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Alas, poor Utah
A Utah antigun group sponors a day of rememberance. "in 2005 Utah received a grade of D- for its laws shielding families from gun violence, from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Utah has no child access prevention laws, no gun safety lock or safety design standard laws, no limitation on assault weapons and magazines or “junk” handguns, no requirement for a license to purchase a gun, no requirement to maintain gun sales records or to register the ownership of a gun, no requirement for background checks on “private” gun sales, and no required safety training for handgun buyers."
Hmm, so let's look at the crime picture in this D- state. Uh -- in that year it had a homicide rate of 2.3, the 42nd lowest in the country (the absolute lowest rate was Vermont, which allows concealed carry without a permit, and the highest rate, 35, was the District of Columbia). In total violence crime it was 47th -- only Vermont, New Hampshire and South Dakota had less violence.
Comments
I think you mean that Utah had the 9th-lowest homicide rate, not 42nd. Its rate is the 42nd-highest.
Posted by: King of the Cows at October 27, 2006 08:09 AM
Let's not overlook the fact that the three states with lower rates of total violent crime have ratings of either D (SD) or D- (NH & VT) as well. I've always loved the Brady's annual ratings of states, since it makes it so easy to illustrate John Lott's results to those without a background in econometrics. More gun control means more violent crime.
Posted by: Ken at October 27, 2006 09:07 AM
Speaking from Vermont, with a pistol on my belt, I'm proud of our "D-" rating from the Brady Bunch. Our "gun control" laws punish those who commit crimes, leaving the innocent and law abiding folks to choose for themselves whether they will, or will not carry a gun, and that is as it should be.
Posted by: "gunner" at October 28, 2006 11:31 AM
I think Thomas Jefferson summed it up properly when he stated. "When people fear their government, you have Tyranny. When governments fear it's people, you have democracy"....
Posted by: Roger at October 28, 2006 05:13 PM