>>>You dont believe that there would be less murders?
>>
>>People are not killing each other because the have a gun. They want to kill each other, and the gun
>>is the tool they use to do it. Take away guns, and they'll find a different way.
>
>I think you're wrong. That's true in some cases, but an awful lot of murders occur because someone gets angry and there's an gun at hand.
>
>I can't quite figure out the search terms to use to pull this info up, but I know that I've heard community leaders here in Philly (where the murder rate is quite high) talking about a strategy of encouraging people to leave their guns at home to prevent exactly this kind of crime. I'm reasonably certain one story I heard quoted study, but as I said, I can't figure out what to search for.
>
>Tamar

We did a number of studies in college thirty five years ago about guns and society, and it seems that things have not changed. One example is Switzerland:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1566715.stm

In 1994, the homicide rate in Switzerland was 1.32 per 100,000 in the population. Of those, 0.58 (44 percent) involved firearms. Compare this to Italy 2.25 (1.66 firearms), France 1.12 (0.44), and Germany 1.17 (0.22).

Here is an interesting link:

http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_gcgvinco.html

Living in Columbia or South Africa can be dangerous for your health. Such a difference in Northern Ireland and Ireland.

Our conclusion in college why there is no real clarity as to the association of gun control, the number of guns within society, availability, and murder seems valid even today. A lack of opportunity (economic and political) greatly contributed to the disturbing number of murders.