andrew fildes wrote:
Americans really really don't seem to realise just how safe the rest of
the world is in comparison.
Of course, it's not all to do with guns, but they don't help. Moore's
message delivered in an exaggerated and ironic fashion was that guns
don't kill people, merkins kill people. Rather frequently. Disagree if
you wish but use good data.
One good indication that it's American culture in general, not our guns:
the last time I looked, the U.S. rate of murders committed without
weapons, e.g. just plain beating people to death unarmed, or throwing
them off of buildings, was as high as the total murder rate in many
countries. If you eliminated every murder committed with a weapon, our
murder rate would still have been higher. Whatever its other faults, the
NRA has one thing right -- people kill people.
But that says very little about the murder rate in most American
communities. It mainly reflects the extraordinary murder rates in our
poor inner cities. To be blunt, most Americans don't live or work in
those communities and don't particularly care about reducing the crime
level in those communities as long as the crime can be largely confined
to those communities. They won't usually say that openly, but it's
undeniable when you follow the money and votes.
--
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