You’ve heard me say before that correlation doesn’t necessarily indicate causation, and I stand by that statement.
The flip side of that is also true, though, correlation doesn’t necessarily not indicate causation.
And in the case of today’s story, the correlation of gun control to increased overall violence in a society isn’t really the issue.
(I do argue, though, that gun control is a causation factor for increased societal violence because gun control prevents people from defending themselves, making it easier for violent people to commit violence, and, thus, making gun control a cause for increased levels of violence.)
Today, though, the point isn’t about correlation or causation. It’s about failure. Specifically about how gun control fails to prevent violence in the world.
To make that point, we’re going to talk about a recent situation in Germany. To give context for the situation, you should know what Dagmar Breitenbach wrote:
“Germany has one of the strictest weapons laws worldwide – and it is sufficient,” weapons expert Holger Soschinka told Deutsche Welle.
So, if gun control advocates are right, Germany shouldn’t have any gun violence, right?
Wrong.
An Associated Press news story notes:
A shooting at a youth welfare facility in northern Germany on Monday left six people dead in what officials believe may have stemmed from a custody dispute. The suspected shooter was arrested.
Five people – four women and one man – died at the scene of the shooting in Stade, police said. A sixth, also an adult, died later at a hospital.
Six people died because they were shot in a country that has some of the strictest gun control laws in the world.
How did that happen?
Fortunately for us, Holger Soschinka gives us that answer:
“Illegal weapons possession is the main problem.”
So, the “main problem” is firearms that were obtained in spite of gun control laws?
Yes, that’s exactly the case, and that is the case in the United States, too.
So, while anti-2A politicians work hard to disarm the people who almost never commit gun violence, those who do commit gun violence (that would be, by definition, criminals) are still getting guns and committing crimes.
This is always the problem with gun control: It targets the wrong people, the people who aren’t the problem.
Which is a fundamental flaw in anti-2A thinking. Because targeting people who aren’t the problem won’t ever solve the problem.
