[clange]

Ok this guy is canadian, pretty anti-us, and clearly anti-gun. He thinks bowling for columbine was great. We're going over that now, but in the meantime he made another thread asking 'why americans thought so many americans were shot and killed every year.' Now i know different routes to take here, and some different theories, but i'm not really sure of the best most well supported reason. I havent thought about it much, actually. It's likely whatever i come up with; urban density, poverty, race (direct link, but most likely because of the first two), other cultural influences etc, will not be accepted anyway, but i wonder what your thoughts are on this?

[Greg L]

but i wonder what your thoughts are on this?

Do you really want to spend (originally I had written "waste" but it would only be wasted if you never used the information on someone else who may be open enough to listen) hours of your time looking up/compliling statistics, gathering your thoughts into a choherent logical presentation, etc only to have him dismiss them out of hand and not even look at/think about them?

Personally, I wouldn't bother.

Greg

[TallPine]

Guess what? this has all been done before.

Go back over to TFL and look up some of those agonizingly long threads with euros like Metalic Kitty (and there was another big euro troll - what was the name?).

Basically, the answer is that most of the killings in this country take place among blacks in major cities. Take out that segment of the population, and our murder rate is as low or lower than europe and canada.

[fallingblock]

It never hurts to try....at least you wind up with some figures and the confidence to use them.

try:

http://www.fbi.gov/libref.htm

http://www.guncite.com/

for starters. The FBI site lists murders broken down by weapon, race, and just about every conceivable category.
You will be able to demonstrate the nearly fourfold overrepresentation of Black Americans in the 'firearms involved' murders, which gives a good insight into the problem of inner-city drug & gang wars.
Point out that the majority of these victims have previous convictions and that they are prevented from legally owning a firearm due to age and often jurisdiction as well as the convictions.

Talking to an 'anti', especially one who is naive enough to admire Mike Moore, will make you feel like this:banghead: :barf: :fire:
but your knowledge will increase with your research until you are getting them to convert...or at least change the subject.
Good hunting:)