Sunday, March 30, 2008
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Quote of the day--The Patriot-News

If anyone doubts that there's an epidemic of gun violence in this country, let these statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explain just one category of it: In 2004, 5,292 young people ages 10 to 24 were murdered -- that's 15 per day -- 81 percent with a firearm. Homicide is the second leading cause of death in this age group.

And here is a sad commentary on how far removed the nation is from confronting this scourge that leads to the deaths of thousands of children a year and wounds thousands of others, not to mention many more adults: The discussion inevitably gets bogged down in conflict over gun rights and gun control.

The Patriot-News
March 30, 2008
Rather than get bogged in rights vs. gun control, focus on why so many are bent on destruction
[I just thought people should know that someone 24 years old is considered a child. Apparently someone changed the definition and never bothered to tell the rest of us. And that includes Merriam-Webster.--Joe]

Joe Huffman  Sunday, March 30, 2008 6:57:41 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [5]  |  Trackback
Sunday, March 30, 2008 10:01:35 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
They include up to 24 years of age because the deaths for the under 16 group is negligible in the statistics. The "gang banging" ages between 16 to 24 are where the real numbers come from. They don't tell you that these deaths are beneficial to society because the vast majority are criminal on criminal violence.

And if you can drive a car legally at 16, I don't see how you can not be treated as an adult.
James
Monday, March 31, 2008 8:10:20 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
It's funny how when it comes to requiring parental consent for an abortion,14 year olds are adult, but when it comes to "GUN DEATHS", 24 year olds are children.....
Peter
Monday, March 31, 2008 1:02:36 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
Here's what they didn't tell you:

The population of that age group in the U.S. was 62,836,683, so the age-adjusted death rate for that group was 8.42/100,000.

The number of blacks in that group of 5,292 was 2,890 - or over 54% of the total. Of the 62,836,683 people between the ages of 10 and 24, only 9,992,732 were black, or slightly less than sixteen percent of the total. The raw rate of death by homicide for that tiny demographic is then 28.92/100,000, or 3.4 times that of the rest of that population.

Read that again: A group that represents slightly less than 16% of the whole represents 54% of the victims.

Yet we're supposed to believe that guns are the cause of all this violence.

"The discussion inevitably gets bogged down in conflict over gun rights and gun control."

Indeed. Because as Say Uncle has put it, "Gun control is what you do instead of something."

It would seem that if "confronting this scourge that leads to the deaths of thousands of children a year and wounds thousands of others" was the actual intent, addressing this one specific problem directly might lead to significant real improvements.

But blaming guns is easier.
Kevin Baker
Monday, March 31, 2008 1:18:41 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
They'd be disappointed if the murder rates went down, as it would undercut their cause. Their only option in such a case would be to find a way to take credit for it.

If Heller goes the right way, total DC violent crime might very well be dropping over the next several years, for example. It is in this light that I view current attempts in DC to collect guns from people's homes-- if crime drops, they will then credit their confiscation drive. If crime stays the same, they'll blame guns and the NRA. If crime increases, they'll blame guns and the NRA (but it won't increase and we all know it-- too bad for the antis).

In the broadest sense; statism relys on perpetual crisis. If a crisis doesn't exist, they'll create the perception of one. That's their job. It's what they do. If a crisis exists in reality, that's great. All the better.
Lyle
Monday, March 31, 2008 2:26:42 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
I'm just surprised they thought they could get away with this. They tried this years ago and got caught. Did they think we lost IQ in the last ten years?
Joe Huffman
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