Via Ry’s tweet we have source code and data to test various hypothesizes regarding firearm ownership and homicide:

Fit linear regression weighted by number of homicides. Homicides are rare, therefore variance of homicide rate estimates is primarily driven by number of homicides rather than by population. There is no circular reasoning here – we’re predicting homicide rate rather than absolute number of homicides.

Exclude countries with gross domestic product (at purchasing power parity) per capita lower than the median because we are primarily interested in developed countries.

Firearms are statistically significant and have negative coefficient in the regression.

Conclusion: in developed countries, more firearms means less homicide.

Jared Keller complains, What We Talk About When We Don’t Talk About Gun Control Why are Uber and iPhone security more important than solving our national gun problem?

The national conversation has largely moved off of gun control, a trend we’ve seen since the Newtown massacre when support for gun rights increased despite the slaughter of 20 children and six teachers.

This, it seems, is the cycle of our political will when it comes to guns. A mass shooting leads to calls for control from lawmakers, a flurry of reporting from media outlets, and a spate of social media campaigns, then poof: The American public moves on.

After whining a bunch more he quotes Dan Hodges who tweeted the following on June 19, 2015, two and a half years after the Newtown tragedy:

In retrospect Sandy Hook marked the end of the U.S. gun control debate. Once America decided killing children was bearable, it was over.

I wouldn’t have expressed it that way, but we knew Newtown was the last stand for gun control a few days after it happened. No retrospection required.

Some people just don’t understand markets. If a demand exists then markets will find a  way to supply it. Furthermore if, from a legal standpoint, possession of a revolver is no different than owning a grenade someone intent on intimidation and criminal violence might as well get grenades.

Of course the anti-gun people will dismiss such logic as “crazy talk”. But, as is usual, we have the evidence:

Grenades have become the latest “must have” weapons being sold by underworld arms dealers at knockdown prices.

And a special Mirror investigation has found that the terrifying trade is booming.

Following the killing of two unarmed policewomen in a gun and grenade attack on Tuesday, we uncovered the shocking array of firepower available on the streets today.

The death-dealing “shopping list” includes guns for hire for as little as £100 and bullets priced at anything from £5 to £15.

Sources say the evil trade is run “just like any other business” with “gun librarians” setting prices for those looking to rent or buy.

The black market dealings are said to be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds each year. And we can reveal that high-level criminals are now turning to grenades to beef up their armoury. The most commonly used are the Swiss-manufactured British Army-issue L109 and the Yugoslavian-made M75.

In the three years to March 2010, there were 14 grenade attacks in the UK – including seven in the North West in just 10 months.

When the anti-freedom people claim they yearn for U.K. style gun control, let them know the reality is that when guns are outlawed, outlaws will have grenades.