Al Jazeera on guns in the USA

[Yoda]

I know it's not kosher to post news items without comment, but in this case, I'm not sure what the comments might be. I think we all suspect that the rest of the world looks on our "gun culture" with morbid fascination. Here is one example, from the Arab news site "Al Jazeera," for those who are interested.

Here's the link:
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/interactive/2012/07/2012726141159587596.html

Added:

For those who insist on a preview before they click on a link, the webpage contains a graphic that ranks and compares the rates of gun ownership and the rates of gun deaths in each state in the usa. It also contains a chart comparing the numbers of guns in us civilian ownership versus those in other nations.

The purpose of me posting the link was solely to provide one example of non-dopmestic gun reporting
, for those who might be curious. That's why I said, "for those who might be interested." If you don't want to click on the link, then don't. If you're concerned that reading a news item from the Arab equivilent of CNN might result in your door getting kicked in during the wee hours of the morning, then there's nothing I can say to assure you that this is safe.

High Road should not equate to high and mighty. Lighten up.

- - - Yoda

 

[Skribs]

For those who don't feel like following the link, can you at least explain what their position is?

 

[Vector]

^
Exactly, either reprint it here or give us your interpretation, because there is no way in hell I am going to click on that link.

 

[gfanikf]

^
Exactly, either reprint it here or give us your interpretation, because there is no way in hell I am going to click on that link.

Why? I've used the website all the time. It's no different than click on CNN, Fox, BBC, et al.

 

[Tango57]

Why? I've used the website all the time. It's no different than click on CNN, Fox, BBC, et al.

1. I'm on my phone and don't want to invest the bandwidth.

2. I'm lazy.

3. I want to have a little information to decide if I'm interested enough to spend the time to read it.

4. I'm still lazy.

Mostly 2 and 4 though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk when i should have been doing something useful

 

[JohnM]

there is no way in hell I am going to click on that link.

Why not?
Al Jazeera comes from Doha Qatar, and has excellent unbiased reporting on the Middle East and the world.

The article is a well done comparison of US gun ownership and the rest of the world. Some very good charts of ownership by state in the US and a good one showing how support for gun control has dropped here since the '90's.

 

[JagerRanger]

It's a quite nice article on gun ownership around the world, and especially in the United States, stating mostly facts.

Should all US media write articles like this, we'd have no problems.

 

[svtruth]

Great Graphics!

Terrific map of the US
Very interesting

 

[brickeyee]

"Civilians in the US own an estimated 270 million guns, a higher number than any other country."

Their estimate is a little low (even by the US governments estimates).

 

[goon]

I actually think it's pretty objective and informative too.
And not to start a political debate, but for those who won't even read something because it's on Al-Jazeera, you need to expand your thinking. What the rest of the world thinks of us, including the Arab world where we buy all that oil they use to make your car go forward on the highway, is worth at least being aware of.

 

[mokin]

Very interesting. I spent some time on the interactive state by state breakdown of gun ownership and gun related deaths and could not see a corelation between the two (Although I do question the source they used). There is another graphic that shows how political favor for gun control laws has been on the decline. A third section explains that purchases made from licensed dealers require a criminal background check and a graph that shows how background checks has gone up. Something I wonder is how many people realize that the figures for gun sales is based on these background checks, especially those thrown out last week for Colorado? Just some very basic "facts". A big difference from this site and those others named above is that I didn't see much spin. The basic message was that guns are very popular here in the USA.

 

[Skribs]

I just don't want to click on a link to foreign websites while I'm at work, doesn't matter if its arab or canadian or martian.

 

[gfanikf]

Why not?
Al Jazeera comes from Doha Qatar, and has excellent unbiased reporting on the Middle East and the world.

I wouldn't go that far. I'd say it has a left wing tinge to it similar to The Guardian in the UK (which I also read lol). I've been told that AJ Arabic is more, how do I say Anti-Western, than AJ English (which at first glance might be mistaken for a British channel...also lots of really attractive female anchors lol).

Still for any qualms I have it's nothing like say Russia Today which is the Kremlin's mouthpiece and a garbage source...that I've seen been reposted (not here) as if it was a good source. Interestingly RT gained a lot of the "Anti-Western" readership that AJ used to have after Libya when AJ's editorial was (and coverage too) of intervention.

1. I'm on my phone and don't want to invest the bandwidth.

2. I'm lazy.

3. I want to have a little information to decide if I'm interested enough to spend the time to read it.

4. I'm still lazy.

Mostly 2 and 4 though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk when i should have been doing something useful

It's mostly graphs and charts with sourced information and those reasons are usually used by me, so no problem. lol

Here is a mobile friendly link from the page.The chart also lists itself as iPad Friendly.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/interactive/2012/07/2012726141159587596.html/?frommobile

I just don't want to click on a link to foreign websites while I'm at work, doesn't matter if its arab or canadian or martian.

Yet Firearms sites are okay...unless it's Canadian Gun Nutz.

 

[blarby]

Wow, I think walmart had a special on foil hats last week....geez guys, its a news site...... AJ has very good reporting, and thanks to the time difference, often gets a lot of ME news out to the world before US sources even get their coffee. And, unlike theNYT- you can read as many articles as you want on AJ free of charge

Anyway- Very good article.

I had NO IDEA yemen was so big on guns- thats pretty neat info.

 

[Texan Scott]

I'm already legally banned from one middle eastern country ... they can keep it. al-Jaz is probably the least biased media outlet in the middle east. (not unbiased, but no worse than most of our own... just differently so.)
Their bias, when it is apparent, is more likely to be on display when American foreign policy is at issue. When they look at us in our own country, they're curious... they watch us like kids giggling at the monkeys that pick their butts at the zoo... and, sadly, i see their point, usually.

 

[gfanikf]

Wow, I think walmart had a special on foil hats last week....geez guys, its a news site......

Anyway- Very good article.

I had NO IDEA yemen was so big on guns- thats pretty neat info.

I knew about Yemen and Serbia before from a few other articles, BUT I've never knew why. I mean Serbia kind of makes sense with recent history, but what is with Yemen vs it's neighbors, though then again recent (well Cold War recent) history explains it a little, still a historical study on both could be very interesting.

 

[Sgt.Murtaugh]

so public opinion on gun control is inversely related to violent crime?

 

[JagerRanger]

I wouldn't go that far. [snip]
I've been told that AJ Arabic is more, how do I say Anti-Western, than AJ English ... [snip]

That is very true. But, they're usually very unbiased in English. The same applies to all Arabic language sites.

Anyhoo, it was a nice article whether or not it puts you to the LIST.

 

[hso]

The map is from 2008 CDC data and is a little out of date.

 

[ThorinNNY]

It would be very interesting to be able to compare the Arabic and the English versions of that article.

 

[Zoogster]

'Gun deaths' are always a stupid way to compare.


Anytime you hear the term 'gun deaths' you can be sure the agenda of the person is anti-gun.
If people had no cars, there would be no car deaths.
That doesn't mean you don't want cars in society.


Murder/homicide/suicide rates would be a more honest comparison.
'Gun deaths' conveniently ignores when other items take the place of guns and the lack of firearms is partially compensated for by other means.
It also ignores if the shooting was self defense or criminal. Turning even self defense shootings by police or citizens into a negative part of the statistic.

 

[Robert]

So rather than talk about how biased or unbiased AJ is how bout, oh I dunno, we talk about firearms. Or at least the substance of the article.

 

[DefiantDad]

Let me just paste in some of the text. Here is the intro, with a map of (supposedly) gun ownership versus gun deaths:

On July 20, 2012, a lone gunman killed 12 and injured dozens more in a Colorado movie theatre, during a screening of Batman: The Dark Knight Rises. The tragedy has drawn renewed attention to the United States' unique relationship with firearms. Civilians in the US own an estimated 270 million guns, a higher number than any other country.

Unlike in almost all other developed countries, gun laws in the US tend to be lax. The US Constitution's Second Amendment protects the "right of the people to keep and bear arms", explaining that "a well regulated Militia" is "necessary to the security of a free State". The Supreme Court ruled in 2010 that the Second Amendment should be interpreted as protecting an individual's right to bear arms.

Gun ownership and gun death rates vary greatly by state: In Wyoming, more than 60 per cent of people own guns; whereas in Washington, DC, fewer than 4 per cent own guns. The gun death rate is also highest in Washington, DC, and lowest in Massachusetts.

Note that the gun death rate includes deaths from suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Next is a chart of countries with gun ownership percentages. (Regarding the comment about Switzerland, note that methinks America, in its truest spirit, should require all citizens to have some level of firearms training, starting in high-school, but that is another thread, and we are not even clear on the 2A right now.)

The US has more guns per person than any other country in the world. The Small Arms Survey estimated that in 2007, there were 88 guns owned for every 100 Americans.

Although exact figures are difficult to come by, the Arabian Peninsula state of Yemen - which has a deeply ingrained gun culture - probably has the second-highest number of guns per capita.

Switzerland's requirement that most of its male citizens serve in a militia helps it maintain third-highest rate in the world. And Finland, in fourth place, has a robust hunting culture. Guns have also traditionally been important in rural Serbia, which has the fifth-highest number of firearms per person.

All mentioned figures come from a Small Arms Survey report published in 2007.

Then a chart about surging firearms sales (good!):

When campaigning in 2008, Obama said, "I believe in people's lawful right to bear arms. I will not take your shotgun away. I will not take your rifle away. I won't take your handgun away."

Nevertheless, since Obama was elected president, firearms and ammunition sales have surged. The surge may have occurred at least in part because of conservatives' fears that Obama would implement an anti-gun agenda.

Gun dealers are required to run a criminal background check on buyers of firearms. Since 2003, the number of background checks performed has risen each year. The amount of taxes collected on firearm and ammunition sales has also risen continuously since 2003.

Then the best chart of all (in my opinion) entitled "Public opinion is more pro-gun." It shows number of violent crimes committed from 1990 to 2010. The crimes actually are LESS in 2010 than 1990 (if I read the chart correctly). But the MOST important aspect here, IMHO, is that public opinion regarding Americans supporting MORE gun restrictions has DROPPED over the past 20 years. If correct (since they are "polling" Americans; nobody polled me or my family/friends...) supposedly in 1990 around 78% Americans wanted more gun restrictions, and in 2010 around 43% want that. The actual percentages might be up for question, but if the overall trend is correct (more Americans want LESS restrictions) then we are headed in the right direction as a nation of CITIZENS. Of course, the charts' intention might be to try to paint a picture of crazy Americans who love their guns despite the violence they do (the usual sales pitch for disarmament, as we are all aware). The clue to the purpose of the charts can be discerned from the subheading "Lax laws and deep-rooted gun culture cause high rates of global firearm ownership, with the US leading the way." so there is no question what it is supposed to represent to a global news readership. (Bolded emphasis mine).

Since 1990, public opinion surveys carried out by pollster Gallup have found that Americans increasingly oppose stricter gun control measures. Today, fewer than half of Americans say they want laws to become stricter. In 1990, more than three-quarters wanted tougher laws.

One possible reason for this trend may be the fact that over the same time period, the number of gun-related homicides dropped precipitously, as part of an overall decrease in crime in the US.

 

[JellyJar]

I read the article and then posted a comment. They used the "unbiased" statistics from the VPC as to the per capita of gun deaths in this country. I said that the VPC includes gun related suicides and that that was not kosher!

 

[Hacker15E]

I find it more fascinating that THR posters avoid reading an Al Jazeera story because:

1. They think that it represents some kind of anti-American propaganda, or
2. They fear that reading it will classify them as anti-American to some unspoken .gov agency.

Wow.