Luther is an image of the world without the 2nd Amendment

Matt,

To follow up in agreement with you, there are studies done looking at various constabularies within the United Kingdom which also disprove the "more guns equals more crime" meme. Quoting from JOYCE LEE MALCOLM, GUNS AND VIOLENCE: THE ENGLISH EXPERIENCE 204
(2002)

"Indeed, “data on fire‐arms ownership by constabulary area in England,” like data
from the United States, show “a negative correlation,” that is,
“where firearms are most dense violent crime rates are lowest,
and where guns are least dense violent crime rates are high‐
est.”

and from:

Hans Toch & Alan J. Lizotte, Research and Policy: The Case for Gun Control, in
PSYCHOLOGY & SOCIAL POLICY 223, 232 (Peter Suedfeld & Philip E. Tetlock eds.,
1992)
“[T]he fact that national patterns show little violent
crime where guns are most dense implies that guns do not elicit aggression in any
meaningful way. . . . Quite the contrary, these findings suggest that high saturations
of guns in places, or something correlated with that condition, inhibit illegal aggression.”

Then there is the paper

WOULD BANNING FIREARMS REDUCE
MURDER AND SUICIDE?
A REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL AND
SOME DOMESTIC EVIDENCE
DON B. KATES* AND GARY MAUSER**

which also shows the negative correlation of gun ownership with violent crime, and examines the social factors which do show correlation.

As you mentioned there are numerous other studies by professors of criminology like those by Dr. John Lott and Gary Kleck. These men were surprised by the results of their studies which show that when citizens are legally allowed to carry concealed handguns, the rates of violent crime decrease.
Also, citizens who are licensed to carry concealed handguns rarely misuse their weapons or get into trouble with them.

I think that people like lilactime2014 have likely been exposed to the urban myths about guns, and propaganda commonly promoted via television news, but have not heard of the studies.
For decades, much of the world believed the Soviet propaganda that America had the highest murder rate in the world. Like other disinformation campaigns, once believed, it is difficult for people to unlearn.

Leftists in America learned the power of disinformation campaigns. In 1995 a story hit the news that racists in the American South were burning down black churches. President Clinton even signed a new law making it a federal crime to commit arson at a black church. The story went around the world, and to this day, polls show that people believe America is a very racist country. (Presently "Black Lives Matter" and the liberal news agencies are furthering this idea, though the facts do not support their claims.)

What nobody knew was that it was a disinformation campaign. Firefighters gathered the statistics on church burnings and found that instead, there had been a steady decline of church fires during the years in question. Furthermore there had been NO cases of arson of black churches in the south. None.
Yet, the damage was already done. And for political reasons, news about the truth about church fires never received the coverage that the myth did.

It is the same with the facts about gun ownership. Gun control advocates have long promoted fictitious statistics concerning shootings within the home, (including the myth that you are far more likely to be shot with your own gun than to defend yourself with it). The random shootings, the mass shootings, etc. almost always happen in gun controlled regions. And most of the gun murders involve gangs or other criminal elements, usually in cities with strict gun control.

The psychological paper referenced indicates guns are not the problem. The availability of guns does not lead to increased aggression. In fact there is a negative correlation. Either the availability of guns, or something associated with their availability, leads to decreased aggression.


In short, the safest places to live are those where citizens enjoy the legal right to be armed.