You politely share this one with them where shows we have a murder rate equal to a bucolic USA in the 1900s – 1910s.
Be kind enough to point out that the two great peaks match Prohibition and the aftermath of Gun Control Act of 1968. Also, very politely, show them that the drop in murder rate in the 1990s happen (coincidentally I am sure) with the expansion of Concealed Carry Laws and liberalization of gun laws across the states.
If the trend continues, we should have a murder rate under 2 per 100K sometime in the next decade…with more guns including Evil Black Rifles!
There were also no organizations dedicated to banning cars.
And automobiles are still less heavily regulated than firearms. It takes no background check to purchase one, there are no restrictions on purchasing high-performance or high-capacity models(aside from price), and they can be used pretty much without restriction on private property.
[…] Miguel over at GFZ posted an image from the CSGV in which they claim that “strictly regulating cars, drivers, and roads” has resulted in a 90% drop in automotive-related fatality rates in the last century or so. […]
One could quibble with GSGV’s characterization of long term reduction in motor vehicle fatality rates being the result of strict regulation of cars, drivers, and roads when their own graphic clip first refers to public health response… which I would have taken to refer to improvements in emergency resposnse and medical techology.
Rather than quibble I would congradulate GSGV for using the statisical gold standard for motor vehicle related fatality stats –
1) not motor vehicle fatalities per capita;
2) not motor vehicle fatalities per registered vehicle;
3) BUT, motor vehicle fatlities per Million Vehicle Miles Traveled.
Yes, GSGV recognizes that ‘safety’ of motor vehicles is best compared to how much motor vehicles are used, not how many vehicles are out there, or how many people are out there. This is how the various DoTs and engineers measure vehicle (and road) safety.
Why not use the same metric for firearms?
Not fatalities per capita, nor per number of guns out there (i.e.: registered – all nice and legal, of course), BUT
Fatalities per Million Rounds Fired, calculated by annual ammo sales.
I have a stiff new dollar bill that says the US may be one, if not THE safest nation in the world.
As a quick aside – motor vehicle fatlities per Million Vehicle Miles Traveled cares not if the vehicle was registered, had annual saefty checks, driver properly licensed and insured or a crime in-progress.