>>>>Hi Jos,
>>>>
>>>>>Death by gun is obviously a gun related death (tautology) but the reason there was a crime committed, regardless of the weapon used, has another cause. You say the cause is gun availability. I say the crime has socio-economic causes.
>>>>
>>>>I agree with you, but also think that gun availability escalates the crime, so, for example, a robbery is now an homicide/death depending on the outcome <g>
>>>
>>>You are correct. The availability of a gun can indeed escalate the crime to a more serious one (but does not cause the crime to occur). Without weapon A the criminal would need to use weapon B, which may indeed be less effective.
>>
>>And without the criminal there wouldn't be a crime, but some people look at the tools rather than the root cause.
>
>It should be both.. if 1 kid is threatening 10 other kid with a knife, you are going to do something about that knife aren't you?
>
>If not, should every parent give their children guns to protect themselves? If not, what should they do when a criminal tries to kill them?
>
>Enlighten me, what the US should do the reduce the crime rate?

It would be nice if the US made being a criminal painful, and kept repeat criminals out of society, but our court system us a joke, our law enforcement personnel are handcuffed more than the criminals, and our prison system makes life too easy when they are in, and lets them out far too early.

If that changed and criminals were treated as such, we would be much safer.

That still would not remove my right to self defense and to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but it would make self defense less likely to be needed.