Study: How Homicide Rates Are Affected by Gun Bans
As mass shootings take precedence on the news, more people seem to be calling for gun control. Is this perhaps a shocking liberal journalism tactic that creates the illusion that society will be safer without guns?
Let’s analyze the facts.
Many studies and conclusive research indicates that in areas where guns have been banned, homicide rates have in fact increased. It’s not simply one city, state or country where gun control has failed to decrease crime. In fact, it’s affected Washington D.C., Chicago, Australia, England, Ireland and even Jamaica.
In 1997, England enacted a handgun ban. Over a 14-year period, homicide rates only decreased for one-year, which means that within 13 years, homicides rates actually increased even though a handgun ban was in effect. The rate only decreased when England hired additional police officers from 2003 to 2004, which actually has created a surveillance debate about London having “a camera on every corner.” Britain even claims they have a camera per every 11 citizens, which has caused concern over them becoming a dominant “surveillance state.”
However, homicide rates cannot be equally compared to those in other countries. Why? Because England prohibits homicide numbers from including cases that do not result in a direct conviction or self defense grounds are not brought under prosecution.
While Australia didn’t have a complete gun control ban, they did institute a gun buyback program, which has resulted in a substantial increase in gun ownership.
There are several arguments that are commonly used to support gun control bans, saying that high-crime countries are forced to adopt strict gun laws. With cross-sectional data in the crosshairs of the gun control debate, people are forced to analyze the statistics for themselves, not relying on liberal media outlets to interpret data in a bipartisan manner.
Even if gun control were to lower crime, economists say that these numbers are skewed and can easily represent false information, making crime rates appear higher due to gun control enactment.
Essentially, the debate of how effective gun control truly is will continue. Numbers and statistical data rule this dispute. This information is then interpreted by political parties, which are done in a manner that supports their causes and personal beliefs. Instead of simply believing the information as presented, the American public should delve deeper into this data and forge their conclusions about gun control.
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References:
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/a-camera-on-every-corner-the-surveillance-debate-after-boston/
http://johnrlott.blogspot.com/2012/08/some-notes-on-claims-about-australias.html