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Breaking News
posted by takyon on Sunday June 12 2016, @06:00PM   Printer-friendly

A suspected Islamic terrorist opened fire at a gay nightclub in Florida, killing 50 people and wounding another 53 before he was killed by police. While authorities continue to investigate to determine whether this man had ties to ISIS, the terror organization has not been quiet in praising the attack. This comes three days after ISIS announced they would attack somewhere in Florida. Today's attack marks the largest act of terrorism on US soil since 9/11.

takyon: The gunman reportedly called 911 emergency services to pledge allegiance to ISIS. The President will hold a briefing momentarily. Compare this article to the original submission.


Original Submission   Late submission by physicsmajor

 
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  • (Score: 2) by Nollij on Tuesday June 14 2016, @03:51AM

    by Nollij (4559) on Tuesday June 14 2016, @03:51AM (#359740)

    Well, in the linked story, the overall homicide rate in 1996 (pre-gun control) was 311 - 98 of them by gun. In 2014, it was 238 - 35 by gun. But you aren't actually interested in statistics.
    There's a far more detailed analysis over at Snopes [aic.gov.au], but the TL;DR is

    The main point to be learned here is that determining the effect of changes in Australia's gun ownership laws and the government's firearm buy-back program on crime rates requires a complex long-term analysis and can't be discerned from the small, mixed grab bag of short-term statistics offered here. And no matter what the outcome of that analysis, the results aren't necessarily applicable to the USA, where laws regarding gun ownership are (and always have been) much different than those in Australia.

    Is that the support you were looking for?

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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday June 14 2016, @01:55PM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 14 2016, @01:55PM (#359892) Journal

    Salutes, for quoting what is probably the most important part of any analysis of "gun control".

    "The main point to be learned here is that determining the effect of changes in Australia's gun ownership laws and the government's firearm buy-back program on crime rates requires a complex long-term analysis and can't be discerned from the small, mixed grab bag of short-term statistics offered here"

    Feel free to browse my journal page. I have a number of articles and quotes cited - I guess it's a small number, but they are there.

    There are no rules to be learned from passing gun control laws. Europe has varied results, in different countries. Australia has some encouraging results with their gun control - but it isn't all one-sided in favor of gun control.

    The US? Our results are very DIScouraging. Those cities with the strictest gun control are the very cities with the highest crime rates, and the highest rates of gun crime. They are the most violent cities in America.

    The cities in Texas have very lenient gun control laws. That is, in Texas, anyone can have a gun, unless he has been judged incompetent, or a felon. Open carry, concealed carry, put it in your trunk, in your glove box, in your window - any way you want to carry, you can carry. Only two people in the entire state of Texas have been killed with guns this year. Two. Chicago, with a tenth of the population of Texas, sees two killed every day.

    We have witnessed cities repeal gun control, and crime initially rises for a few months - then plummets. Criminals are either killed off, or they learn that honest citizens shoot back, so they move on to greener pastures.

    we have witnessed cities pass gun control laws, and crime stays stable for awhile, then slowly rises.

    We have witnessed a lot of crazy stuff here in the states. Lawmen want to claim all the credit when crime rates fall - but as your own quote suggests, things aren't so simple. A city passes a gun control law, and crime falls, so they claim credit - but nationwide, crime rates have falled at similar rates.

    It ain't a simple thing to figure out, but overall, history suggests that you are safest in a community where EVERYONE has access to guns.

    Now, to be honest, I have looked at Australia's statistics. As I said - they are just about the most encouraging statistics in the world, for gun control.

    I've also looked at the UK's statistics. You should be aware that most of their statistics are lies and damned lies. Again, if you care to look, I have a couple journal entries regarding gun crime and violent crime statistics in the UK. UK cops just don't record a lot of crimes. They are actually under pressure to MAKE the statistics support their gun control laws. Violent crime in the UK seems to be lower than in Chicago - but it much higher than gun control fanatics claim.

    Once again - thank you for your honesty. There are NOT any good statistics that support either of our positions, partly because governments don't maintain the same statistics, and partly because some governments are dishonest about those statistics.

    I do believe that an armed society is a polite society.
    http://www.liberteesalabama.com/store/p4/%22An_armed_society_is_a_polite_society.%22_Heinlein_quote_T-shirt.html [liberteesalabama.com]

    --
    “I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz