries are special! Well then let's look at other countries where law-abiding citizens can legally buy guns. Take Sweden, number 9 on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estimated_number_of_guns_per_c... . Yes, with only 1/4th as many guns per capita as the US, but the question is how easy it is to get access to a gun. Well, you either take a hunting exam or join a shooting club, and you'll get a licence and can buy a gun. Homicide rate - 0.9.

But but but you say - statistical significance! Still only a handfull! OK, there are a few more countries that have loose gun laws, and they have higher homicide rates; yet there are insufficient countries to draw a conclusion one way or another. So let's look at the US again, because as it so happens the US functions almost as a continent and we have numbers per state; states that by population, GDP and many other metrics might as well be compared to countries. New Hampshire? Idaho? Utah? Vermont? Wyoming? All 'middle of the pack' homicide rates when compared to other countries, even when you cherry-pick those countries without civilian ownership (like taking 'only OECD countries', or 'only Western European countries' like so many gun control advocates like to do). And those states aren't exactly the ones with the strictest gun laws either, to put it mildly.

Look, I'm not going to convince you one way or the other anyway, my original point was that the claim that 'data shows that civilian gun ownership causes high murder rates' is wrong, and that those who do claim so only can make their point by cherry-picking or deliberate misrepresentation of the issue. That's what rubs me the wrong way about it. Either there is a point and then it can be made fair and square; or don't make it all. Don't play me for an idiot with sophistry and misrepresentation.