Blognomicon links us to a Sheboygan Press opinion piece by Gun Week senior editor Dave Workman, who writes:
It's an attractive thesis for gun owners. It would be easy to jump on the bandwagon and cry "See?"
The problem is, there are problems with it.
If you're going to claim concealed carry impacts the murder rate in Seattle (and I would argue it does, albeit to a much lesser degree than Workman attributes it), you need to factor the number of concealed handgun carriers in the specific population you're studying--in other words, don't use a statewide number. The 230,000 figure sounds impressive, but the state has a population of over 6 million, vs. Seattle's 571,500. If you're going to crunch numbers, you need to factor your carriers from that pool.
There's something else at work--another "big difference"--a HUGE "big difference"-- that impacts the raw murder number disparities between Milwaukee and Seattle, but there's a problem with even hinting at it--lest we be charged with the modern equivalent of being denounced a witch. We can find this "big difference" in every major urban area in the country--the places where guns are invariably controlled and the murder rate cannot be.
At the risk of being branded classist, ageist, sexist, and the dreaded "r" word... uhh, s'cuse me... could someone please look at the demographic differences between Seattle and Milwaukee?
Sorry, Mr. Workman, but the cities do not share "roughly the same...social makeup." Just look at the comparison between "female householders, no husband present" (8.09% vs. 21.07%). And we also can't forget to look at race--not as a cause of violent crime, but as an indicator of populations most directly affected by and responsive to a continuing history of destructive government policies.
If we're afraid to even address this, we're never going to be able to make things right. And those hurt the most by this self-imposed blindness will continue to be the least prosperous and protected among us.
Aside from the vast disparity in the number of homicides in Milwaukee and Seattle, there is one more big difference. Washington residents can carry concealed handguns, and a lot of them do, more than 230,000 at last count.
It's an attractive thesis for gun owners. It would be easy to jump on the bandwagon and cry "See?"
The problem is, there are problems with it.
If you're going to claim concealed carry impacts the murder rate in Seattle (and I would argue it does, albeit to a much lesser degree than Workman attributes it), you need to factor the number of concealed handgun carriers in the specific population you're studying--in other words, don't use a statewide number. The 230,000 figure sounds impressive, but the state has a population of over 6 million, vs. Seattle's 571,500. If you're going to crunch numbers, you need to factor your carriers from that pool.
There's something else at work--another "big difference"--a HUGE "big difference"-- that impacts the raw murder number disparities between Milwaukee and Seattle, but there's a problem with even hinting at it--lest we be charged with the modern equivalent of being denounced a witch. We can find this "big difference" in every major urban area in the country--the places where guns are invariably controlled and the murder rate cannot be.
At the risk of being branded classist, ageist, sexist, and the dreaded "r" word... uhh, s'cuse me... could someone please look at the demographic differences between Seattle and Milwaukee?
Sorry, Mr. Workman, but the cities do not share "roughly the same...social makeup." Just look at the comparison between "female householders, no husband present" (8.09% vs. 21.07%). And we also can't forget to look at race--not as a cause of violent crime, but as an indicator of populations most directly affected by and responsive to a continuing history of destructive government policies.
If we're afraid to even address this, we're never going to be able to make things right. And those hurt the most by this self-imposed blindness will continue to be the least prosperous and protected among us.