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View Full Version : High gun ownership linked to high rate of police officer deaths, study shows



Gman
08-14-2015, 23:07
The government's puppets in the media are hard at it again...

High gun ownership linked to high rate of police officer deaths, study shows (http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/high-gun-ownership-linked-to-high-rate-of-police-officer-deaths-study/ar-BBlKMmv?ocid=spartandhp)

US states with the highest levels of gun ownership are also the ones where police officers have the highest risk of being killed in the line of duty – the vast majority by gunfire, a study has shown.

Researchers found that states such as Montana, Arkansas, Alabama and Idaho, which have the highest rates of state-registered private gun ownership, also have the highest rates of homicide of law enforcement officers. States including Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey experience some of the lowest rates of both police officers killed and gun ownership.


“States should consider methods for reducing firearm ownership as a way to reduce occupational deaths of law enforcement officers,” was the blunt advice from the research paper (http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302749) published online on Thursday by the American Journal of Public Health.


Researchers studied the 782 homicides of police officers between 1996 and 2010 and gun ownership rates state by state using information from the FBI and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


“If we’re interested in protecting police officers, we need to look at what’s killing them, and it’s guns. We know that 92% of police officers killed in the line of duty are killed by guns, three-quarters of which are handguns,” said David Swedler, lead researcher and an assistant professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health.


The research paper, also involving experts at Harvard and Johns Hopkins universities, pointed out that the New Jersey cities of Camden and Newark are perceived as two of the most violent cities in America, “yet New Jersey’s police are among the least likely to get shot”.


Swedler concluded that gun ownership rates had a closer correlation than violent crime to officer homicide rates.


Police officers in states with the highest rates of gun ownership are three times as likely to be killed as officers in states with the lowest rates of gun ownership, the researchers found – 0.95 homicides per 10,000 law enforcement officers in the former compared with 0.31 homicides per 10,000 in the latter.


One reason, Swedler said, is that officers are often killed while responding to domestic violence calls and, where gun ownership rates are highest, they have a much greater chance of walking into a potentially lethal situation when arriving amid the tension of a domestic dispute.

If you read the abstract, it's pretty clear to me that if you live in a police state, your numbers look pretty good. If you live in a state with fewer LEOs, even a small number of LEO homicides will skew your numbers.




ABSTRACT


Objectives. In the United States, state firearm ownership has been correlated with homicide rates. More than 90% of homicides of law enforcement officers (LEOs) are committed with firearms. We examined the relationship between state firearm ownership rates and LEO occupational homicide rates.


Methods. We obtained the number LEOs killed from 1996 to 2010 from a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) database. We calculated homicide rates per state as the number of officers killed per number of LEOs per state, obtained from another FBI database. We obtained the mean household firearm ownership for each state from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.


Results. Using Poisson regression and controlling for factors known to affect homicide rates, we associated firearm ownership with the homicide rates for LEOs (incidence rate ratio = 1.044; P = .005); our results were supported by cross-sectional and longitudinal sensitivity analyses. LEO homicide rates were 3 times higher in states with high firearm ownership compared with states with low firearm ownership.


Conclusions. High public gun ownership is a risk for occupational mortality for LEOs in the United States. States could consider methods for reducing firearm ownership as a way to reduce occupational deaths of LEOs. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print August 13, 2015: e1–e7. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2015.302749)

Read More: http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302749

BPTactical
08-15-2015, 06:06
80% of statistics are made up on the spot

cstone
08-15-2015, 06:17
Lack of physical exercise, spending too much time driving in a patrol car, and donuts have also been identified as risks to occupational mortality for LEOs in the United States.

Let's regulate donuts. [Coffee]

Rucker61
08-15-2015, 06:21
If the number of legally owned guns needs to be reduced to lower police deaths, and the author calls for new laws to do so, that only means taking guns away from lawful owners via those new laws. It also raises the point of why should a citizen reduce their own ability for self defense to protect the police when the police aren't required to protect the citizenry?

Bailey Guns
08-15-2015, 06:29
Researchers found that states such as Montana, Arkansas, Alabama and Idaho, which have the highest rates of state-registered private gun ownership...

"State registered"? In those states? I don't think so.

A quick count of officers feloniously killed in the LOD from 2004 - 2013 makes me skeptical of this report (https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/leoka/2013/tables/table_1_leos_fk_region_geographic_division_and_sta te_2004-2013.xls):

I count 26 killed in the 4 states specifically mentioned as being examples of high-gun ownership states and 28 killed in the 3 states with the lowest gun ownership and most restrictive laws. Add in the bastion of gun freedom, CA, and it's off the charts...48 killed in that state alone.

I'm no expert in statistics and don't completely understand methodology but I will almost guarantee the numbers, or time frames, or some other figure was manipulated to get the results wanted.

ETA: The other problem I find with this report is:

1. The number of cops killed in the LOD has been falling steadily for years yet the number of guns sold in the country overall has been rising for years.

2. The study doesn't indicate if the guns used in the killings were legally possessed.

Irving
08-15-2015, 06:35
So the way I'm reading this is that officers who work in low gun ownership areas have less than 0.0001% chance of being killed by a gun while on duty. Whereas, officers who work in high gun ownership areas have less than 0.0001% chance of being killed by a gun while on duty.

Well, thanks for the study David Swedler.

roberth
08-15-2015, 07:08
"State registered"?

I'm no expert in statistics and don't completely understand methodology but I will almost guarantee the numbers, or time frames, or some other figure was manipulated to get the results wanted.



I guarantee it. This is no different than climate change or any other BS FedGov wants to impose on the citizenry.

The ends justify the means.

Gman
08-15-2015, 08:58
The way they baked the numbers, they could have just as easily concluded that there need to be more LEO'S instead of fewer guns. It would require a smaller number of additions than a massive reduction of guns to make their strawman theory math out.

ZERO THEORY
08-15-2015, 13:14
"State registered"? In those states? I don't think so.

A quick count of officers feloniously killed in the LOD from 2004 - 2013 makes me skeptical of this report (https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/leoka/2013/tables/table_1_leos_fk_region_geographic_division_and_sta te_2004-2013.xls):

I count 26 killed in the 4 states specifically mentioned as being examples of high-gun ownership states and 28 killed in the 3 states with the lowest gun ownership and most restrictive laws. Add in the bastion of gun freedom, CA, and it's off the charts...48 killed in that state alone.

I'm no expert in statistics and don't completely understand methodology but I will almost guarantee the numbers, or time frames, or some other figure was manipulated to get the results wanted.

ETA: The other problem I find with this report is:

1. The number of cops killed in the LOD has been falling steadily for years yet the number of guns sold in the country overall has been rising for years.

2. The study doesn't indicate if the guns used in the killings were legally possessed.

This posts fires on all cylinders. I think this 'study' is worth less than the paper it was printed on.

Skip
08-15-2015, 13:24
Now Libtards want to protect police?!?!!

I'm surprised most Libtards can stand up straight from all that whiplash.

They had to intentionally cut out South Dakota, Alaska, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

http://qz.com/437015/mapped-the-us-states-with-the-most-gun-owners-and-most-gun-deaths/

BlasterBob
08-15-2015, 14:09
Fewer law enforcement officers would mean fewer law enforcement officers killed or injured.

Gman
08-15-2015, 14:27
Fewer law enforcement officers would mean fewer law enforcement officers killed or injured.
And that's what gave this "researcher" his skewed numbers.

1 LEO murdered out of 100 = 1%
100 LEOs murdered out of 100,000 = .1%

According to the methodology employed for this propaganda piece, 99 more deaths is a better outcome.

Bmac
08-15-2015, 15:50
Perhaps the LEO'S limited social skills, lack of common respect, zero accountability combined with different social mores west of the mighty Mississip' account for cops getting blasted out here.... Don't hear of too many state pol getting shot. Different academy. That's the problem. They all need fired.


Did I say that out loud???? OOOPS!

Bailey Guns
08-15-2015, 16:26
Perhaps the LEO'S limited social skills, lack of common respect, zero accountability combined with different social mores west of the mighty Mississip' account for cops getting blasted out here.... Don't hear of too many state pol getting shot. Different academy. That's the problem. They all need fired.


Did I say that out loud???? OOOPS!

It's inevitable that some moron will always come along and write something stupid like that. They can't seem to help themselves.

OOOPS! Did I say that out loud????

buffalobo
08-15-2015, 19:00
Lack of physical exercise, spending too much time driving in a patrol car, and donuts have also been identified as risks to occupational mortality for LEOs in the United States.

Let's regulate donuts. [Coffee]
Blasphemer. [emoji33]

buffalobo
08-15-2015, 19:07
Keep it civil and trolls beware.

hatidua
08-15-2015, 20:06
Let's regulate donuts. [Coffee]

It's such a rare treat, please let's not make it more seldom than it already is :(

theGinsue
08-16-2015, 02:08
They had an agenda. Anyone can take almost any data and twist it to meet ones agenda.

While LEO homocide is higher in states with lower gun ownership, it becomes higher when you factor in the percentage of LEO homocides to the overall number of LEO's in those areas. 5 cops killed in a low gun ownership area with 5000 cops is 0.001%. 1 cop killed in a "high" gun ownership area with 50 cops is 0.02% - 20x higher. This is a much higher percentage and seems worrisome to someone who takes the information at face value. The fact is, the officers and their families of the 4 cops who continue to go home safely ever night on the force of only 50 total officers are sure glad they're not working in the "low gun ownership" areas. The 20x higher rate I showed (not based off of actual data, just an example) really would be worrisome if 20x more lives, not 20x higher percentage of lives, were being lost. Each officer who loses his/her life matters as an individual, not as a percentage. They deserve that recognition.

I'd lend credence to this study if they could honestly show that the actual number, versus percentage, of officers killed in the high gun ownership areas equalled or exceeded the actual number of officers killed in the low gun ownership areas.

Again, if you have an agenda you can twist the data any way you want to support your agenda.


ETA: I should have read to the end of the thread. Looks like these two gents had it covered.

Fewer law enforcement officers would mean fewer law enforcement officers killed or injured.



And that's what gave this "researcher" his skewed numbers.


1 LEO murdered out of 100 = 1%
100 LEOs murdered out of 100,000 = .1%


According to the methodology employed for this propaganda piece, 99 more deaths is a better outcome.

DAL357
08-16-2015, 13:09
I heard about this tactic recently on a Student of the Gun podcast whereby TPTB are going to run an all-out blitz to confuse and/or guilt those on the fence or not paying attention to gun ownership rights to see things their way; it looks like this is yet another salvo in the never-ending battle.

I guess this is supposed to make me feel guilty for being a gun owner? Suppressing my inalienable rights to make working conditions safer for cops should be a no-go in any real, non-pansy American's book (not that I buy this study's conclusion in the first place).

Danimal
08-16-2015, 13:32
Deleted

Skip
08-16-2015, 15:15
I heard about this tactic recently on a Student of the Gun podcast whereby TPTB are going to run an all-out blitz to confuse and/or guilt those on the fence or not paying attention to gun ownership rights to see things their way; it looks like this is yet another salvo in the never-ending battle.

I guess this is supposed to make me feel guilty for being a gun owner? Suppressing my inalienable rights to make working conditions safer for cops should be a no-go in any real, non-pansy American's book (not that I buy this study's conclusion in the first place).

Only a useful idiot would feel guilty because there is no end to that guilt. It takes two second of critical thinking to work through why we have a right to own guns--to protect ourselves. Another second or so to figure out that we have no rights if we can't protect ourselves.

I know that is challenging for most 'Mericans these days. But it's no longer just political. The people who feel guilty for living and wanting to protect their children are the same ones who would die on their knees.

Other things Libtards will demand people feel guilty about...

Being white
Having a penis
Being straight
Not having a disability
Higher education
Not having higher education (this can go either way)
Being a vet (did you hear the POW flag is now racist?)
etc, etc, etc...

GilpinGuy
08-17-2015, 03:54
I heard about this tactic recently on a Student of the Gun podcast whereby TPTB are going to run an all-out blitz to confuse and/or guilt those on the fence or not paying attention to gun ownership rights to see things their way; it looks like this is yet another salvo in the never-ending battle.

I guess this is supposed to make me feel guilty for being a gun owner? Suppressing my inalienable rights to make working conditions safer for cops should be a no-go in any real, non-pansy American's book (not that I buy this study's conclusion in the first place).

I love that podcast. John Lott was interviewed recently. That was good stuff.

kidicarus13
08-18-2015, 07:36
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/08/17/researchers-are-wrong-about-private-guns-police-deaths.html

Aloha_Shooter
08-18-2015, 08:33
Science used to be something good. In the last two or three decades, we have had a serious degradation in intellectual integrity, research skills, and logical thinking even in the "scientific" community (although the soft "sciences" like sociology and psychology have always been questionable). If we had a star drive, I'd be out of here.

TFOGGER
08-18-2015, 08:57
In other news, 100% of cop killers were found to have high concentrations of dihydrogen monoxide (http://dhmo.org) in their blood.

buffalobo
08-20-2015, 08:06
Another report refuting methodology.

Wanna bet news outlets will not report on refutation (new word?).

http://crimepreventionresearchcenter.org/2015/08/fraudulent-study-in-the-american-journal-of-public-health-inaccurately-claims-that-states-with-more-guns-have-more-police-deaths/

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