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More guns = less crime? Not so fast says a new study

I've never been one to believe that more guns results in less gun-related crime. It's just never made any logical sense to me. Is there a link between an increase in fast-food consumption and a decrease in obesity? An increase in unprotected sex and a decrease in sexually-transmitted diseases? It's about cause and effect. What are guns designed to do? Shoot. What are the possible effects of shooting a firearm? Injuring and/or killing an animal or person. The more guns that are purchased and shot, the greater the gun-related crime will likely be. The greater the fast-food consumption, the greater the obesity rate will likely be. The greater the frequency of unprotected sex, the greater the spread of sexually-transmitted diseases will likely be. That's what logic, consistency, and common sense have told me through the years. However, many on the right-side of the political spectrum have been attempting to persuade people that the direct opposite is true - with an increase in gun ownership, there's a decrease in gun-related crime. Unfortunately, studies of gun violence have been more scarce than MySpace in recent years, which has led to a great deal of debate without much scientific merit.

Fortunately, studies revolving around gun violence will become more commonplace in the next four years following President Obama's executive order on the matter. Yesterday, such a study was published in the medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine. The results were based on gun-related deaths (homicides and suicides) between 2007 and 2010 reported by the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

What was discovered? States with the most gun-control laws have the fewest gun-related deaths - a 42% lower gun-death rate than states with the least number of such laws.

Your move, NRA...

http://news.yahoo.com/more-gun-laws-fewer-deaths-134804944.html

http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1661390
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