US, UK See Wide Gap in Gun Laws, ‘Violent Crime’ (2013)

TITLE: US, UK See Wide Gap in Gun Laws, ‘Violent Crime’ (2013)
SOURCE: CBS Atlanta

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/20549515/do-guns-stop-violence-the-us-has-more-rapes-and-murders-than-uk

BITLY STATS: http://bit.ly/X21KUX+

AUTHOR(s): Ray Downs

NOTES: UK does NOT have a higher violent crime rate; they just classify violent crimes differently, leading to inaccurate comparisons. USA has higher rape, murder, burglary rates than UK.

TWEETS: https://twitter.com/hospiceman/status/304660581808492544

The gun control that works: no guns (2012)

TITLE: The gun control that works: no guns (2012)
SOURCE: The Economist
LINK: http://www.economist.com/blogs/lexington/2012/12/gun-control

NOTES: Having few guns does mean that few people get shot. In 2008-2009, there were 39 fatal injuries from crimes involving firearms in England and Wales, with a population about one sixth the size of America’s. In America, there were 12,000 gun-related homicides in 2008.

Number of Police Officers Killed Last 22 Years (2012)

TITLE: Number of Police Officers Killed Last 22 Years; USA 1,132, England 10; Why? (2012)
SOURCE: National Gun Victims Action Council
URL: http://bit.ly/W1qxt2
WEB STATS: http://bit.ly/W1qxt2+

RESEARCH QUESTION: Why are police killed by firearms much more frequently in USA vs. England?
FINDINGS: Americans should not be allowed to carry guns in public. English criminals can get any gun they want, yet only 10 police officers were killed by guns. Since USA population is 5x England’s, there should only have been 50 police killed by guns in USA during same time frame.

Comparing int’l trends in recorded violent crime (2006)

TITLE: Comparing international trends in recorded violent crime (2006)
SOURCE: Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC), Crime facts info no. 115
LINK: http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/cfi/101-120/cfi115.html

NOTES: (1) The way in which crime is recorded is not necessarily an accurate indicator of differences in actual levels of crime. (2) Rather than indicating a sharp rise in actual violence in England/Wales, the post-1998 increase is largely the direct result of major changes to the way crime data are recorded. First in 1998 and then again in 2002, amendments were introduced to include a broader range of offenses…and to take a more victim-led approach.

This source debunks sources such as Slack (2009): http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1196941/The-violent-country-Europe-Britain-worse-South-Africa-U-S.html