

The Striking Relationship Between Gun Safety Laws and Firearm Deaths - RyanMcGreal
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/politics/2013/03/striking-relationship-between-gun-safety-laws-and-firearm-deaths/4902/

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pc86
The methodology here is incredibly flawed.

(1) Legislative strength is based solely on the number of laws, not those laws
content or intent. It's an objective measurement, sure, but having a dozen
laws related to firearms is not inherently more gun control than three laws.

(2) The quartiles aren't. Q1 is 0-2 laws (3); Q2 is 3-4 laws (2); Q3 is 5-8
laws (4); Q4 is 9-24 laws (16). So a random number between 0 and 24 is twice
as likely to fall into Q3 than Q2, and is about twice as likely to fall into
Q4 than any of the other three? Interesting that a pro gun control group would
try to paint the states in Q1-3 as outliers.

I live in PA, which somehow has the same legislative strength rating as
California and Massachusetts. I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that that's
the most ridiculous thing I've ever read. Purchasing my hand gun took all of
half an hour, most of that waiting for the background check to finish. To get
a concealed carry permit (which admittedly varies by county) took a single-
page application, $20 and a week or so for the paperwork.

This is just a joke.

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hga
Wow, I'd been hearing brief analysis of how bad it was, but these details.

I've lived in Massachusetts, _before_ their "assault weapons" ban (seeing it
coming was one reason I left). Walk outside of your house with one round of
ammunition without having a may issue license is a mandatory one year in jail.
_Mens rea_ (guilty mind) is not required. Heck, that license, which used to be
shall issue and supposedly was good for life, was changed by their AW ban law
to expiring and requiring renewing, and a number of gun owners who did't get
the word got arrested.

The worst you can say about PA from what I've heard is that all handgun
purchases must go through the instant check system, and Philadelphia doesn't
like to play ball with the laws. I heard a while ago that it had the nation's
highest rate of concealed carry licenses, obviously a shall issue state. CA
and MA are may issue, which in practice is seldom issue outside of rural
areas. San Francisco issued exactly one license last year, to a jeweler ...
who they named....

