Gun Control Graveyard

A

Anpwhotep

Inactive
Inspiration for this came from several sources, so I can't claim it as totally original.

Imagine the effect of setting up a display of tombstones, one for each person killed every day (or maybe a longer period, if you have a desire to carry more tombstones)in the US by gun control laws.

I think we could come up with the figure by comparing homicides in someplace like DC or NYC to someplace like Vermont, and comparing the rate to the total population of the US. Unfortunately, I don't yet own a copy of John Lott's book, so I don't know what the correct numbers are, but I think you can see where I'm going with this, right?

I'm sure we've all seen things like the AIDS quilt, the anti-tobacco body bags commercial, or the MMMs empty shoes, and we know what emotional effect a simple symolic statement like that can have. Why not make it work for us?

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The first step is to get the number that represents the difference in homicide rates between "shall issue" and anti-gun locations. I'd personally use the best "shall-issue" figure and the worst anti-gun figure, since that represents the truest picture of the cost.

Then, we need someone in Washington or some other place that gets lots of daily news coverage to set up the display. Styrofoam tombstones, like the ones you can buy for Halloween, are probably the best for this.

The best effect, I think, would be to set up a field of tombstones on the Capitol Mall, to represent the national deaths by gun control.

Until we can manage that, we could do like the AIDS quilt people do and keep sections - each state have someone who keeps a tombstone display representing their state's gun control deaths.

But I'm getting ahead of myself, I think. First we need to get the state-by-state and national figures for gun control deaths. Guess I'm going to have to find the money to buy a copy of Lott's book. :)
 
Anpwhotep - That is a GREAT idea. It has always bugged me that the antis always seem to be so creative in their propaganda.

This one looks to be a powerful comback. It's a wonder they didn't think of it first.

BTW, here are some online bookstore sites that may be of help. Just put in the Title or author and search and you will get a range of formats and prices. Watch the shipping charges, some are postpaid while others hammer you up to $5.
http://www.bibliofind.com/
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/abe/IList
http://www2.addall.com/

This last takes time to load but scans 32 different stores.
 
Knowing just how cheap most members of the firearms community are when it comes to buying guns and ammo and in light of that fact, I suggest minature stryrofoam gravestones on a tabletop cemetary as many of you guys are way too cheap for anything else to work out.

I know because i can't make a living selling you guns, or ammo. What, a 40.oo commission on a $700 gun, too much.Hey numb brain, a 10 %er gets 70.oo on a 700.oo gun. Good , there is the door, utilize it.
The nicer you are to the bastards, the more they abuse you.

The gun shop is just a hobby now and I thourghly enjoy kicking the cheapos out.
 
Well, I don't have More Guns, Less Crime yet, but I did get my hands on Yale Law School Program for Studies in Law, Economics, and Public Policy Working Paper #237, Safe Storage Gun Laws: Accidental Deaths, Suicides, and Crime, by John Lott, and found some useful figures there.

The effect of "lock up your gun" laws on various crimes, annual average per state:

Over 300 more murders
3,860 more rapes
24,650 more robberies
25,000 more aggravated assaults

And that's just from gun lock laws. Given this, I'm looking forward to being able to extract the larger figures.
 
As part of a Halloween dispay, I have some store-bought plastic tombstones that came with a blank spot for a name. I labeled these "Personal Freedoms" and "Property Rights". Other slogans easily come to mind.
 
In the original paper, which was expanded into More Guns, Less Crime, John Lott came to the following conclusion:

"If those states which did not have right-to-carry concealed gun provisions had adopted them in 1992, approximately 1,570 murders; 4,177 rapes; and over 60,000 aggravated assaults would have been avoided yearly." - Lott, John R. Jr. and Mustard, David B., Crime, Deterrence, and Right-to-Carry Concealed Handguns, University of Chicago, July 26, 1996, (Revised version forthcoming in Journal of Legal Studies, Jan '97)

So, given a four year period, laws prohibiting concealed carry cause the following annual toll per state:

392 murders
1044 rapes
15,000 aggravated assaults

The numbers keep piling up...

Combine laws against concealed carry with "lock up your gun" laws, and each state with both laws gets an annual toll of:

Over 700 murders
Over 4900 rapes
Over 40,000 aggravated assaults

All of which could have been prevented by armed citizens. That's a whole lot of tombstones...
 
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