OK, what the hell has happened to the Brits?

Wdtabor wrote:

Yes, it is. Strongarm robberies, home invasion robberies, assualt and battery,
and stranger rape are far more common than here in the states.

You'd better check those statistics again. Robbery and assault rates
have been about the same, and the rate of rape is about 1/3 that of the
US. There are variations by year, and whether you use police statistics
or victim surveys.

There are enough statistics on the subject on this site to choke a
horse:

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/htm...6/contents.htm

More significantly, the US murder rate is about 8 times that of England.

It therefore doesn't appear that having guns has been a significant
factor in the occurrence of rape, assault, or robbery. By your
argument, since the US has one of the highest per capita gun ownership
rates in the world, there should be a huge difference, with the
advantage to the US, which there isn't. In fact, the stats show that the
rates of some serious crimes are far higher in the US than in England.

The statistics don't prove the need for gun ownership to deter personal
crimes such as robbery or rape, but show there isn't much effect either
way.

However, since the murder rate is 6 times as high in the US, and the
chance of being murdered with a gun is ten times as high, it sure looks
like the statistics suggest exactly the opposite of what you are trying
to say about the benefit of guns.