Sunday, July 6, 2014

Texas TopCat Repeats a Few Old Myths

Texas TopCat in comments:


Look at Mexico, guns are controlled so that the average person can not own a gun. Now, do you think Mexico is more safe that the US?

Umm..prostitution, drugs, and public corruption are also similarly "controlled."  Yet, it's not too hard to find any of these in Mexico.  As in many developing nations, actual enforcement of the laws is lacking.  Not the laws themselves.


Look at Chicago, do you think Chicago is more safe than Kennesaw, Georgia?

Apples and oranges.  Kennesaw, GA is a suburb of Atlanta.  Why not compare it with one of Chicago's suburbs--Morton Grove, IL?  Morton Grove which at one time banned all firearms has a better crime rate than Kennesaw.

Even if we compare apples to apples, Chicago's crime numbers as a multiple of the national average are better than Atlanta's.

In 1982, Kennesaw, Georgia passed a law requiring heads of households to keep at least one firearm in the house. The residential burglary rate subsequently dropped 89% in Kennesaw, compared to just 10.4% drop in Georgia as a whole.Today, the violent crime rate in Kennesaw is still 85% lower than Georgia's or the national average.

First off, how was this law enforced?  IOW, how did city officials know everyone was complying with the law to own a firearm?  Did they go door to door?  No.  They didn't check.  So stating crime dropped dramatically because of an action no one is sure actually occurred is absurd.

Second, did residential burglaries drop 89%?  Nope.

Kennesaw Burglaries 1976-1986
76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 48 85 86
41 21 22 35 35 54 35 35 29 32 70

In graphical terms:



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