WOW: Guns to surpass car accidents as leading cause of deaths among young people

[spin]

176. Not surprising. In any nation that largely forbids firearm ownership it is only obvious ...

that it will have far lower firearm violence than a nation that has an estimated 80,000,000 gun owners and well over 300,000,000 firearms in the hands of civilians as the United States does.

It is simply amazing that our nation doesn't have far more gun violence. If you were to eliminate the violence that results when drug gangs fight each other over turf due to our failed War on Drugs the gun violence figure would decrease significantly.

Our nation also has a significant mental health problem and obtaining care for mental health issues is expensive and is often viewed by many as showing weakness. That is one of the major drivers in the suicide rate involving the use of firearms which results in the death of more people than criminal firearm violence.

Instead of consulting with a mental health counselor many people obtain prescription drugs to treat symptoms of mental problems. Such drugs often have nasty side effects such as causing an overwhelming desire to commit suicide when they are first taken or if suddenly stopped.

Rarely mentioned by either side of the gun control issue is the fact that violent crime and firearm violence have drooped to levels last seen in the late 1960s which were fairly peaceful times when compared to the 80s and 90s. Gun manufactures hope to increase sales by insinuating that a firearm is a necessity for protection and gun control advocates realize that pointing out that we have made great headway on addressing gun violence would do little to gain support for their ideas.

There is no doubt in my mind that we could pass new gun control legislation at the state and national level that would decrease gun violence even further. Unfortunately the two sides of the debate simply refuse to compromise.The gun control movement for many years has favored gun bans and the registration of firearms as the solution to the problem. Realizing that it is impossible to disarm all American citizens in one bold move (which many in the movement hope for), they try to pass small incremental steps to achieve that goal. Gun owners speak of the "camel's nose under the tent" and realize that small steps will not satisfy the gun control movement and that any stricter legislation will be followed by another and another. Therefore many gun owners oppose any and all changes.

In recent years the Democratic Party largely stopped pushing for new gun control legislation at the national level. Several recent tragedies changed that, especially the murder of young children at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. I had some hope at that time that our nation might pass some reasonable modifications to our gun laws but unfortunately Dianne Feinstein viewed this as an excellent opportunity to pass another assault weapons ban. As soon as this was mentioned in the press I knew that the effort would fail and nothing of substance would be accomplished at the national level. Sadly I was right and the push for the AWB resulted in tremendous profits for every gun manufacturer in our nation as firearms of all types simply flew off the shelves of all gun stores. Gun owners also stocked up on ammunition which led to a shortage that is just beginning to end.

With the midterm elections on the near horizon I don't expect to see any major push for strong gun control legislation. I do fear that many gun owners will show up at the polls to vote against Democrats even if they do not support gun control. We many lose many close elections at the local, state and national level for this reason.

In passing while it is true that many nations who do have strong gun control laws have little firearm violence they are not weapon free.

1,000 knife crime victims in London each month, shocking new figures show
Justin Davenport, Crime Editor
Published: 01 July 2013

Up to 1,000 people a month are victims of knife crime in London, according to alarming new statistics.

They show that around 400 a month are being injured in attacks — many of them seriously — while others are being threatened. In the first four months of the year, 11 people were murdered in knife attacks. Four teenagers have been stabbed to death so far this year.

The statistics, obtained after a Freedom of Information request, reveal that there were 1,038 victims of knife crime in London in January, of which 410 were injured and four killed. The remainder were threatened with knives.

The figures for February show there was a total of 818 victims, in March there were 993, and in April there were 892 victims. The number injured in attacks reached a peak of 420 in April, the equivalent of 14 people a day.
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/1000-knife-crime-victims-in-london-each-month-shocking-new-figures-show-8681511.html