Reply #259: You really have no clue, do you?

[Euromutt]

Does it really not occur to you for an instant that gun crime in the United States follows the exact same pattern? Young, black urban males are disproportionally represented among both the perpetrators and the victims of shootings in the United States, and cities with large black populations like Detroit, Baltimore, Compton, Memphis and Oakland are remarkably homicide-ridden. It's not a race thing; rather, it's that due to socio-economic circumstances, this demographic is particularly susceptible to the lure of the illegal drug trade. In the drug trade, because it's illegal, the only available method of settling business disputes permanently is by killing the other person. This method of, ahem, conflict resolution then carries over into no-business disputes as well (in particular, over "respect").

Drugs policy and socio-economic inequality has a hell of a lot more to do with the American homicide rate than the availability of firearms.