Good News?

   This you call good news?
　
   The homicide rate in New York City is down 37 percent so far this year, compared to the first half of 2012. "Only" 154 people have been murdered in the Big Apple in the first six months of 2013. In Philadelphia, 115 people have been slain, most by guns, as the city reaches the half-way mark on the calendar. That's a total of 269 murders in just two American cities.
   Politicians and police officials tout the lower numbers as a sign that progress is being made.
   Throughout 2012, there were 419 murders in New York City, more than 500 in Chicago, more than 300 in Philadelphia, and more than 300 in Los Angeles. That's a total of 1,519 people in just four cities. Nationwide, more than 11,000 people were slain by guns last year.
   But we're making progress.

   All these data points are from the FBI, which tracks crime of all sorts throughout the nation. And not only does the FBI track all murders, but it also details the number of killings by rifle, handguns, blunt objects, poisoning, beatings and other methods. You could look it up; the information is publicly available at fbi.gov and its Uniform Crime Reports.

   And the National Rifle Association argues that more people are murdered by blows with hammers than are shot with rifles. That may well be true, but it ignores the number of those killed by handguns.
   Figures don't lie, but carefully selected data points can certainly mislead.
   Keep in mind that in all of Canada, there are fewer than 200 gun deaths yearly. And in the United Kingdom, there were just 27 during 2010.

   Consider the numbers, then decide. Responsible gun ownership is one thing. Murder is quite another.