tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638916042737526171.post6624209233331332823..comments2024-03-28T07:16:39.621+00:00Comments on Lallands Peat Worrier: Macabre facts: Arizona v. ScotlandLallands Peat Worrierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18276270498204697708noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638916042737526171.post-63032375065927783582011-01-16T13:47:22.121+00:002011-01-16T13:47:22.121+00:00Needless to say, Indy! However, I sometimes get th...Needless to say, Indy! However, I sometimes get the impression that city dwellers entertain a different basic attitude towards guns, seen primarily as inexplicable, fatal instruments...Lallands Peat Worrierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07238432265194046726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638916042737526171.post-14009705692407087552011-01-14T18:42:59.075+00:002011-01-14T18:42:59.075+00:00Even in rural Argyll people generally own guns to ...Even in rural Argyll people generally own guns to shoot animals with, rather than people.<br /><br />The idea that you have the right to shoot down anybody who enters your property - which is what the American gun laws are based on surely - died out in the UK a while ago. I don't have any real knowledge about the issue but would suggest that the change in attitudes and the law around gun ownership probably coimcided with the introduction of a more systematic police force.Indyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04383904151475839441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638916042737526171.post-49713836546773577082011-01-14T12:48:05.282+00:002011-01-14T12:48:05.282+00:00Fair points both, Indy and Alec MacPh. Having been...Fair points both, Indy and Alec MacPh. Having been raised in rural Argyll, I suspect my general attitude to guns as such may differ somewhat from townies. That, however, is a matter for another time and occasion.Lallands Peat Worrierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07238432265194046726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638916042737526171.post-21911251867416332752011-01-14T12:19:03.006+00:002011-01-14T12:19:03.006+00:00Subrosa,
I'm certainly not suggesting one sho...Subrosa,<br /><br />I'm certainly not suggesting one should compare jurisdictions and sites without cautions of the sort you describe. I wasn't aiming to offer a comprehensive account of the factors which produce a particular number of homicides hither and yon. Having unearthed the figures, they struck me as interesting, while the comparison with our own statistics puts a bit of flesh on general apprehensions about the position in parts of America. <br /><br />As CSBungo pointed out on Twitter, we could undertake <a rel="nofollow">a similar comparison with London and elsewhere in England.</a>Lallands Peat Worrierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07238432265194046726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638916042737526171.post-25896080880727713972011-01-14T12:13:59.263+00:002011-01-14T12:13:59.263+00:00Thanks Dan,
Interesting comparisons.Thanks Dan,<br /><br />Interesting comparisons.Lallands Peat Worrierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07238432265194046726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638916042737526171.post-62167547540270748872011-01-13T12:09:00.086+00:002011-01-13T12:09:00.086+00:00>> We appear to have a similar relationship ...>> We appear to have a similar relationship to knives as Arizona has to guns. Perhaps this is something to ponder whilst we heckle our American cousins about gun control.<br /><br />Quite. A gun used offensively is much more likely to kill than a knife, so I wonder what would happen if we factored in non-lethal knife assaults (up to and including attempted murder).Alec Macphhttp://efrafandays.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638916042737526171.post-78004781553557448522011-01-12T17:14:05.012+00:002011-01-12T17:14:05.012+00:00I think the reason that comparisons are often made...I think the reason that comparisons are often made between the UK (or its constituent parts) and the USA (or its constituent parts) is because of the cultural connections. The British - I mean that in the geographic sense not politically so I include the Irish - made America what it is, to quite a large extent.<br /><br />But it seems that their constitution has embedded certain historical notions - like the right to bear arns - into daily life whereas we have moved on. Attitudes on gun ownership which may have been as common in Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries as they are in modern day America, now seem to us to be completely loopy. And the statistics highlighted here show that those attitudes are indeed completely loopy!Indyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04383904151475839441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638916042737526171.post-21254121951543273072011-01-12T16:16:35.306+00:002011-01-12T16:16:35.306+00:00Can we really compare Arizona with Scotland Lallan...Can we really compare Arizona with Scotland Lallands? Firstly the climate is differs greatly and it's much drier (with the exception of the two rainy seasons) creating an outdoor lifestyle in many areas. Weather does have an impact upon humans and their behaviours.<br /><br /> it's landlocked with a vast border. That in itself sees some of the incoming population have a desire to 'do anything' to live the American dream. <br /><br />As far as I'm aware the people are encouraged to arm themselves so comparing firearm incidents isn't a level playing field.<br /><br />I have to admit I've always been against a gun culture and your figures show why. Long may our policy continue.subrosahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00151702590329788260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638916042737526171.post-84117436726690859952011-01-12T16:11:33.924+00:002011-01-12T16:11:33.924+00:00So I did a little comparative number crunching (ha...So I did a little comparative number crunching (have spreadsheet will tinker) and a couple of things struck me as interesting.<br /><br />Firstly, if we had the same murder rate as Arizona we would have had about 258 murders compared to the 79 we did have. <br /><br />Secondly, if Scotland had the same population as Arizona but the same murder rate we could have expected almost exactly 100 homicides in 2009 compared to 327.*<br /><br />Thirdly, physical assaults which make up 12.66% of Scottish homicides are no separately recorded by Arizona.<br /><br />Our per capita homicide rate is 0.00015% compared to Arizona’s 0.005%. You are some 3.33 times more likely to be the victim of a homicide in Arizona than you are in Scotland.<br /><br /><br />At 44.3% of homicides, knives are Scotland’s murder weapon of choice, compared to 60.55% of Arizonian homicides being gunshot related. We appear to have a similar relationship to knives as Arizona has to guns. Perhaps this is something to ponder whilst we heckle our American cousins about gun control. On the other hand Arizona achieved (if that is an appropriate word) nearly as many knife related murders at 60 as Scotland managed in total, 79.<br /><br />Had our distribution of weapons been the same as Arizona’s we would have had 48 gunshot homicides and 14 knife wound homicides.<br /><br />If you swap out the 198 gunshot homicides and replace them with a figure more in line with Scotland’s gun shot rate (2.53% times 327) being 8 (i.e. an attempt to normalise for the prevalence of guns in Arizonan homes and culture), the total number of homicides in Arizona would fall to 137 or a rate of 0.0021% of population, still 1.4 times higher than Scotland’s rate.<br /><br />I’m not sure I’m qualified to draw any meaningful conclusions from this quick and dirty comparison except to say I’d rather a stab vest in Scotland than a bullet proof vest in Arizona.<br /><br /><br />*Note on stats, my figures and percentages are not quite the same as the OP due to the treatment of some statistics in the original Arizonan report being inconsistent between headline figures and the detailed analysis.Dan Suttonhttp://doantsdreamofempire.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.com