December 14, 2012
A map that says it all - States with stricter gun control laws have fewer deaths from gun-related violence
children
,
Connecticut
,
death
,
elementary
,
gun control
,
guns
,
Newtown
,
shooting
,
violence
4 comments
From the Washington Post. Enough said. Let the political posturing begin.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(
Atom
)
Regardless what gun laws we have in place that may decrease deaths we still need tighter restrictions on the distribution firearms period. I'm not anti gun. I am anti stupidity, Why does the average Joe "need" an assault rifle or machine gun? I'm proficient with most firearms and understand that they are a tool to perform a very specific function. The right to bear arms does not mean the right to be Rambo....
ReplyDeleteNice viz good conversation starter...
I don't think that map is that clear (I'm not arguing the conclusion, just the visualization). When I look at the map, I see that CA and NV both have (unequal) gun laws, but the death rate is very different. When I look at the Atlantic South (WV-FL), the gun laws in VA and NC don't matter.
ReplyDeleteI grabbed the same source data and built this. It shows the number of gun laws with the firearm death rate.
http://public.tableausoftware.com/views/firearm/Count?:embed=y
But even that doesn't seem to fully describe what accounts for higher firearm death rates. I also built the Law Select sheet, which shows assault weapon bans may be more helpful than safe storage laws.
There may be other dimensions (population density, poverty, education, types of firearm death, etc.) to add to the viz to better describe the factors contributing to an overall firearm death rate.
Criticism of my work is welcome.
The map is convincing, however I don't agree that correlation = causation.
ReplyDeleteOk...I hate to be a downer, but here is some logic for you: Gun control means fewer guns out there, correct? Yes, correct. Now, with fewer guns, logically, there are less deaths due to firearms. Congratulations. The murder rates have not changed in those states at all. If someone wants to murder someone, they do not need to use a gun. They can use a knife, pencil, fork, spoon, plastic bag, hammer, their fists, rope, a car, anything on the planet is a possible weapon. So, murder will continue to happen. Hope my little logic lesson gets to you.
ReplyDelete