When I watched the nightly news in the late 1960s during the Vietnam War, I was always horrified by the kill statistics, which were announced like a sports score: “840 Americans killed to 1,150 Vietnamese,” and so on. After a while I thought we would grow numb to these numbers, but instead a revulsion built and helped fuel the antiwar movement.
Perhaps if the networks and newspapers announced the deaths by guns every night, every week, totaling them up for the year, the viewing public might become so horrified that they would force an unwilling Congress to finally act on sensible, overdue gun regulation.
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Maybe the media should report how 508 people were killed in chicago last year by illegal guns, something our government seems to ignore, it's only law abiding citizens they target.
Can you regulate illegal guns?
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Jedi, why do you immediately call them "straw" sales? If the person who bought them from a legal owner was not yet a criminal, (had not been convicted of a crime), it would be perfectly legal for a licensed dealer to sell that soon to be criminal a gun. Also, keep in mind that people involved in drug crimes do not limit their activities to drug deals. They also involve themselves in things like burglaries. So the "illegal guns" may very well have been stolen.
Get off the idea that all guns in the hands of criminals are obtained via "straw purchases". Legislatures can pass all the background checks they want and the criminals are still going to be getting all the guns they want. A few years ago, a group of them specialized in burglarizing gun dealers in the Providence area.
In the 60's the nightly news was still pretty much the NEWS, not the main stream media agenda we see now. BTW, the "score" was never quite what you depicted during the VietNam war. It was pretty lopsided.
But getting back to gun deaths. This would be a fair idea if the "news" reported when guns were used in legitmate self defense situations. Just in the last several weeks there have been at least 6 self defense situations involving guns that you did not see reported here in the Globe. Instead all you see is the use of guns in the commission of crimes.
Keep in mind, you are not watching or reading the "news" anymore.
Here is an example of the "news" you do not see. Recently a young father was attacked in the NY subway. Two police officers stood in the engineer's compartment and watched while he was stabbed and slashed several times. Finally the father subdued the attacker. Then the officers came out and told him they would take over. That night, on the NY "news", Bloomberg lauded praise on the two officers for apprehending his killer who had attacked several other people. He described the father as being a "victim" and made no mention of the fact that the father actually had done the subduing. That is the "news" you are seeing today. The father is now suing the City of New York. One of the police officers made false statements claiming he had fought the attacker.
How about the large amounts of statistical data showing that people living in households where guns are present are significantly more likely to be injured or killed by guns?
How about them? If they concern you so much, then do not have a gun in your home. Simple as that.
Here is another statistic for you, people who live in homes are more likely to be injured falling down stairs in them too.
Another one, it is a FACT that people who drive cars are more likely to be injured by cars than people who do not.
Fact: People who own knives are more likely to injure themselves with them, some even commit murder with them.
Just read the Chicago papers
Regardless of where they come from, guns kill people.
In 2001 our nation was attacked and three thousand Americans died. As a result, we have engaged in 2 wars with thousands more Americans killed at a cost of trillions. In addition to that, we inititiated an entity known as Homeland Security, not known for it's effectiveness but also costing tons of money.
However, since 9/11 we have had 270,000 gun deaths in America. Our response? Make gun laws more lenient.