Friday, December 12, 2008

More NFL and Guns

This time from the Baltimore Examiner:

Ravens protecting their nests

At least half of the Ravens’ players own a gun, according to a team official. Darren Sanders, the Ravens’ head of security, estimates the number of players on the team who own guns mirrors the rest of the NFL

Most of the article is fairly even handed on the subject, however the reporter had to get a little PSH in the mix:

Daniel Webster, the co-director of gun policy and research at Johns Hopkins University, said taking a loaded weapon into a crowded place — like Burress did — promotes violence. Webster believes New York City’s stringent gun laws are a major reason why the city’s murder rate fell to 496 last year from 596 in 2006, marking the first time the city had fewer than 500 murders since reliable statistics were documented in 1963.

“I look at gun violence as a public health issue,” he said. “If one person felt unsafe and decided to carry a gun, which led to another person and another person to carry a gun, how safe are we?”


So, Daniel, what laws did New York City enact in 2006 to cause this drop in crime? I really want to know, because my google-fu is weak. I can't find anything on this wonder law you say dropped this murder rate*.

I did find that all handguns in NYC have been subject to the Sullivan Act since 1911. I also find that, as far as I can tell, the latest laws date back to March 1, 2001. All well before 2007. So, it looks to me like you have issues understanding cause and effect.

Maybe you should go back to school. Oh, wait. You work at one! Maybe some night courses, then.

Now, on to your second statement. I have to go back to the whole "cause and effect" thing I just talked about. If one person decides to carry a gun (for whatever reason), how would that cause someone else to carry one? That makes no sense, and is nothing more than the standard"what if?" scenarios you gun prohibitionists like to employ in order to make your point.

It's just too bad an otherwise reasonable article has to be mucked up with this drivel.

Thanks to Frank Keegan for the pointer.

* Ok, you didn't actually say it, you implied. That's OK, because letting people think something is true is better than it actually being true now, isn't it?.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Post hoc, ergo propter hoc."

Maybe Daniel can go to community college like the proles were instructed to do.

Guns are viral and reproduce by budding. In the presence of a CHL holder, I can feel a small cyst on my hip which is trying to turn into a Sig, don't you know. :)

Rustmeister said...

LOL

I wish getting a Sig was that easy.