Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!bellcore!decvax!cca!ima!inmet!nrh
From: nrh@inmet.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Re: Merry Christmas from the NRA
Message-ID: <1875@inmet.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 14-Jan-85 03:42:03 EST
Article-I.D.: inmet.1875
Posted: Mon Jan 14 03:42:03 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 16-Jan-85 04:42:16 EST
Lines: 44
Nf-ID: #R:sun:-191200:inmet:7800271:000:1509
Nf-From: inmet!nrh    Jan 11 12:19:00 1985

>***** inmet:net.politics / desint!geoff /  9:26 pm  Jan 10, 1985
>In article <1912@sun.uucp> sunny@sun.uucp (Sunny Kirsten) writes:
>
>>> 
>>> Last year, Handguns killed
>>> 
>>> 	10,728 in the united states
>>
>>Fact is, Handguns never kill anyone.
>>People kill People, and they use a variety of tools to do so.
>
>Bullshit, Sunny.  You had to quote out of context to make your assertion
>anything less than ludicrous.  Let's remember the whole article:  41 people
>in West Germany, 11 in Great Britain, etc.  So you are telling us that
>Americans are 26165% more murderous than Germans.
>
>To quote Bill Cosby,
>
>    RRRRIIIIGGGGHHHHTTTTT.
>


What a remarkable article -- Sunny was making the point that whatever number
of killings with guns there was, it was due to people, not guns.  YOU on
the other hand, do the following computation:

	10728 killings (America)
        ------------------------  = 261.65
          41 killings (Germany)

Therefore, Americans are 26165% more murderous than Germans.

This, all by itself, probably deserves a chapter in "How to Lie with
Statistics".

You did not correct for relative population, (just as a start), nor
do you have any control for Germans and Americans under the same
laws (so that you can evaluate how they respond to different ones), nor
do you compare the relative homicide rates for ALL types of killings.

And you have the GALL to claim that Sunny "quoted out of context"! 

Next time, take it to net.flame: we have SOME standards here (I hope!)