Weird. Maine's got the highest gun rate and lowest crime...

[Maine Mary]

in the country. I wonder why that is? :shrug:

[donheld]

1. Because like I said

Guns do NOT kill people, people kill people.

[norml]

6. Though guns do make it easier for people to kill people.

Just push the button, they do the rest.

[TX-RAT]

24. push the button,?

[norml]

46. It's a variation on the original Kodak slogan.

Button? Trigger? You get the idea.

And if you want to get technical about it we should be calling them pistols and rifles.

This is my rifle. This is my gun. This is for fighting. This is for fun.

[cantstandbush]

48. You might want to check out the av. education and income of folks in Maine

compared to other states.

[KitchenWitch]

2. Are there any statistics about what types of guns people in Maine own?

That could be a clue. Shotguns and rifles, in general are used for hunting, and Maine is an "outdoor sports" state.

[Maine Mary]

3. I'm not aware of any stats

But you are probably right. Most people I know own shotguns and rifles. But by my estimation, 9 out of 10 of them own handguns too.

[KitchenWitch]

5. hmmm

interesting!

[Kellanved]

4. No major cities,

that answers both observations.

[ClintonTyree]

12. And they're frozen solid for 5 months of the year.....

leaving only 7 months to shoot it out with each other. Where does Maine stand in education, that may have a bit to do with it as well?

[porphyrian]

39. Actually, that wouldn't be supported statistically.

A significant amount of gun violence occurs in the home, often between family members. With people cooped up for that long in a single place with guns, you'd think the incidence of spouse shooting would be higher there at that time.

[lukasahero]

27. Ding ding ding! eom

[sandnsea]

7. No death penalty

The last execution was in 1887. Killing humans is not normal under any circumstance in Maine. It is not part of their culture, so they aren't predisposed to rationalize killing anybody for any reason.

[Poppyseedman]

8. I understand your reasoning

so in states where they execute people for heinous crimes, the crime rate is higher regardless of gun ownership simply because they have a lower regard for life???

[sandnsea]

9. Yes

Just about any place that has the death penalty has a higher crime rate. And the extent the death penalty is used is a factor as well, along with the plain punitive and denigrating nature of the justice and prison system. The crappier society is treated by the state, the worse society acts. It's like raising kids, not really hard to figure out.

[Poppyseedman]

10. It would be nice to have some

actual empirical evidence to back your claims up.

Facts are such compelling things verses feelings

[NewJeffCT]

11. Stats - the states with the top 10 murder rates all have a death penalty

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=12&did=169#MRord

Only 2 states without the death penalty are in the top half of the list.

[billbuckhead]

13. How does Maine compare with rural Canada or the UK for murder & guncrime?

I bet it's even lower over the border from Maine over in Canada. I also bet guns from Maine end up killing people in other states and countries.

[One_Life_To_Give]

15. Chicken vs. Egg argument

Is the Murder rate high because of the Death penalty, or is the Death Penalty in place because the Murder rate is high?

[skipos]

18. Yes but DP has never been proven to reduce crime.

So it wouldn't be wise to implement it because murder rate is high.

[skipos]

17. Wow! Very interesting.

I am being more anti-DP as time goes on. Yet another reason.

I am also for letting responsible people own guns. I am very, very far from a single issue NRA type voter though.

[NewJeffCT]

23. other DP stats

If you kill a white person, you are WAY WAY more likely to be executed than if you kill a minority, esp. African Americans. And, if you are a minority that kills a white person, your chances of being executed increase again.

I'm at work, so don't have access to the stats. Hopefully, somebody else can link it for me.

[One_Life_To_Give]

14. Different pace of life and Hunting.

At least 50% of my male relatives in Maine hunt during deer season.

Culturally a rifle is a tool used to hunt/put food on the table. They also have, compared to southern New England. A much slower pace of life and different philosophy. Where else can you define a person as well off because they have two nice snow machines parked in front of their doublewide.

[tx_dem41]

16. Handgun rate or overall gun rate?

I would think that handgun is more correlated (note that I didn't say it WAS correlated) to crime rate.

[MrBenchley]

22. Mary had no evidence Maine had the highest gun rate

when she put up this post a couple years ago, beyond an supported statement from a right wing Maine state legislator....

[zippy890]

19. low population density?

whats the biggest metropolitan area in Maine - Portland?

lot of rural hunters I expect, would be interesting to know the state with the highest number handguns

[MrBenchley]

20. When we had this little dance before....

turned out you had no evidence at all that Maine had the highest gun rate...or even close to it

What's changed?

[losdiablosgato]

21. "An armed society is a polite society." - Robert Heinlein.

[davsand]

29. That quote is actually original to Webster.

That quote is attributed to Daniel Webster from a speech on 3 June, 1834.

:hi:


Laura

[MrBenchley]

34. Yeah, Somalia is a hotbed of courtesy and etiquette....

There's a reason Robert Heinlein's writing is on the shelf with other fantasies....

[bbernardini]

25. Maybe my wife is right...maybe we SHOULD move there.

That fact, and the thing about military recruiters in schools...the only problem is the lack of good big name concerts there. Not that I usually go see big shows.

[Wcross]

30. I have thought about Maine as well.

My grandparents lived there all their lives, its a beautiful state. The only thing I would be concerned about is all that winter weather!

[GreenPartyVoter]

33. Portland has concerts and Boston isn't that far away if you live in

the southern part of the state.

Our biggest troubles are not a lot of jobs and a tough real estate situation. A lousy 70s modular ranch on a scrubby acre or two goes for $300,000 in my town. That might not sound like a lot to someone in another state but for the people who live here it's out of reach. Heck, even trailers and your own land is a pipe dream. :(

[Bridget Burke]

26. This study seems to disagree on the rate of gun ownership....

www.springerlink.com/(h3r2trbfqit02cedemwus1rm)/app/home/contribution.asp?referrer=parent&backto=issue,4,5;journal,8,35;linkingpublicationresults,1:102586,1

There's a PDF link to the whole paper. A bit technical--but Maine appears to rank in the middle.

[MrBenchley]

32. Maine also doesn't have the lowest rate of gun crimes

http://muskie.usm.maine.edu/justiceresearch/News.Databook.htm

And if we download the "domestic violence and firearms" page here, we learn that the rosy number of reported low gun crimes in Maine is achieved by the state not counting the cases of domestic abuse involving firearms as gun crimes. Factor THOSE in, and Maine goes from 90 gun crimes a year to more than 500 gun crimes a year...

http://muskie.usm.maine.edu/justiceresearch/

[SemiCharmedQuark]

28. Do you have a link? Thanks in advance

[GreenPartyVoter]

31. Because we live next door to Canada and their sensibility has

rubbed off on us.

[mainer]

35. I suspect that most of the guns up here are hunting rifles

and not handguns. Plus, we have a pretty civil society that tries to look after its poorest.

[derby378]

37. I think your state allows NFA weapons, but...

...a breakdown of types of weapons owned in Maine would probably tell us a lot.

[Avalux]

36. Please post a link verifying your information.

Otherwise, it's difficult to take what you've said as fact.

[Toots]

38. Hmmm Japan has the lowest gun rate and the lowest gun crime rate

I wonder why???

[Selatius]

40. Might be because they look after their poor?

We don't. Outside the US, Switzerland has the highest gun ownership rate per capita in the world, yet their rate of gun crime or crime in general is a fraction of that found in the US. The existence or non-existence of guns is not the issue. The issue is how society treats individuals who may or may not need help.

[Toots]

42. So Maine takes better care of their poor?

I think you are probably mostly on target except for the fact that most gun related injuries or fatalities are accidents. That is strictly due to the abundance of firearms...

[Selatius]

43. True, but...

the difference between the Swiss and the US, for instance, is that they are organized with respect to firearms. They are required to properly learn how to store, maintain, and fire those guns. We have no such national education program. As a result, accidents with guns will be at a far higher rate, and I think we can cut those numbers down significantly if people were educated.

[derby378]

44. What about their kidnapping rate?

I've heard too many stories about Japanese women being kidnapped by North Koreans for use as slave labor, including sexual slavery.

[blindpig]

41. Population density?

Don't know, just asking.

[FreedomAngel82]

45. Maybe they know how to take care of a gun properly?

:shrug: Maybe they just like sporting for fun?

[thefool_wa]

47. An armed society...

Is a polite society.