Gun violence in America, in 17 maps and charts

[forest444]

By Germán López. Vox.

America is an exceptional country when it comes to guns. It's one of the few countries in which the right to bear arms is constitutionally protected, and presidential candidates in other nations don't cook bacon with guns.

But America's relationship with guns is unique in another crucial way: Among developed nations, the US is far and away the most violent — in large part due to the easy access many Americans have to firearms. These charts and maps show what that violence looks like compared with the rest of the world, why it happens, and why it's such a tough problem to fix.

At: http://www.vox.com/2015/8/24/9183525/gun-violence-statistics

[Fairgo]

1. Thanks for the link

This is a step towards an evidence based approach to policy. For fairness, I'd like to see the research supporting unlimited access to guns. as some sort of human right.

[forest444]

2. You bet.

Now, as to what happens in countries with virtually unfettered access to guns - just ask Yemen.

http://www.yementimes.com/en/1683/culture/2463/Yemen%E2%80%99s-culture-of-weapons.htm

http://www.yementimes.com/en/1576/culture/907/Yemen-choosing-guns-over-food.htm

Guns more important than food - and women less important than either? Sounds like a Republican paradise, doesn't it!

[Fairgo]

4. powerful stuff, and not a far shot from the wet dreams of the NRA

When the prevailing argument for unrestricted gun ownership has devolved to a parroting of rights without consideration of reason, we are entering dangerous territory. It is a systemic sickness, and collective gun obsession is a symptom of a much, much deeper cultural infection. But the strategy for stemming the spread in a sick system is to intervene at every strategic point simultaneously and progressively. Limit the number one can own, limit the kind, tighten the conditions of ownership, increase cost, and interestingly, make the owner responsible for its use (here's a notion: any gun involved in a crime make the registered owner a party to the crime...any gun accident is [unless the gun was faulty] prima facie negligence on the part of the owner - only seems fair, you play with grown up kill toys, they become an extension of you). But that is not the whole answer. Let's work towards a society that is less isolated, fearful, and obsessed with killing...a society more educated, fed, and housed. And let's quit going to war. I think this is the source of our cultural sickness. We have no idea how to live without war.

[eppur_se_muova]

3. Just posted something related ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1016133708