and the point is? It has been shown that culture is far more a predictor/cause than firearm ownership rate for violent crime, if that is where you are going.
Culture determines behavior. Look at places like Finland where there are 32 guns for every 100 people, the 8th highest gun ownership rate in the world. Their gun murder rate is close to zero. Eighty-five percent of gun related deaths in Finland are suicides. The same is true in Switzerland, Norway and many other countries. Contrast that with Mexico where it's difficult to own a gun, yet the per capita gun homicide rate is ten times higher than Finland. The gun suicide rate in Mexico, a mostly Catholic country, is very low.
Switzerland is a gun culture - very nice place with low violent crime. lovely anecdote below from the other thread, look at how the brave thugs trip over themselves when the old man pulls a gun on them. Unfortunately he didn't kill thier worthless asses, they will be back at it soon no doubt http://news.yahoo.com/florida-man-7...rnet-cafe-110406403--abc-news-topstories.html <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1t5f5AwkkiY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
and dare we state the plain truth about africans? Would not want to offend the religious types in here
someone living in Africa, or living in a country dominated by people of African descent. Ricter's list was by country. If you sort by homicide rate you get South Africa, Jamaica, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe all ahead of the USA. Accurate data is hard to get, but violence is probably underreported in the third world. http://ippnw.org/pdf/JohnMohamPintoNkanta.pdf Nigeria is a also gun culture like Switzerland but conversely they have high violent crime rate. I can explain Latin America by the drug war AND culture, but Africa? Dare I say that Africans have a violent culture? I think it is the obvious reality. Now I await your explaination as to why it is the white man's fault.
Too many different cultures involved to make that claim. The most emergent variable is that the majority of low gun violence countries simply have fewer guns. I was hoping to move the discussion past "gun control can't work" (because logically of course it can) to a more practical discussion.
Part of the problem with discussions about "gun control" is that it means different things to different people. Ambiguity does not lead to productive conversations. To some people, gun control means gun registration, criminal background checks before purchase, etc. To other people gun control means total gun confiscation. Depending on who you talk to, you could probably get a half dozen different definitions. Define "gun control" in detail, then we can discuss it. Socrates said that a meaningful conversation does not require agreement, but it does require clarity.