In collaboration with Miller, Mother Jones crunched data from 2012 and found that the annual cost of gun violence in America exceeds $229 billion. Direct costs account for $8.6 billion—including long-term prison costs for people who commit assault and homicide using guns, which at $5.2 billion a year is the largest direct expense. Even before accounting for the more intangible costs of the violence, in other words, the average cost to taxpayers for a single gun homicide in America is nearly $400,000. And we pay for 32 of them every single day.

via The True Cost of Gun Violence in America | Mother Jones.

I did this post on a rush, so it is not written pretty.

Since 1989, Florida has averaged 1,100 homicides a year (1989 the highest with 1,405 and 2001 the lowest with 867 and actually not having very wild swings other than a continuous down trend) and as Motherjones says there is a cost to the taxpayers of $400,000 per homicide, so we get a yearly total of $440,000,000 obviously a number not to be sneezed at. But the whole tone of the article is we, poor taxpayers are being socked with this awful cost, right? So in reality, how big is the cost for the Florida taxpayer since our Gunshine State became the blight of civilization for our loose gun laws?

So, how much the average Floridian “paid” for a homicide? We take that $440,000,000 number and divided it by the number of Floridians in 1989 (12,797,318), the year with highest number of homicides and we get $34.38. per murder per Floridian. The same $440,000,000 divided into the 19,259,543 Floridians in 2013? It comes down to $22.84 per murder.

And you know the way I am doing the numbers is wildly in favor of Motherjones’ accounting. $440,000,000 of today’s dollars does not buy even close to the same amount of goods and services it did in 1989. Out of the 24 years, ten had numbers under 1,000 and only six over 1,100 and still, the cost per homicide – per Floridian dropped one-third. in a state awash with guns, loose gun laws and an increase of almost 2/3 of the population,

So, it is not just More Guns = Less Crime, we can make the case that More Guns in the hands of More People = Less Crime & Cheaper Costs.

I am going to need to consult John Lott about that.

(As usual, y’all check my math and let me know what corrections are needed)

Misery loves company…. get your own Excedrin.

Hat Tip to Brian R….the bastard!

L-R: Billy Bowlegs III, Wilson Hoquid, Tommy Doctor.

The date of the picture is unknown. I could not find any info for Wilson Hoquid or Tommy Doctor.

I did find some information on Billy Bowlegs III. He was a Seminole Elder and Historian. Father was Black and Mother Seminole. The picture appears to be from around 1895 to 1900. The shotgun seems to be (to my untrained eyes) a Winchester Model 1893.
Wilson Hoquid has what appears to be a Smith & Wesson Model 1 on his waist and maybe a Sharps Rifle? A hint would be the cartridge belt he is wearing. Tommy Doctor also has a shotgun, but I can’t see enough to try to figure what is it.

It is unfortunate that the only association that people make with Florida and Cowboys has the word cocaine inserted in the middle. There were cowboys in Florida long before they were the stuff of Western legends and they are still taking care of the hoofers in the 21st Century. The use of whips to haul cattle gave them the moniker of “crackers,” today used in a derogatory manner.

As for the Seminoles? Well, you cannot but like a tribe who took all comers, lived in the damned swamp dressed like that and told the all-powerful NCAA to go pound sand and to leave the  Florida State mascot alone as they were damned proud of it.

Jewell Turner, 74, told NBC 5 she was waiting in her minivan outside of her doctor’s office, near the corner of West Magnolia Avenue and 6th Avenue in the city’s Near South Side, when a man tapped on the glass of her driver’s side window

“He stood there and we talked for a while, [him] just asking for directions and me giving them to him,” Turner recalled. “Never thought that when I turned my head that young man would stick a knife to my throat…

…“I seen the gun laying there. And I figured that would work better than the knife,” Turner said. “I just reached down, got the gun and turned around and pointed it to his face. And I told him, I said, ‘You back off, or I’ll blow your head off.’ And his eyes got big and he just backed up and he took off walking down the street like nothing happened.”

via Gun-Toting Grandma Stops Would-Be Assailant | NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth.

And she was also a coward for carrying a gun. It was a miracle that the robber did not take the gun away from her and killed her. And the gun could have gun off and kill 700 nuns on their way to Mass. Think of the Children!

You have to be a truly sick individual, in the same degree as the bastard that put the knife on Mrs. Turner’s throat, to claim that she would have been better off not defending herself.

We can start with rentals:

CHICAGO—Touting the program’s convenience and affordability, Chicago officials unveiled Monday the city’s new gun-sharing service, “QuikShot,” which allows individuals to check out a loaded firearm for short periods of time.

The municipal initiative, through which users can rent semiautomatic pistols, shotguns, rifles, and submachine guns at more than 250 self-service kiosks, has reportedly been designed to make firepower easily available to residents and tourists alike nearly everywhere within the city limits.

via Chicago Introduces New Citywide Gun-Sharing Stations | The Onion – America’s Finest News Source.

I know it is The Onion but, after what happened over the weekend where a man with a rare concealed weapon permit in Chicago shot a potential nutjob from shooting multiple people, this might not be such a bad idea. 😀

And let’s not forget the ammo:

The problem with calling these all training issues is that, newsflash, not everyone has access to infinite amounts of time, money, and training. Mortals need to balance their resources. That’s true for individuals, police departments, the U.S. military, and every other entity that deals with shooting.

via pistol-training.com » Blog Archive » To Infinity, and Beyond!.

Goes back to my recurring theme that some are more interested in selling you a class than actually making sure you can do your best.

Get training, nobody is saying the opposite, but those who train for a living have to understand people do have lives outside the range and a budget.  If you can’t understand that, then you are not training people for Real Life.

Poor woman trying to make a few dollars in train is stunned when you man comes up and asks her how many roses she has. She answers 140, a dollar per rose. He gives her 140 and asks her to give them out on train. Unbelievable!!

I am all out of Zyrtec.

Hat Tip: Art S.