One of the things I ponder is where does this 11K gun murder average come from. Certainly not from the FBI's crime statistics pages where some minor and rather simple research into the FBI's "Table 20" reveals the following:I happen to believe, based on an average of more than 11K gun murders a year in this country, that more guns do not make us a safer nation.
Code: Select all
Year Murder By: Murder By:
Firearms Handguns
2011 8583 6220
2010 8775 6009
2009 9146 6452
2008 9484 6755
2007 10086 7361
2006 10177 7795
2005 10100 7543
Average 9479 6876
From this data, my conclusion is the professor's quoted average is inflated by 16 percent over the FBI's statistics. Further, the FBI statistics suggest (but do not prove) the overall death rates by firearms and handguns is decreasing.
Combining this apparent decrease with an apparent increase in the number of guns in the hands of The People of the United States, suggests† that more guns may indeed make us a safer nation.
ETA:
grammar
and
† be wary of causation arguments