Gun ownership causes crime

[Howzit]

[url]

[/url]
or does it?

[PavePusher]

1. Yep, Cenk's an ignorant fool on this issue, no doubt. n/t

[Berserker]

2. I have owned guns

for 53 years and I have NEVER committed a crime. I must be different. But I do have my eye on those murderous duck hunters.

[intaglio]

4. You know you could almost say

"I've owned rope for 50 years and never committed suicide" and it would mean as much as your post

[jeepnstein]

6. Pretty much sums it up.

Both are inanimate objects used for both good and evil. The only difference is one is specifically protected under the U.S. Constitution.

[Yavapai]

9. I can see it now...

[spin]

3. Very interesting video. Thanks. (n/t)

[ileus]

5. Mechanical devices cannot cause crime.

[TheMoreYouKnow]

18. There are rural tribes who believe

Certain wooden and stone monuments/idols are evil and have souls that can kill you. We generally attribute this to superstition and extreme ignorance while dismissing their nuttiness. Those who believe that an inanimate metal object can kill on its own should be treated the same way.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

7. correlation is NOT causation.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

8. I've looked at statistics...

...from different countries and compared laws to the US and done the same among a variety of states. The only conclusion based on long term observation that survives variations in numerous factors is that crime rates are unrelated to firearm ownership.

[rrneck]

10. The validity of a hypothisis is inversely proportional

to the popularity of the talking head proposing it.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

15. There's a keeper :) n/t

[spin]

19. Or to the size of the head of the commentator or host.

One such host is Piers Morgan on CNN. This bombastic and pompous Brit who is always lecturing us on how we should run our nation has totally convinced me that our founding fathers were very wise to break away from the Kingdom of Great Britain.

[DanTex]

11. Ahh, the good ol' gungeon! Still going with the RW youtube videos over the peer reviewed research!

It's always amusing the kind of right-wing lunatics that y'all come up with in order to further the pro-gun cause. Although, in all honesty, there are some questions of "correlation versus causation" here.

Does ignorance cause people to become gun fanatics? Or maybe the gun fanaticism comes first, and they only adopt scientific illiteracy because they don't like the conclusions of the science.

I'm guessing a little of both.

[gejohnston]

12. so did you

double check the source? If you did I'm sure you can do a deeper analysis.

[DanTex]

13. Deeper analysis of what? I googled the source.

It's this guy from the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a right-wing think tank.
http://cei.org/other/lee-doren

[gejohnston]

14. which is about ecomomics, not guns

I meant his critique of Cenk's rant or more accurately, the information Cenk based his rant on.

[DanTex]

16. Actually, it's an all-around RW/libertarian think tank.

I didn't watch the video. I'm familiar with the peer reviewed research, and I doubt that some right-winger on youtube is going to have much to contribute other than the same NRA talking points.

[gejohnston]

17. if you wish

personally, I lean towards listening what they have to say and double checking their sources. One of the teachers I admired most in high school, a transplant from NYC no less, defined a conservative as someone who says "don't bother me with facts or alternatives, I already made up my mind." (his critical thinking lessons included things like take both sides with a grain of salt.)
Let me ask you this, does being condescending and arrogant make one anti gun, or do you have to be anti gun to be condescending and arrogant? I know a lot of very well educated people, Texans, and even anti gun people who are neither.