Kilo_302 said:
The question should be, in which place are you actually safer? And the answer is, the society with less firearms (Switzerland is a unique case, as nearly all gun owners have military training, and little access to ammunition).
This is false.
Just sticking with one country, where crime stats are at least mostly uniform (British and Japanese homicide rates are artificially low, for example, for various reasons), that can be seen.
Homicide rates vary from State to State within the US. They also vary between other US jurisdictions as well. Homicide rates are lower in those States that impose the least restrictions on firearms ownership and carry. Several States that border Canada have lower homicide rates than their neighbouring Canadian Provinces. Major cities, which tend to impose draconian restrictions and are rife with drug gangs, have dramatically higher rates. And one is far more likely to be robbed, assaulted, or raped in Jolly Old England (my Country of Origin) than in the Wild West US.
Kilo_302 said:
Study after study bears this out.
Again, false.
Just one simple observation disproves this notion: whereas the number of privately-owned firearms in the US has skyrocketted in recent years, thanks to the best firearms salesman that America has ever known (Barack Hussein Obama), homicide and other violent crime rates have plummetted over the last three decades.
Your claim has also been picked apart in excruciating detail - county-by-county (and there are more than 3000 of them in the US) by John Lott in "More Guns Less Crime".
Kilo_302 said:
The Americans have emphasized personal liberty over public safety.
Personal liberty and matching responsibility are the best guarantors of public safety. The freedom to own and carry firearms has been the major influence that has driven down violent crime rates in all categories. Criminals simply do not like to be shot, and they fear armed private citizens more than they fear police, as police are more easily identifiable.
Kilo_302 said:
Gun makers are very active lobbyists
Gun makers are fulfilling a demand by ordinary citizens. Many, in fact - and ammunition manufacturers especially - are having a hard time meeting that demand. And that's all without the expensive advertising that automobile manufacturers, for example, have to buy.
Kilo_302 said:
recent figures show that after every highly publicized mass shooting gun sales spike because Americans believe that more guns might lead to a safer society.
And recent figures prove that they are correct.
Kilo_302 said:
a lot of is also tied to the misleading information coming from the gun lobby as well as a lack of American data on the subject.
There is no "misleading information" coming from the "gun lobby", or lack of credible data. The only misleading information is being pushed by the gun-grabbers. Misleading information and appeals to base emotion is all that they have.
And who is this "gun lobby"? Millions of ordinary citizens, simply exercising their rights, including their electoral rights.
Kilo_302 said:
This last point is also largely due to effective lobbying by gun manufacturers and the NRA.
Who is the NRA?
Over four million private citizens - the biggest single voting block in the US. No other issue has been able to generate that level of support, consistently, over any length of time.
Do you have some objection to ordinary people indicating their wishes to their politicians?
Kilo_302 said:
The CDC for example has been trying to study the problem of gun deaths as a public health issue
Which is not within its lanes, anymore than the study of epidemics falls within the purview of criminologists.
Kilo_302 said:
but it's efforts have been repeatedly blocked by Congress.
And rightfully so. Organizations dedicated to the study of disease should study disease. Until guns can replicate themselves and attack people independent of human control, there remains a huge difference between firearms and bacteria or viruses.
Kilo_302 said:
This is a direct result of NRA lobbying, and the NRA as we know is largely a mouthpiece for gun manufacturers.
No, "we" do not "know" that. Many misguided and ignorant people may believe that, but they are wrong. The NRA is the "mouthpiece" of over four million private citizens, and, although it is the largest, it is far from the only firearms organization active in resisting idiotic, poorly-aimed, and dishonest legislation.
Kilo_302 said:
In fact in 1996, Congress went so far as to cut funding to the CDC by the exact amount it had spent on gun related research.
Which was exactly perfect.
Kilo_302 said:
If a truly honest and open debate were to take place, we would need reliable data to frame it.
There is plenty of that around, but your side consistently fails to either comprehend or accept it.
Kilo_302 said:
public health institution like the CDC to do what it does best, form policy based on independent research.
Neither lawful nor unlawful firearms use is a public health matter.