The Roundup: David Frum And Michael Shermer on Gun Control Editition

America's Gun Violence Map 
Keep in mind this is correlation, which does not necessarily mean causation. But causation is at least plausible.

"Firearm deaths are significantly lower in states with stricter gun control legislation. Though the sample sizes are small, we find substantial negative correlations between firearm deaths and states that ban assault weapons (-.45), require trigger locks (-.42), and mandate safe storage requirements for guns (-.48)."

Michael Shermer: The Colorado Massacre, Gun Control, and the Law of Large Numbers

"We do know something for certain, however, and that is that this will happen again…and again and again. The reason is the law of large numbers that I will outline below that are disturbing enough that it really is now time to rethink our gun-control laws to include the prohibition of semi-automatic assault rifles like those Holmes’ allegedly used to murder 12 and wound another 58 in a matter of seconds. Had he not had such weapons—possessing, say, only a pistol purchased for self-defense—the tragedy would surely have been lessened. Thus, even though I am a life-long libertarian who champions freedom in all spheres of life and has previously opposed gun-control measures in principle (I do not personally enjoy hunting or recreational gun shooting), I now believe that the freedom of a few people to own WMMs (Weapons of Mass Murder) conflicts with the freedom of the rest of us to enter the public sphere without the chance of our ultimate freedom of life itself being cut short." (emphasis mine)

He then presents a few figures about psychopathy, violence, murder and comes up with this figure:

"this results in a rate of 3.14 Aurora-size mass murders per year in America, which is actually lower than the rate of around a dozen per year that we have been averaging the past half century, depending on what constitutes a mass murder (school-shootings alone that amount to more than one killed in one event happen on average once a year in the U.S.)." (emphasis mine)

Now what can be done? Nobody can really predict these things without some kind of police state:

"damage control is the only option we have, if we want to do something about this tragic social problem. And by damage control I mean gun control. Specifically, I mean outlawing all automatic and semi-automatic assault rifles for anyone who is not in law enforcement or the military. When the Second Amendment was written stating that citizens have a right to “keep and bear arms,” rifles took over a minute to load one bullet at a time. The most crazed 18th century American could not possibly commit mass murder because no WMMs existed at the time." (emphasis mine)

Should this be considered a loss of freedom? Michael Shermer makes a compelling case that it is actually quite the opposite:

"The principle of freedom states that all people are free to think, believe, and act as they choose, so long as they do not infringe on the equal freedom of others. But the freedom for me to swing my arm ends at your nose. The freedom for you to own any gun you like is in conflict with my freedom to interact freely with my fellow citizens in public spaces when so many madmen mingle among us. We should ban assault weapons of all kinds. We already disallow private citizens to own nuclear weapons, missiles, grenade launchers, and the like. WMMs that can be secreted into a movie theater should be categorized among those we can no longer tolerate. This is no loss of freedom. It is, in fact, an increase in freedom—the freedom to move about our living spaces without fear of being gunned down in cold blood. " (emphasis mine)

David Frum: Fear drives opposition to gun control 
While opposition to gun control has been increasing, ownership of guns has been decreasing. In addition, while violent crime has been on a decline over the past few decades, Americans feel more at risk.

"Proponents of gun control are baffled that horrific massacres such as the one in Aurora, Colorado, do not lead to stricter gun control."

"The more terrifyingly criminal the world looks, the more ineffective law enforcement seems, the more Americans demand the right to deadly weapons with which to defend themselves."

yet

"The police can protect you, and will, and do. And a gun in the house is not a guarantee of personal security -- it is instead a standing invitation to family tragedy. The cold dead hands from which they pry the gun are very unlikely to be the hands of a heroic minuteman defending home and hearth against intruders. They are much more likely to be the hands of a troubled adolescent or a clumsy child."

David Frum: Do guns make us safer?

"To be clear: I'm not disputing that guns sometimes save lives. They must. I'm certainly not disputing that the Constitution secures the right of individual gun ownership. It does. I'm questioning the claim that widespread gun ownership mak es America a safer place. The research supporting that claim is pretty weak -- and is contradicted above all by the plain fact that most other advanced countries have many fewer guns and also many fewer crimes and criminals."

David Frum: Fast and Furious' Dumb Conspiracy Theory

"The right-wing theory of the case in the Fast & Furious scandal is that the Obama administration hoped to generate demand for gun control in the United States by allowing the export of deadly guns to Mexico.

Yet demand for gun control doe s not respond even to mass murders inside the United States.

If you were a secret gun-snatcher, would you ever imagine that gun crime inside Mexico would produce a better result?

More plausible conspiracy theories, please."

Politifact: Falsehoods and half-truths in debate on gun control  
A MUST READ for anyone who desires a reality-based opinion on the Gun Control issue.

AP FACT CHECK: Treaty unlikely to curb US gun rights 
The NRA, as well as other pro-gun groups are on a continual unjustified scare campaign. There is no hope if the leader of the most popular mainstream gun rights organization is a conspiracy obsessed nut job.

Gunman’s Weapons Already Illegal?

"So Romney is correct to say that any bombs found at Holmes’ apartment were illegal. But all of the weapons alleged to have been used by Holmes at the movie theater that night — including a controversial semi-automatic rifle once banned by federal law — were obtained legally." (emphasis mine)

Politifact: Mayor Michael Bloomberg says 40 percent of guns are sold without a background check

"The City of New York commissioned an investigation of Internet gun sales. The report said on 10 websites, it found over 25,000 weapons for sale.The report said that over 60 percent of sellers allowed a purchase to move forward even when th e alleged buyer said he didn’t believe he would pass a background check."