Reply To: THE PUZZLE OF MURDER-BY-GUN STATISTICS

[SteveInCO]

You’re still trying to equate firearms deaths…i.e., any homicide with a firearm, including self defense and suicide as well as murders, with murders committed by any means, firarms, baseball bats, poison, which is what Unseen was talking about. “Murders” vs. “deaths by firearm” are two distinct things, each with elements not in the other set (murders with a baseball bat, and suicides by firearms, would be respective examples), with only some overlap between them (murders by firearm). You can’t compare them.

When Unseen makes the claim that the presence of firearms doesn’t seem to affect the murder (by all methods) rate, pointing to a stat that shows that firearms deaths correlate to the presence of firearms doesn’t rebut his point, because his point is not about firearms deaths, it isn’t even about firearms murders. It’s about murders by all means. Reducing firearms, if he is to be believed, would simply increase the rate of murder by other means.

That conclusion, actually, would be consistent with BOTH of your points.