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Politics : Impeach George W. Bush -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (5264)	7/19/2001 5:48:10 PM
From: jttmab	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 93284

You were actually headed somewhere earlier that I liked. The notion that gun-related crime [or violent crime] is more likely a combination of factors rather than a single factor. So I would agree that the availability of guns is not the single cause for violent crime. A British politician said: Every complex problem has a simple solution.....and it's wrong. But the practical problem with the notion of complexity is that we are unable to effect a change to the entire set of dynamics [whatever they might be] simulataneously. Practically, we must deal with them one at a time. The problem with that approach is that the argument is used that one partial solution is never the answer, so we never get to implement it. IMO, our rather loose control of guns and attitudes that surround them instills an irresponsible attitude towards weaponry, more than likely reinforced by movies and video games. So it's the Gestalt [sp?] that is the problem. Gun control and registration modifies the dynamic. Is there more that can change the dynamic? Certainly. But we can only handle one at a time. Why gun control and registration first? Well, there is at least an intuitive relationship between guns and gun related violence. Video games and movies have first amendment issues. There is a rather difficult problem affecting any change to the entertainment industry without directly conflicting with the 1st. People pretend that gun control and registration is a 2nd issue. It's not. There is nothing in the 2nd amendment of the Constitution that conflicts with gun registration or control. In fact, as I pointed out earlier, the historical documents cited in US v. Miller supports the notion that regulation was an inherent part of the intent of 2nd amendment. There is loads of rhetoric, about Hitler and gun control, but nothing that is in Constitutional conflict with the 2nd. An additional point. Your observation that violent crime in the UK is increasing in spite of gun control is correct. But it doesn't necessarily follow that gun control is unrelated to violent crime. As you suggested earlier, its more likely a set of factors, not a single one. So if you stick with that observation as true, then the conlusion that a conclusion that gun control is unrelated is a weak argument. Sometimes simple statistics can lead to valid conclusions. But in complex problems there are simple statistics that can support virtually any argument. Which is not a problem with statistics, it's a problem with the statistician or the person who is culling the statistics. If you want to compare the UK to the US fine, but go through the set of statistics that are related not just isolated ones. What's the overall comparison of gun-related crime in the US vs UK. Crime in general will increase based on economic conditions. I can see the same violent movies in the UK that are in the US [we do have cable and satellite]; I can get the same video games. Is mobility different here then it is in the US? What's the same and what's different and what is the entire related set of statistics that goes with that. jttmab