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Politics : Bill Clinton Scandal - SANITY CHECK -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Neocon who wrote (46754)	5/7/1999 11:31:00 PM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 67261

A letter from a 1994 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine: The Journal has published several articles asserting that strict gun-control laws reduce the rates of suicide (1,2) and homicide (3,4,5). If such laws had a major effect on both suicide and homicide rates, one would expect that these rates would be positively correlated with each other. We tested this hypothesis by analyzing suicide and homicide rates for all 73 nations that listed these data in the 1991 Demographic Yearbook (6). We used the computer program SPSS/PC+, version 4.0, to analyze the data. We found no correlation (R = 0.135). A scatter plot and quadratic and cubic regression showed no nonlinear correlation. This result is consistent with U.S. suicide and homicide rates. For example, the U.S. homicide rate reached its peak for this century in 1980, when the suicide rate was below the midpoint of its range. Firearm laws vary in strictness from one country to another. If strict laws were a determinant of both suicide and homicide rates, these rates would be positively correlated with each other. The lack of correlation does not rule out an effect on either suicide or homicide and no effect on the other, nor does it rule out minor effects on both. Nevertheless, claims that strict firearm laws result in large reductions in both suicide rates and homicide rates should be viewed with skepticism. David C. Stolinsky, M.D., and Stefanie A. Stolinsky, M.S. 1200 N. State St. Los Angeles, CA 90033