Gun Control

This blog is in response to Mike's blog http://mikesocialpsychology.blogspot.com/2007/10/another-high-school-shooting.html on school massacres but with my slant. Instead of focussing on the role of bullying in these massacres I wanted to see what effect gun control legislation has on the occurrence of these massacres.

The first time this issue really came to my attention was when I watched the Michael Moore movie/doumentary/mockumentary (as people have called it) 'Bowling for Columbine'.

I find it very disturbing that in 1999 there were 28,874 (4.08 per 100,000 people) gun-related deaths in the United States, which works out at 80 deaths a day. Obviously these weren't all in school massacres, but my point is that comparatively, the US has fairly relaxed gun laws, you can/could buy firearms and ammunition in WalMarts, and in 2000, 12 out of every 100,000 people suffered gunshot related injuries.

Compare this death rate with Canada, who happen to have the second highest death rate by firearm with 0.54 per every 100,000 people. It really astounds me and makes me wonder how the US addresses this situation, and what effect gun legislation has on death rates.

The level of gun ownership world-wide is directly related to murder and suicide rates and specifically to the level of death by gunfire."
International Correlation between gun ownership and rates of homicide and suicide.' Professor Martin Killias, May 1993.

As this statement shows, a decrease in firearm ownership should lead to a decrease in death specifically related to firearms (well, it seems obvious enough).

I just wonder if the accessability of firearms for teens, and disgruntled employees has any effect on their decision to carry out these killing sprees that seem to be occurring more and more these days. Would they still possess the urge to carry out this style of retribution if they didn't have a gun in their shed? And if this is the case, why is nothing being done about it?

I commend the action taken following the Port Arthur massacre in attempting to control firearms with a firearm buyback scheme, and I think this has positively contributed to the comparatively low death rate by firearm we have in Australia. I feel that the stance and legislation we have on guns here in Australia is superior to those held in the United States and this shows in the death rates. I do not know how successful our scheme of firearm buyback would be in the US but I do feel it is a positive piece of legislation in the prevention of these types of massacres becoming a common day occurrence.

I recommend that if you haven't seen the movie Bowling for Columbine, you rent it and view it because it really raises some interesting food for thought and is sometimes quite confronting. However, I do suggest you go in with an open mind.
Thanks
For more info on gun laws and related deaths, go to:
http://www.gun-control-network.org/GF01.htm