Reply #31: nah, sorry

[iverglas]

Homicide is a particular crime. Nothing can be generalized from homicide statistics to any other situation.

Some homicides occur during the commission of other crimes, e.g. robbery -- where handguns are specifically more likely to be used than long arms, in the mugging or home invasion type of robbery. This is one obvious reason for the over-representation of handguns in homicides: the rate of homicides committed during robbery in the US is quite high. The portability and concealability of the weapon is a major factor there. And of course that's the huge reason why there should be extra-stringent controls on access to handguns.

But that says nothing about the way that firearms facilitate other crimes, and the fact that THEY DO facilitate other crimes is a perfectly relevant consideration in reflecting on how they should be regulated.

When drug traffickers other than streetcorner operators are apprehended, the weapons in their trunks or their closets, or the arsenal of weapons at their grow-ops or on their premises, will virtually always include long arms. For example.

They choose those weapons, and I choose not to believe they make the choice based on the decorative or investment value of the items.