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Brady releases its annual report card
One story here:
"The Brady Campaign's report uses five categories to score states: how well they curb firearm trafficking, whether they perform background checks, how effectively they keep guns from children, whether they ban military-style weapons and how they regulate guns in public places.
Massachusetts scored 54 out of 100 points. No. 1-ranked California scored 79. Utah scored zero."
And their 2008 [lastest available] homicide rates, per 100,000 population:
California 5.8 Massachusetts 2.5 Utah 1.5
A good correlation: the worse your Brady grade, the lower your homicide rate. Here's another story:
"Gun control laws in northern New England are being given low marks in the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence's annual survey of state gun laws. The survey gave Maine a score of 11 out of 100 for its laws, while New Hampshire was given a 9 and Vermont was given an 8. The Brady Campaign says laws in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont allow the sale of guns without background checks, put children at risk and help feed the illegal gun market."
Homicide rates: Maine 2.35 New Hampshire 0.9 Vermont 2.74
NH is the second-lowest in the entire country. All the other States Brady complains of are in a quick count of the 15 States with the lowest homicide rates. If we look just at firearm homicides, you'd think Brady would have a chance, but it does lousy there, too. In California, it's #1 pick, firearm homicides are 69% of the total. In New Hampshire, they're 16%, Maine 35%, Vermont 47%, Utah 46%.
Oh, as Don Surber points out, the only State with a lower homicide rate than New Hampshire is North Dakota, whose three murders gave it a rate of 0.47 and a firearm homcide rate of zero -- and Brady Campaign gave it an F and 4 points out of 100,
Comments
A short AP piece on NH's rating ran the state's largest paper's site. Readers are outraged, and demanding a lower score. I like NH.
Posted by: Carl Bussjaeger at February 19, 2010 11:59 AM
Zero is par.
Posted by: John C at February 19, 2010 02:37 PM
I ran the murder rates through excel expecting to get a fairly high correlation. At 0.04, there is almost no correlation between the brady score and murder rates. When I isolated out just the gun murders, it got up to 0.06, but that is still basically no connection at all. This article fails some basic stats.
Posted by: Ben Mathews at February 19, 2010 04:02 PM
Brady gave Vermont a 8 out of 100 points.
Vermont had 5 murders zero with firearms.
Vermont has a population similar to DC
and a lot less law enforcement officers.
Local story from Brady presser
http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=12005430
see comments under story.
Posted by: JackA at February 19, 2010 06:46 PM
I think that it is a real mistake to get involved in arguing if gun control increases or decreases crime. I for one don't really care, my second amendment right to self defense is a fundamental right that I don't intend to give up with out a fight. An argument might be made that allowing the police to enter and search our homes at will would reduce crime, but regardless, I don't intend to give up, without a fight, my fourth amendment rights either.
Posted by: Pro 2A Leftist at February 19, 2010 08:49 PM
This article is confusing correlation (none as pointed out above) with causation (likely given the details stated).
Posted by: StAr at February 20, 2010 01:12 AM
A couple years ago I did a similar analysis as Ben, with basically the same results. I used FBI crime data and Brady scores, the correlation was below statistical significance. I did not weight for population, which may affect my results--Montana counted as strongly as California.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 22, 2010 11:09 AM
I cannot begin to describe - at least using polite language - my loathing, disgust and despise for the Brady Bunch. They truly are a loathsome, disgusting and despicable group.
Posted by: Bill at February 22, 2010 01:49 PM
Aw, man. I'm disappointed in VA. We got one star. We're in the middle of the pack with a score of 17.
Posted by: Bill at February 22, 2010 01:52 PM
My state scored a 6. I found it interesting that my state was dinged for not having a state law on top of a Federal law that does the same thing.
Posted by: Jim K at February 23, 2010 07:27 AM
The strange part of the Brady group is they are republicans, just like the NRA. Jim Brady and his wife are card carrying republicans and so are many of the folks in their management.
Bottom line: we have to count on our own to protect the Constitution because if they destroy the Second the rest will soon go as well. Party politics are pretty much one coin, just a different side of a coin.
Posted by: AvgJoe at February 24, 2010 07:46 PM
At John Warnock Hinkley Jr. trial, the prosecution reports declared him legally sane.
The Rohm .22caliber RG-14 revolver Hinkley used, was probably worth $60 bucks.
John Hinkley was crazy, but to have the prosecutor find him legally sane only illustrates that laws are useless to individuals who are crazy.
There are laws against murder, rape, theft, etc...
But not one has ever worked to stop a criminal. The only defense on our side is good aim.
Posted by: John at March 26, 2010 02:08 PM