Rhetoric, Reason and Numbers -- Updated, link fixed

First, there is usually no point in trying to reason a person out of a position they did not reach by reason.  Reason and logic have nothing to do with fear, manipulation, deliberate ignorance, and mass superstition.  This covers about 95% of the anti-gun arguments.  To combat rhetoric, use rhetoric.

Still there is that 5% or so that get their "facts" from PMSNBC.

Hotair discussed Barbara Boxer's comments about California's restrictive gun laws and how they have lower the rate of homicides.  Check out the chart and some of the links in the article.  The firearms murder rate per 100,000 population in America has dropped drastically over the last 20 years even while more and more states have adopted "sensible" concealed carry laws, and firearms ownership has risen:

 As for the gun homicide rate specifically, that’s dropped by nearly half since 1993 according to Pew’s data. Robert VerBruggen has a column well worth your time at NRO today detailing his state-by-state comparison of gun ownership rates and homicide rates. Logically, if the left is right that more guns in circulation necessarily means more violence, we should see more homicides in states where more people are armed. That’s not what we see, per VerBruggen. States are all over the statistical map. States where guns are more freely available do tend to see more suicides by shooting, but suicide typically doesn’t factor heavily into progressive rhetoric about gun-grabbing.

I have talked about suicides before.  These are tragedies that are very close to my heart and might be the single logical argument for  some form of waiting period.  I think a good night's sleep and a reduction in the use of most legal pharmaceuticals would save more lives than restricting access to firearms.

As for Obama's contention that mass shooting don't happen in other countries, well, he is wrong:

The French have witnessed three mass public shootings this year. January saw two attacks, one on the Charlie Hebdo magazine and another on a Paris supermarket. In the November attacks, 129 people were killed and 352 were injured. In 2015, France suffered more casualties than the U.S. has suffered during Obama's entire presidency (508 to 394).

Obama also overlooks Norway, where Anders Behring Breivik used a gun to kill 67 people and wound 110 others. Still others were killed by bombs that Breivik detonated. Of the four worst K-12 school shootings, three have occurred in Europe. Germany had two of these — one in 2002 at Erfut and another in 2009 at Winnenden, with a total death toll of 34.

Obama isn't correct even if he meant the frequency of fatalities or attacks. Many European countries actually have higher rates of death from public shootings that resulted in four or more murders. It's simply a matter of adjusting for America's much larger population.

Keep in mind that it does not bother people like Obama, Clinton, Bush, or any of the other power-mad politicians to lie.  They will say anything and do anything to maintain power and control over their voters.  They are uninterested in the negative consequences of the laws they pass.  To them it is a game, and they play to win -- popularity, position, power, and prestige.  Those who suddenly want to shout down prayers to God in favor of appeals to politicians will discover this truth the hard way.

If these bleating sheep really wanted to make America a better, safer, more just nation, they would concern themselves with becoming better people, as Micah suggested long, long ago:  Do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God. 


Finally, a modest proposal.