Gun Control: Hittin' What You're Aimin' At

While I understand the Brady Campaign's goals, namely gun control, I have a real problem with the premise of their campaign, that being heavily restricting ownership of guns by law abiding citizens will somehow stop gun violence. There are far too many examples both here and overseas of why this premise is false, showing that where the citizens are banned from owning guns crime goes up, and particularly violent crime. The other flaw in their premise is that criminals will abide by gun laws, which is naïve at best.

The Brady folks recently came out with their list of states and their gun control ratings, with '0' being the worst and '100' the best. New Hampshire scored a 6, meaning the Brady folks believe our state's gun laws are too lax. The socialist paradise of California scored a 79. Utah scored a 0, supposedly with the worst gun restriction laws in the nation. But one thing the Brady campaign has chosen to ignore: crime rates in those states as compared to the laxity of their gun laws.

As Bogie states:

Hmm, last I checked, there was less gun deaths in those scoring lowest as to highest (NH is #8 lowest for [percent] by population with a 6.1 versus 10.2 US average). Oh look, as of 2008, NH was the second lowest in murders at 50 (out of 51) versus California being a 12 (51 is lowest, 1 is highest on the scale). Also, last I checked, pointy objects were the cause of as many deaths as guns in NH (4 a piece with general beating deaths just behind at 3).

Around here gun control and registration means something entirely different from how the Brady Campaign defines it:

Gun Control (New Hampshire Dictionary): Hitting what you're aiming at.

Gun Registration (New Hampshire Dictionary): 1.) Making sure the trailer you use to haul your gun collection is registered. 2.) Ensuring your scope is aligned properly so your round goes where it's supposed to at 500 (or 1000) yards.