Study shows gun show regulations have no impact on homicides - suicides

[DonP]

One of the Brady Bunch's favorite whipping boys, Gun Show Regulation, appears to have no impact on homicides or suicides.

Now I expect the Brady Bunch to immediately call for the dis-accreditation of the University of Michigan and University of Maryland, obviously in league with the NRA and other dark forces.

______________________

Full Story: http://www.ns.umich.edu/htdocs/releases/story.php?id=6759


Oct. 1, 2008

Gun shows do not increase homicides or suicides

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—A new study finds no evidence that gun shows lead to substantial increases in either gun-related homicides or suicides.

The University of Michigan and University of Maryland study also shows that tighter regulation of gun shows does not appear to reduce the number of firearms-related deaths. "We believe that this analysis makes an important contribution to understanding the influence of gun shows, the regulation of which is arguably the most active area of federal, state, and local firearms policy," said Brian Jacob, a professor at the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. "To our knowledge, this is the first study that directly examines the impact of gun shows on gun-related deaths." Jacob wrote the study with co-authors Mark Duggan and Randi Hjalmarsson from the University of Maryland.

The researchers analyzed data from Texas and California, chosen because they are the nation's two most populated states, have large numbers of gun shows, and are at opposite ends of the spectrum regarding gun show regulation. California has some of the most aggressive gun show regulations, including background checks for all gun show purchasers and a 10-day waiting period to obtain the firearm. Texas has no similar regulations.

To determine the impact of gun shows, the authors traced the number of gun-related deaths in ZIP codes close to where gun shows took place, looking at how the number of deaths changed leading up to and following the shows. Researchers looked at the gun-related deaths in the weeks immediately after gun shows and actually found a small decline in the number of homicides following shows in Texas. "The absence of gun show regulations does not increase the number of gun-related deaths as proponents of these regulations suggest," said Jacob, director of its Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP).

[krispos42]

1. Virtually all gun-show sellers are licensed federal firearms dealers...

...that must, by law, perform background checks and conform to all state and local laws.

The one or two percent of guns sold at a gun show that are being sold by Average Joe are usually collections of sporting or collectible arms that being sold off due to retirement, economic troubles, or as an unwanted inheritance.



The problem is straw purchases, not the mythical "gun-show loophole".

[iverglas]

2. thanks, I needed a laugh

"looking at how the number of deaths changed leading up to and following the shows"


Yeah, that's what everybody's always saying. You can always tell when there's been a gun show in the neighbourhood, the neighbours are just a-shootin each other up like crazy.

Crazy's the operative word in this case, for sure.


If you ask the right questions, you usually can get the answers you want. Funny how that works.



edit -- just to save anybody any embarrassment --

I won't be replying because I'll be away from my keyboard for several days to be with my mum before / during / after her biopsy of the mass on her aortic artery, assumed to be lymphoma, because my sister is starting chemotherapy for her inoperable stage III colon cancer and may be too sick to cope.

I'll take everybody's well wishing and fellow feeling as read, and thanks, and since it's all not going to cost any of us a penny except for parking, for however long it all goes on and whatever it takes, any gushy outpourings would just make me feel guilty. Seriously, it's a drag, and whaddaya say, eh?

[gorfle]

3. Hope everyone gets better.

Hope your mom gets well soon. Hope your sister can get some rest.

[krispos42]

4. Geez, hope everybody stays healthy, iverglas

:hug:

[SteveM]

5. My best wishes to your family. Stay strong. Good luck.

[spin]

6. Good luck and best wishes (n/t)

[old mark]

7. Iverglas:Get your rest when you can, stay strong for your family

All best wishes.

mark

[iverglas]

13. thanks to all

Sister is doing well with chemo and radiation, mother is awaiting biopsy results and now in a state of deep distress about sister, I'm fixing to see the doc next week and start getting MRIs and colonoscopies and dog knows what else. The cancer gene. Just what I wanted. (Father died of melanoma, brother had a melanoma successfully treated, sister's colon cancer appears to be genetically related ...) 'Twould be the height of unfairness to have spent one's youth reading books in the basement rather than basking on the beach and then get melanoma. Not as unfair as my sister being a 42-yr-old nonsmoking vegetarian with two little kids and getting colon cancer, though.

Over 50? Get a colonoscopy. Second leading killer cancer. As the ads say: "Don't die of embarrassment."

[tburnsten]

8. Funny, because the brady bunch

will still be caterwauling about the "gun show loophole" for years to come, because they do not drop even idiot non-issues, ever. For instance, they are still going on and on about .50 caliber hunting handguns and .50 caliber long range target rifles, as if they are now or have ever been a threat to society.

[DonP]

9. They only have a few songs to sing

... so they have to keep making some noise to show the Joyce Foundation "evidence of industry" to justify next year's check.

Still no crime spree with a .50 cal. used, no planes or sattelites shot out of the sky, but I'm sure there are some there that wake up hoping every day.

They sure can't point to success stories with 48 states now with concealed carry and blood still not running in the streets except in the cities without it, Chicago, DC. Or the assault weapons issue where they are now trying to claim any pistol with a magazine over 10 rounds are now "assault weapons" to help their "statistics" along.

Heck, even their rating systems for states has almost an inverse relationship with actual crime, if anybody ever took the time to examine the states they rate "A" through "F" versus the actual crime statistics.

That press conference by Helmke/Brady after the Heller decision was an incredible feat of gymnastics to try and claim a "victory" for gun control.

[tburnsten]

10. inre: statistics vs ratings

I think I have read people claiming that states with high crime need their gun laws to "protect" people, or to "fight crime", as if that has any correlation to reality, which is that the high crime areas are doing a terrible job of either fighting crime or protecting citizens, while places with less retarded gun laws generally have pretty good law enforcement and people seem to have less of the violence issues that plague stringently anti-gun regions.

[DonP]

11. Circular "logic"?

It makes you wonder why gun free zones like Chicago/Illinois with remarkably good Brady ratings have such high crime rates in the first place? Probably just an incredible coincidence I bet.

Mayor Daley says it's Indianas fault and all those other states that allow their citizens the right to carry that causes the problems here. The same way Fenty and DC blame Virginia. It couldn't have anything to do with Daley gutting the gang crimes unit to help fund his Olympics initiative.

Now he wants to lay off 500 more police in Chicago for budgetary reasons. I'm sure that will have no impact on the crime rate or gang violence in particular. <sarcasm off>.

[tburnsten]

12. Sounds like Boston blaming Maine

for its gang violence. Pathetic.