In all the hubbub over guns and deaths, there is a lot of number fiddling that goes on. Take for example this piece that accurately points out that 62 school aged children were killed by guns in Chicago this year. It also accurately points out that 442 school aged children were shot this year in Chicago.
The underlying point that this piece makes is that Chicago is some of the most draconian anti-gun laws in the country. And still, these kids are dying by the wagon load.
Here is the deception. While the vast majority of those kids were certainly "school aged", my bet is that they were not in school. My bet is that the vast majority of those kids were killed willfully taking part in drug deals when they were shot and/or killed.
Which brings to mind a salient point that if we really wanted to cut the number of deaths due to guns in the U.S., we would legalize drugs immediately. It would have the salutatory effect of also cutting other rates of crime as well.
Of course, none of this has anything to do with the tragedy in Connecticut last month.
The underlying point that kids are dying in Chicago under some of the most onerous anti-gun laws in the country is a fact. Adopting those kinds of laws on a national level will do nothing to cut gun deaths in the U.S. We will instead become a nation of unarmed victims amidst armed brigands.
Establishing public policy based on unusual circumstances seems to be counterproductive to me. The dominant problem causing gun deaths in America is our failed War on Drugs. The dominant problem causing mass shootings is people with untreated mental health issues. Addressing both of those problems would be of far greater service to progress than making life easier for the criminals that walk in our midst.
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