(The argument over guns will continue until criminality ends)
The rate of “gun deaths” in Canada has recently declined, but it is time to stop using the term “gun death” since its meaning is distracting, says Gary Mauser of the Simon Fraser University.
“Gun death” is a pot pourri of suicides, homicides and accidents; the supposed link is that these deaths share a common cause: a gun was accessible, but the mere availability of guns does not make ordinary people commit murder, or suicide or have accidents, says Mauser.
According to researchers:
If reduced access to guns is indeed responsible for the decline in suicides involving firearms, it has not saved any lives since people still manage to find ways to commit suicide, says Mauser.
Source: Gary Mauser, Suicides and the ‘Gun Deaths’ Fraud, Fraser Forum, September 2005.
For text: http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/admin/books/chapterfiles/Sept05ffmauser.pdf
For more on Crime: http://www.ncpa.org/iss/cri/
FMF Policy Bulletin/ 29 November 2005
