The irrational fear of firearms
Ian points us to the Bolshevik Broadcastings Corporations latest little anti-gun gem
Reporting Gun Crime on Five Live
Now there really are not surprises there, so I tried to post the following little missive however no doubt, it will be moderated out, but for what its worth, here it is …
Once more the BBC tries to peddle its anti-firearm message. The UK’s irrational & inconsistent firearms legislation has done nothing to make this country any safer. Each new law is passed by MPs seeking the moral approbation of the likes of the Gun Control Network & Mothers Against Guns (Mothers Against Reality more likely) who use emotional blackmail & spurious statistics to pursue their odious agenda. I currently own four shotguns & three rifles. Every time I read the rubbish that spews forth from the “gun grabbers” I am filled with the urge to go out & buy another firearm.
You know how I say in the final sentence about being so angry that I wanted to go out & buy another firearm ... well that’s what I did, but more on that tomorrow.
Ian also comes up with this great statistic
Statistics are an interesting thing, they can tell us everything and nothing at the same time, this set of stats was emailed to me today buy a friend in the USA and they illustrate the point about relying on statistics to make decisions.
If you consider that there has been an average of 160,000 troops in the Iraq 'theatre of operations' during the last 22 months, and a total of 2,112 deaths, that gives a firearm death rate of 60 per 100,000 soldiers.
The firearm death rate in Washington D.C. is 80.6 per 100,000 for the same period.
That means that you are about 25% more likely to be shot and killed in the U.S. capital... which has some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation, than you are in Iraq. Conclusion: the U.S. should pull out of Washington.
Comments
A little research
So I decided to do a little research, here it goes:
IRAQ
According to the Washington Post, over 3 years there has been 2,321 deaths to the 592,002 soldiers in "persons years" (see wikipedia/dictionary) between March 21, 2003, and March 31, 2006.
[Source: Washington Post (I had to add irony)]
It also says that 79% of these deaths were caused by action of hostile forces.
2,321/592,002
79% of 2,321 is 1833.5900000000001. Lets round.
so about 1,800/592,000 deaths occured over three years in Iraq that were in relation to hostile forces.
Lets Reduce
0.87890625/289.0625,
and round.
1/289
So there is 1/289 chance that you will die in Iraq.
Now - to make this only fair, lets compare it to the United States.
U.S.A
Unfortunately there are no official reports of death by homicide (Weapon) between 2004 and 2006, so I'll use whats available (2001-2003).
[Source: Government Homicide Tables]
The numbers from the previous years are pretty static, so the numbers may only be off by .2-7%.
Between the years 2001 and 2003 there were a total of 48,869 deaths related to homicide by various weapons.
United States Population History Estimate
[Source: US Census]
{2003}
290,796,023
{2002}
288,125,973
{2001}
285,226,284
___________
864,148,280
So theres a 48,869/864,148,280 you'll die by homocide in the United States. Lets round.
48,900 / 864,148,300
Lets reduce
1.4923095703125/26371.7132568359375,
and round
1/26,371.
STATISTIC
While in Iraq between 2003-2006 there was a
1 in 289
chance you will die in hostile assault.
In the United States (not in a concentrated crime area), there is a
1/26,371
chance that you will die from homicide or assault with a deadly weapon.
CONCLUSION
Bonsai Kittens are not real, I called the SPCA
Because you did not re-post a bulletin, a little girl wont kill you, and you wont be loveless or lose love for life... or be unlucky .. in fact, anything involving reposting a bulletin is not true.
Emails and Letters cant grant wishes (but miracles do happen, i don't doubt that) and,
There is a much larger chance of dieing due to similar or related homicide crimes if deployed to Iraq, than you would staying in the United States as a Civilian.
(let me know if theres any math errors, I'll make corrections - we all make mistakes.)
christinakay@gmail.com
Posted by: Christina | January 17, 2007 10:33 AM