Congress is passing more laws than ever, and some of them are downright dangerous. For instance, a new study finds that the number of guns that were subsequently linked to crime sold by a single store–a Milwaukee-area gun shop called Badger Guns & Ammo–increased dramatically after Congress adopted measures likely to reduce the risks gun dealers face if they divert guns to criminals.
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Use a self-guided bullet!
Researchers (who are also hunters) have attached tiny light-emitting diode (LED) to a bullet so that it shows a bright path when fired at a target, making it less likely that the shooter will miss. And it’s self-guided when aimed at a target that is wearing a laser (which a deer is not), but there is room for improvement in the future. What if you could just aim and fire in a general direction and be sure to hit your target?
Computer simulations show that an unguided bullet under real-world conditions can miss a target more than a half mile away by almost 10 yards, but a guided bullet would get within 8 inches of it..
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Who will be hurt the most? – In light of the recent Supreme Court interpretation of the 2nd amendment to the US Constitution, which give us the “right to bear arms,” it’s interesting to take a look at crime statistics over the last few years. It turns out that gun-related homicide among young men rose sharply in the United States in recent years even though the nation’s overall homicide rate has remained flat.
According to a new study, between 1999 and 2005, homicide involving firearms increased 31% among black men ages 25 to 44 and 12% among white men of the same age. Researcher Susan Baker says, “The recent flatness of the US homicide rate obscures the large increases in firearm death among males ages 25-44, especially black males.”
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UPDATE – The recent Virginia Tech killings make us all ask the question once again: Would getting rid of guns prevent these murders? It’s interesting to see the British point of view about this troublesome question. Also, did violent movies and video games influence Cho? Keep reading for a sociologist’s opinion on this.
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