Quote:Do you reckon the Colorado guy could've got hold of that type of weaponry in the UK?
I don't.
Nor in Australia.
Plus a fact for gun apologists: 2007: 31000 gun related deaths in the US. of that figure, over HALF, 17,000, were suicides. Around 12,000 were homicides.
The Wiki demographic breakdown of gun related deaths (who shoots who and where) is fascinating and give the lie to the self-serving rhetoric of the NRA. The full article is worth reading
Here in Oz armed robberies involving firearms are unusual. It IS true our criminals like to shoot each other,which suits me just fine.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quote:Homicides
Homicides by weapon type, 1976-2004. Gun-involved homicides have increased since falling to a low in 1999.[17]
Homicide offenders by age, 1976 - 2004.[18]
Gun and overall homicides in Washington, D.C. are concentrated in crime hot spots located in neighborhoods (including Shaw, Sursum Corda, Trinidad, Anacostia, and Congress Heights) with socio-economic disadvantage, while homicide is rare in other neighborhoods.
While people during the 19th century were concerned about violent crime, it often took the form of riots and other forms of disorder in cities.[19] Gun violence, however, sometimes played a role in these riots (see Haymarket riot). Homicide rates in cities such as Philadelphia were significantly lower than in modern times.[20]
During the 1980s and early 1990s, homicide rates surged in cities across the United States (see graphs at right).[21] Handgun homicides accounted for nearly all of the overall increase in the homicide rate, from 1985 to 1993, while homicide rates involving other weapons declined during that time frame.[22] The rising trend in homicide rates during the 1980s and early 1990s was most pronounced among youths and Hispanic and African American males in the United States, with the injury and death rates tripling for black males aged 13 through 17 and doubling for black males aged 18 through 24.[12][18] The rise in crack cocaine use in cities across the United States is often cited as a factor for increased gun violence among youths during this time period.[23][24][25]
Gun-related death rates in the United States are eight times higher than they are in countries that are economically and politically similar to it. Higher rates are found in developing countries and those with political instability.[22][26][27]
Prevalence of homicide and violent crime is greatest in urban areas of the United States. In metropolitan areas, the homicide rate in 2005 was 6.1 per 100,000 compared with 3.5 in non-metropolitan counties.[28] In U.S. cities with populations greater than 250,000, the mean homicide rate was 12.1 per 100,000.[29] According to FBI statistics, the highest per capita rates of gun-related homicides in 2005 were in D.C. (35.4/100,000), Puerto Rico (19.6/100,000), Louisiana (9.9/100,000), & Maryland (9.9/100,000) .[30] The Bureau of Justice statistics from 2004 do not include D.C or Puerto Rico. see "Gun violence in the United States by state". Wikipedia. 2004.
Homicide rates among 18- to 24-year-olds have declined since 1993, but remain higher than they were prior to the 1980s.[18] In 2005, the 17 through 24 age group remains significantly overrepresented in violent crime statistics, particularly homicides involving firearms.[31] In 2005, 17- through 19-year olds were 4.3% of the overall population of the United States.[32] This same age group accounted for 11.2% of those killed by firearm homicides.[33] This age group also accounted for 10.6% of all homicide offenses.[34] The 20- through 24-year-old age group accounted for 7.1% of the population,[32] while accounting for 22.5% of those killed by firearm homicides.[33] The 20 through 24 age group also accounted for 17.7% of all homicide offenses.[34] Those under age 17 are not overrepresented in homicide statistics. In 2005, 13- through 16-year-olds accounted for 6% of the overall population of the United States, but only accounted for 3.6% of firearm homicide victims,[33] and 2.7% of overall homicide offenses.[34]
People with a criminal record are also more likely to die as homicide victims.[12] Between 1990 and 1994, 75% of all homicide victims age 21 and younger in the city of Boston had a prior criminal record.[35] In Philadelphia, the percentage of those killed in gun homicides that had prior criminal records increased from 73% in 1985 to 93% in 1996.[12][36] In Richmond, Virginia, the risk of gunshot injury is 22 times higher for those males involved with crime.[37]
In 2005, 75% of the 10,100 homicides committed using firearms in the United States were committed using handguns, compared to 4% with rifles, 5% with shotguns, and the rest with a type of firearm not specified.[38] Due to the lethal potential that a gun brings to a situation, the likelihood that a death will result is significantly increased when either the victim or the attacker has a firearm.[39] The mortality rate for gunshot wounds to the heart is 84%, compared to 30% for people who sustain stab wounds to the heart.[40]
Approximately 6,500 homicides were committed using handguns in 1999; since there were roughly 70 million handguns, the chance of any particular gun being used in a homicide is very low.[41]
The incidence of homicides committed with a firearm in the US is much greater than most other advanced countries. In the United States in 2009 United Nations statistics record 3.0 intentional homicides committed with a firearm per 100,000 inhabitants; for comparison, the figure for the United Kingdom, with very restrictive firearm laws (handguns are totally prohibited, for example) was 0.07, about 40 times lower, and for Germany 0.2.[42]
Further information: Gun violence in the United States by state
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violenc...ted_States
