Originally posted by Teallaura
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If it works then why do a number of nations with very strict gun laws have much higher rates of violence including gun-related violence? For instance, while the U.S. has something like 10 times more firearms in civilian hands than does Russia the homicide rate here is roughly half of what Russia experiences. Should not the inverse be true if you're correct?
If it works then why does Switzerland, which for several decades, requires that a full automatic assault rifle be kept in your home, have a very low level of gun-related violence[2][3]? Should not the inverse be true if you're correct?
1. It should be noted that before the District of Columbia v. Heller decision in 2008 Washington D.C. experienced a murder rate that rivaled the oft-mentioned Chicago. But after the Supreme Court struck down the capitol's ultra-strict gun control laws (where it was virtually illegal for an ordinary citizen to legally own any sort of firearm) the city has been experiencing a sharp drop in violent crime. From 2007 (the year the laws were still in effect) to 2010 the city experienced a 35.5% drop in their homicide rate! Likewise, robberies involving a firearm dropped 10.3% and assaults with a dangerous weapon involving firearms dropped 24.1%. Should not the inverse be true if you're correct?
And that trend continued into the following years as well but at a slower pace.
2. A similar statement can be said about Israel where it is not uncommon to see a housewife shopping for groceries with an automatic weapon slung over her shoulder. When you eliminate terrorism (the reason they walk around armed) the rate of gun violence is pretty darn low.
3. I should note that I live in a city where the law requires that a firearm be kept in your home (although it is never enforced and there are enough exemptions to make it unenforceable), and yet since the law was passed decades ago we experience a markedly lower murder rate (and crime rate in general) than seen in surrounding communities or even communities of similar size in the metro Atlanta area. Even the virulently anti-2A Atlanta Journal-Constitution conceded several years back that many criminals avoid our city because of the perception that everyone is armed.
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