Reply #79: That someone would have been me

[Euromutt]

And I notice you conveniently ignored my following sentence, which was:

If so, I think that may explain to some extent the American love of guns, but not vice-versa, given that the American non-gun homicide rate is higher than the overall homicide rate of most other OECD member states.

Your claim that "angry Americans don't beat people up, slice them, or bludgeon them" is false. Fully one third of American homicides are committed by means other than firearms, and those non-gun homicides alone account for more homicides (in terms of rate per 100,000) than the overall homicide rates of most European countries (at least, non-former Soviet bloc ones).

Moreover, your use of the term "angry Americans" seems to imply that you not only buy into the notion of the "virgin killer"--someone committing a homicide in a fit of sudden and uncontrollable rage--but that you also believe such individuals constitute a sizable percentage of murderers. I strongly suggest you read "The Myth of the Virgin Killer" by Kates & Polsby http://www.hoffmang.com/firearms/kates/Myth_of_the_Virgin_Killer-Kates-Polsby.pdf