My e-mail to him
Dear Sir,
The United States, in spite of the presence of firearms, is fifteenth in the world behind (respectively) Lithuania, Russia, Estonia, Hungary, Finland, China, France, Germany, Japan, Canada, Australia, Sweden, Norway, and Iceland. Many of these countries have firearms regulations akin to those you propose. They still have high rates of suicide, however.
Ref:
http://cebmh.warne.ox.ac.uk/cebmh/elmh/nelmh/suicide/statistics/international.html
You also state “A good, old-fashioned shotgun or hunting rifle is more than sufficient for this task.â€; but criminals who come into the possession of a rifle or shotgun will cut the stock and barrel off to shorten it into -- you guessed ut -- an especially powerful and deadly handgun. The only people who will not have handguns will be the law-abiding. You are also under the impression that all crimes worthy of deadly force with a firearm occur in the home. Most violent crime happens outside the home, the very place you want the law-abiding to be disarmed. By extension, you legitimize crimes against the person in public while deligitimizing self defense.
As for the United States and the “slaughter on the streetsâ€:
The United States is TWENTY-THIRD of the top 100 nations in rate per 1,000 persons. Many of these countries have firearms regulations akin to those you propose.
Ref:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/cri_mur_cap
In the number of murders within a country boundary, The United States is SIXTH behind India, Russia, Columbia, South Africa, and Mexico. Many of these countries have firearms regulations akin to those you propose.
Ref:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/cri_mur
In murders with firearms, The United States is EIGHTH, of the top 100 nations in rate per 1,000 persons, behind South Africa, Columbia, Thailand, Zimbabwe, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Belarus. Many of these countries have firearms regulations akin to those you propose.
Ref:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/cri_mur_wit_fir_cap
In murders with firearms within a country boundary, The United States is FOURTH behind South Africa, Columbia, and Thailand. All of these countries have firearms regulations akin to those you propose.
Ref:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/cri_mur_wit_fir
While the United States leads, at number ONE, for the total number of ALL crimes within a country boundary,
Ref:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/cri_tot_cri
the United States is EIGHTH for all crimes of the top 100 nations in rate per 1,000 persons including some of the nations touted as the most safe -- Finland, Denmark, and Great Britain.
Ref:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/cri_tot_cri_cap
On the webpage
http://www.nationmaster.com , note the crime statistics for rape, robbery, burglary, etc. You will find that the United States lags far behind in Rate per 1,000 persons for these crimes also.
As for your assertion that “handguns as common as television sets†the Media Coalition says “Today, 98% of American homes have a TV set, and 40% have three or moreâ€. As for firearms, kidsandguns.org , an anti-firearms group says “38% of households in the U.S. have at least one gun and 24% contain a handgun.â€. This is based on their reference to Johns Hopkins fall 1998 National Gun Policy Survey available as a PDF file at:
http://www.jhsph.edu/gunpolicy/Guns_in_Home.pdf .
Ref:
http://www.mediacoalition.org/stm/stm_violent_crime.htm
Your position and your veracity are never strengthened by such wild assertions.
Sincerely,
Jim Peel
Kimball, NE