Michael Moore is full of shit

I keep hearing people quoting Michael Moore, he said that Canadians own more firearms per capita than Americans. I am calling bullshit:

CANADA
7.9 Million firearms in Canada - 31.4 Million people
Canada: .2516 firearms per capita
Source: Canada Firearms Centre Study

US
222 Million firearms in the US - 270 Million people
US: .82 firearms per capita
Source: Cohilition for gun control

Michael Moore was off by a factor of over 3 on this "fact" that keeps getting quoted by ignorant Canadians.

I was never for or against gun control because I didn't know much about it. I have a countryplace in an area where everybody has some kind of firearm (hunting) and NOBODY gets shot. I did my research and here's what I found:

- Gun control laws and per capita ownership has no relationship worldwide to firearm deaths
- The stats for international gun ownership versus violent crime will show you some pretty wild facts, there is no clear trend
- Michael Moore focused on Colombine and not Compton - this is the exception not the rule
- Washington DC is a gun free zone and since it has been, weapons crime has gone up dramatically
- Florida liberalized concealed weapons and most gun control advocates thought that mayhem would break out. This didn't happen.
- The so called "assault weapons" ban that just expired didn't have any measurable impact as all it did was make weapons with a combination of 2 out of 6 dangerous features illegal to manufacture and sell. These weapons were already in the hands of those that wanted it. These types of weapons were never a serious "material" threat to the general public - the historical stats prove that.

So in the end, I have no answer or opinion regarding gun control although I am less of a believer than I used to be as you can probably tell. It doesn't work according to the stats but it does make some people feel better.

We Canadians just don't have a clue what it's like to live in a country where all of the bad guys have guns on them all the time. I encourage you to go check out both sides of the story from the gun control and gun lobby side. Just stop quoting Michael Moore, he's a pathelogical liar.

Anti gun:
Stop the NRA
Coalition to stop gun violence
Coalition for gun control (Canada)
Google - gun control


Pro gun:
NRA
NRAHQ
NRA UK
Google - right to bear arms


And some articles that I think are pretty interesting:
Fewer guns, more death
Fighting back