Anti's always seem to want to lump the US into one big homogoneous stat. That can't be done when trying to compare gun laws to crime rates, as the US firearms laws very greatly from state to state. If you actually look at crime by state, you will find some of the highest murder rates happen in area's that have levels of gun laws that make Canada look like a libertarian paradise. Washington DC had a murder rate several times the national average, higher then any state, when it's laws banned all handgun ownership and only allowed long guns if disassembled and locked up. That rate dropped significantly within the first year after the Heller case which tossed out DC's law as unconstitutional.
Florida's crime rates dropped dramatically after they legalized concealed carry.
Also to compare murder rates without comparing socio economic factors is absolutely useless, as those factors far outweigh any gun laws in their effects on crime rates of all kinds, not just homicides.
As for all those who think the pro handgun hunting side should be providing stats, that is not how freedom works. I want to do something, you don't want me to. The onus is upon you to demonstrate why I should not be able to do it. I don't need to show a need for something I want to do, nor do I have to show it's safe. You have to show me that it's dangerous, and that that danger effects you.
If we truly believe in freedom, we don't ban things we don't like, we don't ban things we don't want, we only ban behaviors that harm each other, and then we should punish those who harm eachother. If someone isn't an ethical hunter, I don't care what tool they use, they should be removed from the hunting fraternity. A handgun hunter who uses a 38 spl revolver at 200 yards is no less ethical then someone using a 30-30 at 600 yards.
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