First, I do not own a gun and never have. No fascination with guns ever in my life.
Now, I say that so it is clear I have "no dog in the race" so to speak. I have followed this conversation for years and have come to an opinion AND have a question for both sides of the debate.
My opinion.....this is another of those cable news issues, made important by them as they accent individual crimes and ignore the big picture totally. That has led it to be a political issue totally....one side versus the other and when that happens we have selected statistics supplied and nothing but emotion. That is my opinion as I watch from "the sidelines"....politics !!
Now, my question for both sides is this.....it took me a while to find this article which I read awhile back but finally found it. From Forbes magazine....and knowing that most folks simply ignore links that they do not feel will back their viewpoint, will try to give you an overview and ask both sides for opinions...
"Disarming Realities: As Gun Sales Soar, Gun Crimes Plummet"
"According to DOJ’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. gun-related homicides dropped 39 percent over the course of 18 years, from 18,253 during 1993, to 11,101 in 2011. During the same period, non-fatal firearm crimes decreased even more, a whopping 69 percent. The majority of those declines in both categories occurred during the first 10 years of that time frame. Firearm homicides declined from 1993 to 1999, rose through 2006, and then declined again through 2011. Non-fatal firearm violence declined from 1993 through 2004, then fluctuated in the mid-to-late 2000s.
And where did the bad people who did the shooting get most of their guns? Were those gun show “loopholes” responsible? Nope. According to surveys DOJ conducted of state prison inmates during 2004 (the most recent year of data available), only two percent who owned a gun at the time of their offense bought it at either a gun show or flea market. About 10 percent said they purchased their gun from a retail shop or pawnshop, 37 percent obtained it from family or friends, and another 40 percent obtained it from an illegal source.
While firearm violence accounted for about 70 percent of all homicides between 1993 and 2011, guns were used in less than 10 percent of all non-fatal violent crimes. Between 70 percent and 80 percent of those firearm homicides involved a handgun, and 90 percent of non-fatal firearm victimizations were committed with a handgun. Males, blacks, and persons aged 18-24 had the highest firearm homicide rates."
Disarming Realities: As Gun Sales Soar, Gun Crimes Plummet - Forbes
I do not believe that the sources are in anyway at all political which is important...While I understand the debate in itself, as it has been going on a long long time (even before the internet), all I see is the magnifying of single events that have characters or circumstances in involved that will show good on television.
PLEASE...dont give me the little smart retort about the children in CT. or another sensational crime. Of course that was a tragedy under any and all circumstances....I would love to hear unemotional debate on the subject, and love an response to my opinion.
I am not sufficiently informed to go deeper....I just see it as another media fueled political debate until I hear other wise.