Missouri gun murders 'rose after law repeal'

[klr]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-26222578

Missouri gun murders 'rose after law repeal'
By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News, Chicago

Researchers claim a new study provides some of the most compelling evidence yet for tighter gun controls in the US.

The team followed the consequences of the State of Missouri repealing its permit-to-purchase handgun law in 2007.

The law had required purchasers to be vetted by the local sheriff and to receive a licence before buying a gun.

Reporting soon in the Journal of Urban Health, the researchers will say that the repeal resulted in an immediate spike in gun violence and murders.

The study links the abandonment of the background check to an additional 60 or so murders occurring per year in Missouri between 2008 and 2012.

"Coincident exactly with the policy change, there was an immediate upward trajectory to the homicide rates in Missouri," said Prof Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research.

"That upward trajectory did not happen with homicides that did not involve guns; it did not occur to any neighbouring state; the national trend was doing the opposite – it was trending downward; and it was not specific to one or two localities – it was, for the most part, state-wide," he told BBC News.

The team said it took account of changes that occurred in policing levels and incarceration rates, trends in burglaries, and statistically controlled for other possible confounding factors such as shifts in unemployment and poverty.

What was stark, added Prof Webster, was the rise in the number of handguns that subsequently found their way into the hands of criminals.

The team counted a doubling of handguns shortly after sale being recovered from scenes of crimes or from criminals.

"This study is compelling confirmation that weaknesses in firearm laws lead to deaths from gun violence," said Prof Webster.

The Johns Hopkins researcher was participating in a discussion here at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

The theme was "science-based strategies for reducing gun violence".

America currently has more than 300 million firearms in circulation. But the issue of gun control remains a hugely contentious one.

[JimC]

And the law that was repealed did not mean that an honest, upright citizen could not own as many handguns as he liked; sure, a small delay for the vetting process, but otherwise, such a law would not count as "gun control" in any civilised part of the world...

And yet it was repealed, with rather predictable consequences...

[laklak]

If you lived in Missouri (pronounced "misery") you'd go on a spree shooting too.

[Gallstones]

Violent Crimes Declined Across Country in First Six Months of 2013, F.B.I. Says
By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT FEB. 18, 2014

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said Tuesday [02.18.14] that violent crimes, including murders, fell by 5.4 percent in the first six months of 2013 compared with the same period in 2012, continuing a long reduction in violent crime across the country.

“We have had almost 25 years of a decline in crime, but on a year-to-year basis it’s hard to come up with a story,” John Roman, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute’s Justice Policy Center, said,

In all, murders fell by 6.9 percent, aggravated assaults by 6.6 percent and robberies by 1.8 percent, the bureau said.

[FBM]

If you lived in Missouri (pronounced "misery") you'd go on a spree shooting too.

[Ayaan]

Violent Crimes Declined Across Country in First Six Months of 2013, F.B.I. Says
By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT FEB. 18, 2014

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said Tuesday [02.18.14] that violent crimes, including murders, fell by 5.4 percent in the first six months of 2013 compared with the same period in 2012, continuing a long reduction in violent crime across the country.

“We have had almost 25 years of a decline in crime, but on a year-to-year basis it’s hard to come up with a story,” John Roman, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute’s Justice Policy Center, said,

In all, murders fell by 6.9 percent, aggravated assaults by 6.6 percent and robberies by 1.8 percent, the bureau said.

The article did state:

"That upward trajectory did not happen with homicides that did not involve guns; it did not occur to any neighbouring state; the national trend was doing the opposite – it was trending downward; and it was not specific to one or two localities – it was, for the most part, state-wide," he told BBC News.

[Ayaan]

If you lived in Missouri (pronounced "misery") you'd go on a spree shooting too.

Neither I or Gawdzilla have gone on a shooting spree.









Besides, it is easier to get rid of the bodies if you only shoot one person at a time.

[rainbow]

If you lived in Missouri (pronounced "misery") you'd go on a spree shooting too.

Neither I or Gawdzilla have gone on a shooting spree.









Besides, it is easier to get rid of the bodies if you only shoot one person at a time.

Why not just eat them, like we do in Africa?

[FBM]

You've obviously never tasted American.

[JimC]

You've obviously never tasted American.

You have to carefully choose the lean non-smokers who eat organic food...

[FBM]

You've obviously never tasted American.

You have to carefully choose the lean non-smokers who eat organic food...

Not many can afford to eat like that except on special occasions. Suppy and demand being what it is, y'know.

[JimC]

You've obviously never tasted American.

You have to carefully choose the lean non-smokers who eat organic food...

Not many can afford to eat like that except on special occasions. Suppy and demand being what it is, y'know.

It is a premium product, I agree...

[Clinton Huxley]

Mmm.....21 day hung corn-syrup fed American. May I have seconds?

[FBM]

Mmm.....21 day hung corn-syrup fed American. May I have seconds?

I've been hung much longer than 21 days.

[Clinton Huxley]

Mmm.....21 day hung corn-syrup fed American. May I have seconds?

I've been hung much longer than 21 days.

Any more talk like that and you'll be drawn and quartered too.