Crime stats are really a whole differant area.
Yes the US has a pretty high number of muders per year. Even when taken as per capita. But are the guns the reason for this? IF so then why do the Swiss have such extremely low numbers of murders? Many Swiss have their fully auto armed forces weapons in their homes, yet very low homicide rates. Britian has some of the most restrictive gun laws in all the world, but a higher murder rate than the Swiss, why?
Could it be it has more to do with the overall context of the society where the murders happen? The enviroment a person is in has a huge effect on a individual, and how he will react.
Sadly the US murder rate is high. But not just firearms murders. Murder with a knife, ball bat, pipe, auto, poisons .......... or guns are all criminal acts. And where premeditated murders are concerned the killer would just use a differant method if unable to get a gun. Murders commited in the heat of the moment, or acts of rage, might be reduced if a gun were not in the home. But on the other had a butcher knife is also deadly.
I really got into this subject some time back, and was surprised at some of the stats I found. In the end what I have come to beleive is that the enviroment in which a person is living and was raised in has more to due with tendencies toward violence than any other factor.
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