Miriam Toews is the author of Women Talking — she’s the genius behind the title. And, as ever, the book is better than the movie. Also worth mentioning that the story is true (the horrible events at the heart of the movie really happened to a Mennonite community).
RC, that's the kind of source I was looking for, thank you. That whole FBI site is interesting.
One page notes that "Firearms were used in 71.5 percent of the nations murders, 40.8 percent of robberies, and 24.2 percent of aggravated assaults." https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2015/…
So you're right that aggravated assaults is the best category to use if you're trying to find the lowest use of guns. That's because most assaults are fist-fights. You can see that because "personal weapons" (column E of table 22) are hands, fists, or feet. The page below shows that hands, fists, and feet were used in 26.9% of aggravated assaults, firearms were used in 22.5% of aggravated assaults, and knives and cutting instruments were used in 18.8%. The rest were "other weapons," which they don't define. https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2014/…
Of course, my larger point isn't about knives vs. guns. I'm pushing Sharon the same way I would anyone else to stick to facts or else just say, "I think" or "It seems like." I hate seeing false claims made in the media by anyone, on any side of any issue. I believe that when we say things that are false or misleading -- which we all do now and then -- we should take responsibility for it and do better the next time. And when we see false statements in the media, we should speak up and demand better as part of the process of restoring trust in the stories we read.
Sharon, I'm not missing the point. I'm well aware of the "guns don't kill people, people kill people" argument. That's not what I'm talking about. You made two factual claims about knives vs. guns. One is so blatantly false that it was pulled from the article. The other appears to be false, so I asked you about it, but you refuse to back it up with statistics. Again, I am all for gun safety, but I worry about someone who makes false claims in the media and refuses to simply acknowledge they've made a mistake.
That's an interesting theory, but you had said "more" -- as if, for the second time, you were citing a fact or statistic. Now you say it's just an opinion. I'm pushing you on this not because what you're teaching isn't important but because it is. What you say as an expert is listened to, so please be careful to separate fact-based statements from your opinions. For myself, I fear guns more than knives not because of the reasons you mention but because more people are killed by guns every year and they can maim or kill people from a far greater distance than any knife. Guns are simply more powerful and far more dangerous, which is why I believe in background checks and also applaud you for teaching gun safety.
Thanks for clarifying, Sharon. I didn't notice that you had changed the phrasing. In the print edition it says you say knives "kill more people than guns by far," which is what I was saying is untrue. Do you have a source that says knives are used in more crimes overall? I'm sure it may be true; I'd just like to look at the statistics.
Recent Comments
One page notes that "Firearms were used in 71.5 percent of the nations murders, 40.8 percent of robberies, and 24.2 percent of aggravated assaults."
https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2015/…
So you're right that aggravated assaults is the best category to use if you're trying to find the lowest use of guns. That's because most assaults are fist-fights. You can see that because "personal weapons" (column E of table 22) are hands, fists, or feet. The page below shows that hands, fists, and feet were used in 26.9% of aggravated assaults, firearms were used in 22.5% of aggravated assaults, and knives and cutting instruments were used in 18.8%. The rest were "other weapons," which they don't define.
https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2014/…
Of course, my larger point isn't about knives vs. guns. I'm pushing Sharon the same way I would anyone else to stick to facts or else just say, "I think" or "It seems like." I hate seeing false claims made in the media by anyone, on any side of any issue. I believe that when we say things that are false or misleading -- which we all do now and then -- we should take responsibility for it and do better the next time. And when we see false statements in the media, we should speak up and demand better as part of the process of restoring trust in the stories we read.
See these two sources for the statistics:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/guns/baseba…
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article…