Quote Originally Posted by davidbfpo View Post
Thanks Azor for this post. I am aware that SPLC has critics and engages in some strange actions.

Not a problem. I am a quantitative fellow by nature because I find that qualitative evidence is rather anecdotal and skews the perception of what should be objective facts.


For instance, as an outsider stealing a glance into the circus tent that is America, you might ask why there is such inaction on firearms control given the massacres and high firearm death rates. This is why:


  • Gun control advocates combine firearm deaths for both homicides and suicides, and the latter do not convince advocates for the Second Amendment
  • White Americans, including Hispanics, comprise 72% of the U.S. population
  • The intentional homicide rate among white Americans is 1.90 per 100,000, despite being 4.90 for Americans overall (per UNDOC)
  • Although 1.90 is slightly higher than many other Western countries, albeit slightly lower than Belgium, it is not stark enough for enough white Americans to want more gun control on the whole
  • For black Americans on the whole, the intentional homicide rate is worse than that of Northern Ireland during the Troubles, and even Malaya during the Emergency
  • Basically, most white Americans live in a security environment comparable with their Western peers; most black Americans live in a security environment that is equivalent to a low-level warzone
  • For those that believe racism is non-existent in America, one only has to compare the media coverage of school massacres in predominately white areas with less security than 'inner city' schools, with the coverage of homicides in Chicago



Of course, given Britain's rate of 0.90 and the fact that knives are simply less effective than guns, you might think that Americans are envious of the British. Some are, particularly the East Coast urban Democrats who gush over British and Commonwealth accents (Morgan, Noah, Oliver, Jeffries, etc). Yet enough white Americans believe that an unfettered Second Amendment protects them from tyrannical governance, despite the 'King of War' and casualties - artillery - being conspicuously absent from the list of permissible weapons. Enough also believe that it keeps them safe from violent criminals. Basically, it is no different than the illusion of control whereby people prefer to drive rather than fly, or people refusing to use seat-belts or airbags because sometimes these safety features cause death and injury.


As for law enforcement officers in the US being more disposed to using deadly force? Well, at any time they can be dealing with an armed and intoxicated suspect; at any time, they can cross from Provence into Helmand.


Rant over.