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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ilaine who wrote (36700)	5/3/1999 11:52:00 PM
From: Grainne	Respond to of 108807

What I meant to say is that it is all just a statistical BLIP based on a large number of teenagers and young adults in the population during the years of high gun suicides. I was basing that comment on this statement which is part of the report: "The sharp increase in homicides in the late 1980's and much of the subsequent decline is attributable to gun violence by juveniles and young adults." Reading the whole thing over again quickly, because I am cooking dinner, there is not really enough data to answer all of the questions that might be raised. For example, in the last few years gun violence overall may be down, but a larger proportion of our population is in prison. This could explain part of the difference. Also, what "other means" of homicide are referred to? They seem to be going up in some years. I stand on what I meant by my statement about statistics. They can be manipulated in many different ways, and need to be studied seriously. I am not a statistician, and make no pretense of being skilled in this area. Perhaps someone else might be interested in digging deeper. I do know that Charlton Heston and the NRA use statistics in purposefully misleading ways all the time. I have no inherent trust, or distrust, in the FBI. They need to provide solid statistics in a meaningful way if they are to be believed on any given issue, just like any other institution or special interest group does.