Common Sense

Flashback: Obama campaign mocks Romney over Russia comments

Chris — Mon, 03 Mar 2014 13:34:19 +0000

Harry Reid: Why would we help kids with cancer?

Chris — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 16:38:45 +0000

Flashback: Harry Reid somehow has Romney tax return data

Chris — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 14:24:21 +0000

Obama's Campaign was involved with White House meetings with the IRS: http://townhall.com/tipsheet/carolplattliebau/2013/06/04/stephanie-cutter-attended-wh-meetings-with-irs-n1613179

Flashback: Harry Reid knew about Mitt Romney's taxes during the campaign: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/01/harry-reid-romney-tax_n_1731371.html

hmmmmm

Universal Background Checks… settled by Supreme Court in ’97

Chris — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 20:56:58 +0000

After passage of the Brady Bill in 1993 (our previous assault weapons ban that didn't do anything), it was challenged in court. Printz v. United States reached the Supreme Court and they delivered a ruling in 1997. One item the Supreme Court struck down were federally mandated background checks:

the provision of the Brady Act that compelled state and local law enforcement officials to perform the background checks was unconstitutional on 10th amendment grounds. The Court determined that this provision violated both the concept of federalism and that of the unitary executive ¹

As we stated in our previous article, the federal government simply cannot force states to mandate background checks on intrastate gun sales.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brady_Handgun_Violence_Prevention_Act ↩

Why universal background checks are unconstitutional

Chris — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 14:41:23 +0000

So the latest 'common sense' gun control policy being debated is universal background checks. What's that? Well, currently when you go to a gun shop you need to get a background check, but in some states it's legal to buy guns privately. Most states limit personal sales to rifles only. A 'universal background check' law would require private sale gun buyers to get a background check.

Let me explain in more detail how gun sales work. The gun shop purchase is simple... walk in, pick out a gun, get the background check (which is an extra fee), buy gun. When you buy a gun online it needs to be shipped to your local gun shop (contrary to the uninformed gun control advocates out there). Once it's at your local gun shop, you need to pay for the background check, pay a extra 'transfer fee', get your gun. The extra 'transfer fee' is also paid when two people go to a gun shop to change ownership of a gun, i.e. selling hand guns in states that require background checks even on personal sales. In both cases you're paying for the background check, and a transfer fee.

The transfer fee is for using the gun shop owners time and resources since they won't make any money on a gun sale. For the background check fee, it depends on the state where that fee goes. The ATF and fed govt don't charge for the NICS system (the system used for instant background checks), but a lot of states do. In the states that do, the FFL (gun dealer) calls the state NICS hotline to do the check, and at the end of the call they get charged a fee, and that fee is passed onto the buyer. This current system can pass constitutional muster because you're not forced to buy a gun from a gun shop if you want a gun, there are private sales.

So now the unconstitutional part... A universal background law would require citizens to pay for access to their constitutional right to own a gun (remember poll taxes?) by adding a fee to private sales. The left will argue, "if the right can force voter IDs, then we can do background checks". The problem with this argument... voter ID laws are state level (AKA constitutional). Under a universal background check law everyone will need to pay for background checks, or the government will force private businesses (gun shops) to provide services (private gun transfers) for free, also not legal. The only thing the federal government can do is set up a federal DMV style system for background checks on the private sale of guns that cross state lines... intrastate private gun sales are off limits.

AWB2013 is Unconstitutional – AR-15s are protected

Chris — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:00:12 +0000

Regardless of where you fall on the gun control debate, anything that is decided on and signed into law needs to be constitutional (well, should be at least), otherwise it will be challenged in court and overruled.

Congress along with the rest of the country are voicing their opinions, pointing out studies, facts, and figures (We did our own research on gun control effectiveness as a whole here: Common-Sen.se/guns/). Currently, the main piece of legislation on the table is Sen. Feinstein's Assault Weapon Ban of 2013 (read about it here: AWB2013). It attempts to ban, among other things, semi-automatic rifles and shotguns with pistol grips, telescoping or folding stocks, etc, and some semi-auto pistols. At the heart of the bill and the debate on capital hill is the AR-15 rifle.

I need to give some unfortunate news to gun-control advocates... AR-15s are protected by the 2nd Amendment according to the Supreme Court as recently as 2008 (D.C. v Heller ¹ ). The largest decision that came out of that court case was that the 2nd Amendment not only applies to Militia activities, but applies to the individual as well. The Second Amendment protects an individual's right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home. They decided that the right of individual firearm possession "applies to weapons used by the militia, i.e., those commonly used for lawful purposes". Sidenote: AR-15s are one of the most common rifles in the US. They come standard with telescoping stocks and 30 round magazines, a combination that is very commonly used lawfully.

Ironically, they mention the M-16 rifle, the military version of the AR-15. They also cover the argument that even though people would probably be no match to "bombers and tanks" from foreign or domestic armies...it doesn't matter.

Excerpt from DC v Heller:

To preempt any attack that I may receive: "So you believe people can own tanks and nukes?!". This is Piers Morgan's go-to argument when a guest points out that one reason the 2nd Amendment was created was to protect the people and States from a tyrannical federal government, both foreign and domestic.

"The Amendment does not apply to arms that can not be hand carried... it's to keep and bear, so it doesn't apply to cannons. But I suppose there are hand held rocket launchers that can bring down airplanes.... that will need to be decided."

-Antonin Scalia, Supreme Court Justice July 29 2012

So if owning rocket launchers ever become a problem and they're banned, the Supreme Court will have to decide.

References:

D.C. v Heller - www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/07pdf/07-290.pdf ↩

One of many justifications for high capacity magazines

Chris — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 00:40:08 +0000

Even though no justification is needed, here's one reason for hi cap mags. Here's a guy I'm sure wished he had a gun with a few high capacity magazines.

Assault Weapon Ban of 2013 – bans shotguns and pistols?

Chris — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 14:48:49 +0000

Below is the official summary of the Assault Weapon Ban of 2013 ¹. You'll notice that it bans all semi-auto shotguns that have a pistol grip (AKA every home defense shotgun). You'll also notice they're going after some semi-auto pistols just for how they look.

UPDATE: the official language of the bill has been released

Below you'll find portions of the bill as we picked it apart:

UPDATE 1:

Some hunting rifles are included in this ban. Any semi-automatic rifle which holds more than 10 rounds above 22 caliber will be banned.

semi-autos over 22 cal that hold more than 10 rounds banned

Update 2:

Seems that intra-state commerce could still be possible for assault weapons:

Seems that intra-state commerce could still be possible for large capacity magazines:

UPDATE 3:

Silencers and threaded flash suppressors now banned on pistols, and having a threaded barrel:

threaded barrels on pistols now banned

UPDATE 4:

Some very common home defense shotguns are now banned:

Some shotguns now banned

Already anticipating a constitutionality challenge, they wrote severability into the bill:

Severability clause in gun ban

Assault Weapons Ban of 2013:

Mass shootings in Newtown, Aurora, and Tucson have demonstrated all too clearly the need to regulate military-style assault weapons and high capacity ammunition magazines. These weapons allow a gunman to fire a large number of rounds quickly and without having to reload.

What the bill does:

The legislation bans the sale, transfer, manufacturing and importation of:

All semiautomatic rifles that can accept a detachable magazine and have at least one military feature: pistol grip; forward grip; folding, telescoping, or detachable stock; grenade launcher or rocket launcher; barrel shroud; or threaded barrel.
All semiautomatic pistols that can accept a detachable magazine and have at least one military feature: threaded barrel; second pistol grip; barrel shroud; capacity to accept a detachable magazine at some location outside of the pistol grip; or semiautomatic version of an automatic firearm.
All semiautomatic rifles and handguns that have a fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds.
All semiautomatic shotguns that have a folding, telescoping, or detachable stock; pistol grip; fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 5 rounds; ability to accept a detachable magazine; forward grip; grenade launcher or rocket launcher; or shotgun with a revolving cylinder.
All ammunition feeding devices (magazines, strips, and drums) capable of accepting more than 10 rounds.
157 specifically-named firearms (listed at the end of this page).

The legislation excludes the following weapons from the bill:

Any weapon that is lawfully possessed at the date of the bill’s enactment;
Any firearm manually operated by a bolt, pump, lever or slide action;
Assault weapons used by military, law enforcement, and retired law enforcement; and
Antique weapons.

The legislation protects hunting and sporting firearms:

The bill excludes 2,258 legitimate hunting and sporting rifles and shotguns by specific make and model.

The legislation strengthens the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban and state bans by:

Moving from a 2-characteristic test to a 1-characteristic test.
- The bill also makes the ban harder to evade by eliminating the easy-to-remove bayonet mounts and flash suppressors from the characteristics test.
Banning dangerous aftermarket modifications and workarounds.
- Bump or slide fire stocks, which are modified stocks that enable semi-automatic weapons to fire at rates similar to fully automatic machine guns.
- So-called “bullet buttons” that allow the rapid replacement of ammunition magazines, frequently used as a workaround to prohibitions on detachable magazines.
- Thumbhole stocks, a type of stock that was created as a workaround to avoid prohibitions on pistol grips.
Adding a ban on the importation of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines.
Eliminating the 10-year sunset that allowed the original federal ban to expire.

The legislation addresses the millions of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines currently in existence by:

Requiring a background check on all sales or transfers of a grandfathered assault weapon.
- This background check can be run through the FBI or, if a state chooses, initiated with a state agency, as with the existing background check system.
Prohibiting the sale or transfer of large-capacity ammunition feeding devices lawfully possessed on the date of enactment of the bill.
Allowing states and localities to use federal Byrne JAG grant funds to conduct a voluntary buy-back program for grandfathered assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition feeding devices.
Imposing a safe storage requirement for grandfathered firearms, to keep them away from prohibited persons.
Requiring that assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition feeding devices manufactured after the date of the bill’s enactment be engraved with the serial number and date of manufacture of the weapon

List of firearms prohibited by name

Rifles: All AK types, including the following: AK, AK47, AK47S, AK–74, AKM, AKS, ARM, MAK90, MISR, NHM90, NHM91, Rock River Arms LAR–47, SA85, SA93, Vector Arms AK–47, VEPR, WASR–10, and WUM, IZHMASH Saiga AK, MAADI AK47 and ARM, Norinco 56S, 56S2, 84S, and 86S, Poly Technologies AK47 and AKS; All AR types, including the following: AR–10, AR–15, Armalite M15 22LR Carbine, Armalite M15–T, Barrett REC7, Beretta AR–70, Bushmaster ACR, Bushmaster Carbon 15, Bushmaster MOE series, Bushmaster XM15, Colt Match Target Rifles, DoubleStar AR rifles, DPMS Tactical Rifles, Heckler & Koch MR556, Olympic Arms, Remington R–15 rifles, Rock River Arms LAR–15, Sig Sauer SIG516 rifles, Smith & Wesson M&P15 Rifles, Stag Arms AR rifles, Sturm, Ruger & Co. SR556 rifles; Barrett M107A1; Barrett M82A1; Beretta CX4 Storm; Calico Liberty Series; CETME Sporter; Daewoo K–1, K–2, Max 1, Max 2, AR 100, and AR 110C; Fabrique Nationale/FN Herstal FAL, LAR, 22 FNC, 308 Match, L1A1 Sporter, PS90, SCAR, and FS2000; Feather Industries AT–9; Galil Model AR and Model ARM; Hi-Point Carbine; HK–91, HK–93, HK–94, HK–PSG–1 and HK USC; Kel-Tec Sub–2000, SU–16, and RFB; SIG AMT, SIG PE–57, Sig Sauer SG 550, and Sig Sauer SG 551; Springfield Armory SAR–48; Steyr AUG; Sturm, Ruger Mini-14 Tactical Rife M–14/20CF; All Thompson rifles, including the following: Thompson M1SB, Thompson T1100D, Thompson T150D, Thompson T1B, Thompson T1B100D, Thompson T1B50D, Thompson T1BSB, Thompson T1–C, Thompson T1D, Thompson T1SB, Thompson T5, Thompson T5100D, Thompson TM1, Thompson TM1C; UMAREX UZI Rifle; UZI Mini Carbine, UZI Model A Carbine, and UZI Model B Carbine; Valmet M62S, M71S, and M78; Vector Arms UZI Type; Weaver Arms Nighthawk; Wilkinson Arms Linda Carbine.

Pistols: All AK–47 types, including the following: Centurion 39 AK pistol, Draco AK–47 pistol, HCR AK–47 pistol, IO Inc. Hellpup AK–47 pistol, Krinkov pistol, Mini Draco AK–47 pistol, Yugo Krebs Krink pistol; All AR–15 types, including the following: American Spirit AR–15 pistol, Bushmaster Carbon 15 pistol, DoubleStar Corporation AR pistol, DPMS AR–15 pistol, Olympic Arms AR–15 pistol, Rock River Arms LAR 15 pistol; Calico Liberty pistols; DSA SA58 PKP FAL pistol; Encom MP–9 and MP–45; Heckler & Koch model SP-89 pistol; Intratec AB–10, TEC–22 Scorpion, TEC–9, and TEC–DC9; Kel-Tec PLR 16 pistol; The following MAC types: MAC–10, MAC–11; Masterpiece Arms MPA A930 Mini Pistol, MPA460 Pistol, MPA Tactical Pistol, and MPA Mini Tactical Pistol; Military Armament Corp. Ingram M–11, Velocity Arms VMAC; Sig Sauer P556 pistol; Sites Spectre; All Thompson types, including the following: Thompson TA510D, Thompson TA5; All UZI types, including: Micro-UZI.

Shotguns: Franchi LAW–12 and SPAS 12; All IZHMASH Saiga 12 types, including the following: IZHMASH Saiga 12, IZHMASH Saiga 12S, IZHMASH Saiga 12S EXP–01, IZHMASH Saiga 12K, IZHMASH Saiga 12K–030, IZHMASH Saiga 12K–040 Taktika; Streetsweeper; Striker 12.

Belt-fed semiautomatic firearms: All belt-fed semiautomatic firearms including TNW M2HB.

Source:

http://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/assault-weapons-ban-summary ↩

Romney knew about Mali, why didn’t you?

Chris — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 16:28:32 +0000

Remember when Mitt Romney said we should pay attention to Mali in the debates?

With the Arab Spring, came a great deal of hope that there would be a change towards more moderation, and opportunity for greater participation on the part of women in public life, and in economic life in the Middle East. But instead, we've seen in nation after nation, a number of disturbing events. Of course we see in Syria, 30,000 civilians having been killed by the military there. We see in -- in Libya, an attack apparently by, I think we know now, by terrorists of some kind against -- against our people there, four people dead.

Our hearts and -- and minds go out to them. Mali has been taken over, the northern part of Mali by al-Qaeda type individuals. We have in -- in Egypt, a Muslim Brotherhood president. And so what we're seeing is a pretty dramatic reversal in the kind of hopes we had for that region. ...

But we can't kill our way out of this mess. We're going to have to put in place a very comprehensive and robust strategy to help the -- the world of Islam and other parts of the world, reject this radical violent extremism, which is -- it's certainly not on the run.

- Mitt Romney, OCTOBER 22, 2012

Twitter was on fire... much of it mockery and some saying he has no grasp of geography:

Mitt, you do know that most of America thinks Mali is one of Obama's daughters, right?

— Bill Maher (@billmaher) October 23, 2012

Mitt Romney thinks that Mali is in the Middle East. No grasp of geography. Check. #debates

— Aaron Huslage (@huslage) October 23, 2012

Romney puts Mali in the Middle East #CNNdebate

— Security Clearance (@natlsecuritycnn) October 23, 2012

Romney seems to think Mali is in the Middle East #debate

— Hind Makki (@HindMakki) October 23, 2012

Mitt Romney keeps saying Mali like Americans know that is a country... #debate #BocaDebate

— GOP Devolving (@GOPDevolving) October 23, 2012

Romney mentions Mali when talking about the Middle East conflicts. Also: not in the Middle East. #debate

— Andrew Katz (@katz) October 23, 2012

Um, Mali - why does Romney care about Mali?

— Elmira Bayrasli (@endeavoringE) October 23, 2012

So saying Libya and Egypt are part of the Middle East when they're both in Africa is okay, but talking about Mali when you're talking about the Arab Spring in the Middle East region makes you geographically challenged?

FLASHBACK: Obama claims he has traveled to 57 states:

Maybe we should have listened?

Image: Bloomberg

Sen Feinstein doesn’t just want ‘assault weapons’… she wants all guns.

Chris — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 19:57:52 +0000

Here she is in her own words in 1995 telling us what her true intentions are. While gun rights advocates are being labeled as loons for fearing an all out gun confiscation... isn't that thought somewhat justified when you have leaders saying things like this?

Are rifles really the problem?

Chris — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 15:04:43 +0000

In 2011 there were 12,664 murders in the US. 1694 murders from knives, 496 from bats and clubs, and 726 from hands, fists, and feet. The number of murders from all types of rifles, including 'assault rifles', was 323. Yes, there were 524% more murders from knives than rifles. We're supposed to believe that banning the weapons that only account for 2.5% of all murders is the solution?

Read our analysis on gun control effectiveness here: http://common-sen.se/guns/

Bill to repeal presidential term limits

Chris — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 16:57:59 +0000

Rep. Jose Serrano introduced bill to repeal presidential term limits. While this has little chance of getting the required 2/3 vote in the House, it probably has an even smaller chance of being ratified by the required 38 states.

Text of the legislation is pretty simple: "The twenty-second article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed."

View it here: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d113:10:./temp/~bdpL6V::

PDF: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-113hjres15ih/pdf/BILLS-113hjres15ih.pdf

No one decided to cosponsor this bill.

SAY NO TO HR15!!

Breaking: Al-Jazeera buys Current TV from Al Gore

Chris — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 02:21:58 +0000

http://news.yahoo.com/al-jazeera-buys-current-tv-al-gore-002839067--finance.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

photo: http://news.yahoo.com/photos/file-jan-13-2012-file-photo-former-vice-photo-020519839--finance.html

The NRA Plan To Guard Schools Is So Stupid That 1/3rd Of All Public Schools Already Do It…

Chris — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 20:07:01 +0000

Nationwide, at least 23,000 schools — about one-third of all public schools — already had armed security on staff as of the most recent data, for the 2009-10 school year, and a number of states and districts that do not use them have begun discussing the idea in recent days. . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/22/us/nra-calls-for-armed-guards-at-schools.html

http://www.nationalreview.com/the-feed/336372/nra-plan-so-stupid-13rd-all-public-schools-already-use-it#

Hollywood Hypocrisy

Chris — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 15:10:13 +0000

Do as I say, not as I do...

Hypocrisy: The Journal News – Protecting themselves with guns

Chris — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 04:01:57 +0000

The Journal News is armed and dangerous: http://www.rocklandtimes.com/2013/01/01/the-journal-news-is-armed-and-dangerous/

Flashback: posts map of gun owners... http://www.lohud.com/interactive/article/20121223/NEWS01/121221011/Map-Where-gun-permits-your-neighborhood-

Venezuela murder rate soars… FLASHBACK: Chavez bans guns to control crime (June ’12)

Chris — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 22:03:30 +0000

Venezuela murder rate soars:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/9769897/Venezuela-murder-rate-soars.html

Flashback: June 2012... Chavez bans guns... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-18288430

Go figure

photo: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Operemm-2.jpg?uselang=es

International and domestic gun control statistics

Chris — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 01:40:54 +0000

In this article I will explain why claiming stricter gun control laws will lower crime rates is just as inaccurate as saying stricter gun control laws will allow crime rates to increase. It's neither; gun control laws have no effect on crime rates. I'll prove this through both international and domestic statistical analysis. I will also explain why using only the UK as an example of why US gun laws are the problem is analytically deceitful.

If you really care about reducing the murder rate of the United States, gun laws might be one of the most ineffective ways to approach the problem.

International Statistics:

If we’re going to compare ourselves to other countries like the UK, let’s take a broader look. Here’s a list of murder rates by country compiled by the UN:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate#By_country

http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/statistics/crime/Homicide_statistics2012.xls

Country Murder Rates

Country	Murder Rate
Honduras	91.6
El Salvador	69.2
Côte d'Ivoire	56.9
Jamaica	52.2
Venezuela	45.1
Belize	41.4
...	...
USA	4.2

The countries with the 5 highest murder rates (Honduras, El Salvador, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, and Venezuela) all have stricter gun control laws than the US, and all have murder rates over 10 times higher than the US. In Venezuela they’re only allowed to own 22s, yet their murder rate is over 10 times higher than ours (Chavez has banned guns in 2012 ¹). All of them require a license to buy a gun, which isn't mandated in the US. All of them require records to be saved, which isn't mandated in the US. In fact, almost every country higher than us on the murder rate list has stricter gun laws than us ².

Then we move into more ‘civilized’ countries. The Bahamas has a murder rate over 6 times higher than ours, and has stricter gun laws. Russia has a murder rate more than double ours, yet handguns and some semi-automatic weapons are banned.

Then we get to the bottom of the list; countries with the lowest murder rate. Near the bottom you'll find the same type of gun control laws that are found at the top of the list, some even have complete gun bans. There are two countries with a 0% murder rate… One has strict gun laws, the other allows guns including handguns. Switzerland has one of the lowest crime rates in the world, while having one of the highest gun ownership rates in the world ³. They too have a right to bear arms guaranteed by law. Serbia has the 2^nd highest guns per capita rate in the world, yet a murder rate the same as the UK. Norway has a high gun per capita rate, gun laws similar to the US, yet is tied for the 6^th lowest murder rate.

Gun Ownership Rate by Country

Country	Guns per 100
United States	88.8
Serbia	58.2
Yemen	54.8
Switzerland	45.7
...	...
Norway	31.3
...	...
Venezuela	10.7
Jamaica	8.1
Honduras	6.2
El Salvador	5.8
Côte d'Ivoire	2.4

You'll notice that the countries with the highest murder rates have low gun ownership rates.

Trend?

So is there a trend we can get from the data? The top of the UN murder rate list is probably due to lawlessness, corrupt governments, lack of law enforcement, and organized crime (sometimes allowed by the corrupt govt). I don't believe anyone would say more gun laws in those types of countries would help. But there are many countries just as civil as us, with stricter gun control laws, with the same or higher murder rates. Norway, mentioned above for high gun ownership and low crime rates, was home of the 2011 island attack, which claimed 77 lives. Some would say the United States has the least strict gun control laws in the entire world. I challenge gun control advocates to explain why half of the world's countries have murder rates higher than ours. I also welcome those who claim gun control will increase crime to explain why half of the world has lower murder rates than ours. With murder rates and gun control strictness being all over the spectrum, any attempt to correlate the two is incorrect and deceitful. So the trend? As far as international gun control strictness and murder rates... there doesn't appear to be one.

While I claim that there is no correlation between gun control laws and murder rates, I do want to point out that using the UK to lambast the US gun policies might not be the best idea. Below is a graph which shows homicide rates through the years. While their murder rate is lower than ours, their murder rate has gone up since enacting their strict gun laws which the media seems to be praising recently.

Large anomalies unrelated to guns (shown in pink):
2000: 58 Chinese people suffocated to death in a shipping container en route to the UK
2002: 172 homicides reported when Dr. Harold Shipman was exposed for killing his patients
2003: 20 cockle pickers drowned resulting in manslaughter charges
2005: 52 people were killed in the July 7th London subway/bus bombings ⁴

From 1946 - 2011:

Average number of UK murders per year before gun control: 321 ⁵
Average number of UK murders per year after gun control: 601
That's an 87% increase

Domestic Statistics:

If you want to look at statistics domestically you’ll find that while gun ownership has increased over the past few decades, violent crime has decreased. Let's look at some cities which have strict gun laws.

Raw data provided by the FBI:

City	Murders	From Guns	% from Guns	% of US tot	% of US pop	Source
Philadelphia	324	265	82%	3.09%	.49%	⁶
New York	515	314	61%	3.66%	2.62%	⁷
Baltimore	197	150	76%	1.75%	.20%	⁸
Washington D.C.	109	78	72%	.91%	.20%	⁹
Chicago	433	361	83%	4.21%	.86%	¹⁰
	1922	1168

2011 total US murders: 12,664
2011 US gun murders: 8,583 ¹¹
murders in gun control cities / murder total: 15.12%
gun murders in gun control cities / gun murder total: 13.61%

So the above mentioned cities which have very strict gun laws (or had gun bans) have 13.61% of gun murders but only 4.46% of the US population. The above figures reveal another reason why the US/UK argument is flawed. The current argument uses the US gun murder rate as a whole, which also includes the 22% of gun murders that take place in areas with strict gun laws like the UK. You can't have your cake and eat it too. While the gun murder rate in the US would still be higher, I'm just pointing out why the argument has a basic flaw at it's core.
Let's look a little deeper into the 8583 gun murder figure:

Total US Gun murders in 2011: 8583
Murders during felonies: 1313
Murders from gang violence: 619

That means that 22.51% of gun murders in the US happen during felonies or gang violence ¹¹. The number could be higher but the FBI has 3586 uncategorized gun murders. Would gun control prevent felons and gang members from using guns?

What effect has gun control had in the US?

In 1976 Washington D.C. passed a law which banned handguns and required all other firearms to be stored either disassembled or trigger locked. The graph below shows homicides per year ¹³

Obviously, banning handguns didn't help their murder rate at all. The massive increase of homicides in the 80s and 90s has been attributed to the 'crack epidemic'.
Let's take a look at Chicago ¹⁴:

As you can see, Chicago had the same spike in murders, even though they banned handguns.

Murders with handguns in Chicago went up after their ban.

California and Texas are on opposite ends of the gun law strictness spectrum. California had 1,220 gun murders last year; 14% of the nation's total and has 12% of the nation's population. Texas had 699 gun murders last year; 8% of the nation's total and has 8% of the nation's population. Each is relatively proportional to population.

The Brady Campaign ranks the states according to gun law strictness; 50 being not strict. According to the FBI, Louisiana has the highest murder rate in the US, and according to the Brady Campaign is tied for 47th out of 50 for gun control strictness with the score of 2 out of 100 possible points ¹⁵. On the other hand, North Dakota is also tied for 47th in gun control strictness, but as the 4th lowest murder rate. Utah received the worst possible score given by the Brady Campaign, a 0 out of 100, yet they have the 5th lowest murder rate in the country. ¹⁶ ¹⁷

Assault Weapons Ban:

The legislation that is being proposed right now is renewing the federal assault weapons ban. Our worst school killing in history was in 1927 where 44 people were killed and 58 wounded. The sleazeball didn’t use a gun at all. The Columbine shooting happened during the previous federal assault weapons ban (1994-2004), and no assault rifles were used. Of the 4 weapons and 16 magazines that were used, only 2 of the magazines would have been banned. One of the handguns could have possibly been banned depending on the specific model. California which currently has the strictest gun laws, including an assault weapons ban, had 14% of the nation's gun murders as mentioned above. In Connecticut, where the school shooting took place last week, there is a current assault weapons ban.

It's also important to note that the 'assault weapon' term is an invention of modern media. It relates to the military cosmetic characteristics of a gun instead of it's functionality. Below are 2 Rugar mini-14s. One is the ranch model, the other is the tactical model. Both are the same base gun, but the tactical gun is cosmetically different.

Ruger Mini-14 Rancher

Ruger Mini-14 Tactical

Under an 'assault weapon' ban, the tactical model would be banned while the hunting model wouldn't, but they're both the same gun and accept the same magazines. Rifles actually make up a very small proportion of gun crimes. According to the FBI, there were 323 murders from rifles in 2011 ¹⁸. In comparison, there were 1694 knife murders (or other cutting tools), 496 blunt murders (baseball bats, hammers, etc), and 726 murders by using hands, fists, and feet.

There were 524% more murders with knives than rifles. An 'assault rifle' ban would be as logical as allowing knives with wooden handles but banning black handled knives. There were 154% more murders with baseball bats than rifles. Should baseball bats be illegal to own unless used for sport?

Source of guns

So where do the guns come from that commit our 8535 gun murders? The Bureau of Justice Statistics revealed in 2001 that less than 1% of firearm offenders acquired their weapons at gun shows ¹⁹. In a study conducted on prison inmates in 1991, the Department of Justice reported that 9% of guns used in crimes were stolen, 29% were bought on the black market or through a drug dealer, and 31% were bought from a friend or family member ²⁰. 80% of the inmates had previous convictions, making a good portion of the purchases from friends/family illegal straw purchases. This means 70% of the guns criminals used were acquired in illegal or questionable means. This is one reason why gun control laws have little affect on murder and crime outcomes.

The study was conducted again in 1997, after the federal assault weapons ban went into effect: ²¹

Source of Guns

Retail store	8.3%
Pawnshop	3.8%
Flea market	1.0%
Gun show	0.7%
Friends or family	39.6%
Street/illegal source	39.2%

After the ban went into effect, guns acquired through illegal or questionable means increased from 70% to 80%.

Conclusion:

So what can we glean from our domestic numbers? I've shown how California and Texas have opposite gun laws yet both have proportional gun murders. I've pointed out major cities where strict gun laws and bans are in effect, yet they still have high murder rates. You can look at other large cities like Detroit where there are no gun bans and find high violent crime and gun murders. in 2011 Detroit had 344 murders. Finding what % of those were gun related is proving difficult, but a few local newspapers published the 80% figure. That would put it in the same range as the other urban areas with gun bans and restrictions listed in the table above. So looking at different areas of the country over the same time period shows there is no effect of gun control laws on gun murders. When you look at gun murders as a function of time, gun control laws don't prevent murders.

On the other side of the argument, while it does seem that murders, including gun murders, went up when cities like DC, Chicago, NYC, and Philly banned guns, which they did, it was also happening nationally. Rushing to say gun control causes increased crime rates I believe is also unfounded. It's also important to note that gun violence and murders did fall after the assault weapons ban ended.

Maybe it's analysis like this that made our very own CDC admit that the "evidence was insufficient to determine the effectiveness of any of these [firearms] laws" after analyzing 51 studies in 2003 which looked into gun control laws including waiting periods, 'shall issue' permitting, and gun bans ²².

PS...Gun Control Lobby:

Gun control interest group contributions to federal candidates

Election Cycle	Rank†	Total Contributions	Contributions from Individuals	Contributions from PACs	Soft/Outside Money	Donations to Democrats	Donations to Republicans	% to Dems	% to Repubs
2012	71	$3,127,478	$1,843,258	$1,255,384	$28,836	$133,218	$2,962,224	4%	96%
2010	71	$2,877,590	$1,008,061	$1,784,254	$85,275	$459,937	$2,320,128	17%	83%
2008	73	$2,818,592	$1,200,420	$1,617,947	$225	$362,235	$2,452,857	13%	87%
2006	74	$1,575,672	$273,125	$1,302,547	$0	$179,657	$1,396,015	11%	89%
2004	73	$2,044,967	$558,293	$1,486,674	$0	$191,796	$1,851,998	9%	91%
2002	68	$2,812,245	$202,390	$1,645,132	$964,723	$185,100	$2,624,847	7%	93%
2000	63	$4,342,535	$490,237	$2,027,776	$1,824,522	$309,550	$4,013,935	7%	93%
1998	62	$2,516,575	$249,203	$1,917,372	$350,000	$310,600	$2,202,885	12%	88%
1996	71	$1,963,291	$67,110	$1,808,456	$87,725	$286,740	$1,676,551	15%	85%
1994	57	$2,407,109	$67,202	$2,036,407	$303,500	$457,488	$1,949,158	19%	81%
1992	64	$1,874,405	$29,225	$1,845,180	$0	$661,592	$1,204,813	35%	65%
1990	65	$928,387	$20,700	$907,687	$0	$317,252	$611,135	34%	66%
Total	68	$29,288,846	$6,009,224	$19,634,816	$3,644,806	$3,855,165	$25,266,546	13%	87%

†Rank represents the rank of the gun rights industry compared to other industries' contributions

Over the past 22 years, the gun lobby has been the 68th largest lobby on average ²³. Not as high as the media would lead you to believe, is it?

Sources:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-18288430 ↩
http://www.gunpolicy.org/ ↩
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_of_guns_per_capita_by_country ↩
http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs10/hosb0110.pdf ↩
http://www.murderuk.com/misc_crime_stats.html ↩
http://www.phillypolice.com/about/crime-statistics/ ↩
www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/downloads/pdf/analysis_and_planning/2011_murder_in_nyc.pdf ↩
http://data.baltimoresun.com/homicides/ ↩
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jan/1/dc-homicides-drop-half-last-decade/?page=all ↩
https://portal.chicagopolice.org/portal/page/portal/ClearPath/News/Statistical%20Reports/Murder%20Reports/MA11.pdf ↩
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/tables/expanded-homicide-data-table-11 ↩
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/tables/expanded-homicide-data-table-11 ↩
Graph constructed at http://www.justfacts.com/guncontrol.asp with data from:
a) Dataset: "Uniform Crime Reporting Program, District of Columbia, 1960-2008." Federal Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Justice Information Services Division. Data supplied to Just Facts on June 15, 2010.
b) Article: "Homicide totals for 2009 plummet in District, Prince George's." By Allison Klein. Washington Post, January 1, 2010.
"The number of slayings last year in the District, once known as the murder capital of the United States, was 140, a 25 percent drop from 2008. ... The homicide numbers were compiled as of late Thursday night and could go up New Year's Eve, but any such increases are not likely to change the overall trend."
NOTE: By performing calculations with the data above (140 slayings in 2009, which is a 25% drop from 2008) and 2008 data from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Just Facts has determined that these "slayings" include both homicides and nonnegligent manslaughters, not just homicides.
c) Dataset: "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for the United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2009." U.S. Census Bureau, December 2009. http://www.census.gov/popest/states/NST-ann-est.html
Population in DC as of July 1, 2009 = 599,657
d) Dataset: "Uniform Crime Reporting Program, United States, 1960-2008." Federal Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Justice Information Services Division. Data supplied to Just Facts on June 15, 2010. ↩
http://www.justfacts.com/guncontrol.asp#%5B52%5D ↩
http://www.bradycampaign.org/stategunlaws/scorecard ↩
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence_in_the_United_States_by_state ↩
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/tables/table-4 ↩
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/tables/expanded-homicide-data-table-11 ↩
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "First Reports Evaluating the Effectiveness of Strategies for Preventing Violence: Early Childhood Home Visitation and Firearms Laws," Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (October 3, 2003), vol. 52(No. RR-14):14-18. ↩
http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=1073 ↩
http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=dcdetail&iid=275 ↩
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5214a2.htm ↩
http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/totals.php?cycle=2010&ind=Q13 ↩

We don’t have a revenue problem…

Chris — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 17:00:54 +0000

we have a spending problem. The media would lead you to believe if we end the Bush tax cuts for the rich, we'll avoid the fiscal cliff. Raising the taxes on the 'rich' will bring in around $80 billion in new revenue... less than 20% of the fiscal cliff. Just last month we had a $122 BILLION deficit. Bottom line: the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy for an entire year can't even cover the deficit of a single month. We must get our spending under control.

Air raid horns wail in Jerusalem…

Chris — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 16:39:29 +0000

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20365074

Photo: AP Photo/Ariel Schalit