Violent crime not dependent on weapon

[jazurell]

Very interesting study....but we all knew that.
download full paper here:
http://law.bepress.com/expresso/eps/1564/

International Evidence
Gary A. Mauser, Simon Fraser University
Don B. Kates, retired

Abstract

The world abounds in instruments with which people can kill each other. Is the widespread availability of one of these instruments, firearms, a crucial determinant of the incidence of murder? Or do patterns of murder and/or violent crime reflect basic socio-economic and/or cultural factors to which the mere availability of one particular form of weaponry is irrelevant?

This article examines a broad range of international data that bear on two distinct but interrelated questions: first, whether widespread firearm access is an important contributing factor in murder and/or suicide, and second, whether the introduction of laws that restrict general access to firearms has been successful in reducing violent crime, homicide or suicide. Our conclusion from the available data is that suicide, murder and violent crime rates are determined by basic social, economic and/or cultural factors with the availability of any particular one of the world’s myriad deadly instrument being irrelevant.

 

[MattC]

Co-author Gary Mauser has written a number of pro-RKBA articles focused on Canada (where he lives and teaches).

Articles such as:
The failed experiment: gun control and public safety in Canada, Australia, England, and Wales

I can't find the full text online, but here's the abstract:

Examines crime trends in Commonwealth countries that have recently introduced firearm regulations (Great Britain, Australia, and Canada); argues that the key to evaluating so-called "gun control" is to examine trends in total violent crime, not just firearms crime, and since firearms are only a small fraction of criminal violence, the public would not be safer if the new law could reduce firearm violence but had no effect on total criminal violence. Also available on the Internet.

The preprint article that you posted has does a good job summing up his research on the topic, it seems. It is an international study.

Highlights:
-Social Factors: culture and economic factors are more important than the presence of weapons
-Asking the wrong question: It's not about how many gun deaths there are, it's about how many violent deaths there are with any weapon or type of assault.
-More guns, less crime: while not necessarily causative, research indicates that in cultures where more guns are present, over the long-term violent crime rates typically stabilize or decrease, rather than increase.
-Conclusion: aiming public resources and legislative efforts at gun control is a misallocation.