Interesting statistics on the downward trend in handgun-related murders. A good start, in my opinion. After thinking about it, I'd also be interested to see some numbers on how much cyber crime has increased over that same time period. My guess is that the numbers would suggest that more and more of the petty thieves who might have attempted armed muggings (which often end in someone getting shot) in the early 90s are turning to the safer, potentially more lucrative options the Internet provides them. To be sure, a shortage of scumbags is not the reason for the decline.

For all I've seen, the number of guns in circulation has a lot less to do with how much senseless killing goes on in our country than the number of psychos our society seems so adept at producing. That said, I don't think investing in better care for the mentally ill will fix anything. The people we know are crazy enough to be a menace are mostly under supervision. Every day, life feeds another person on the fringe the [Bleeeeep!] sandwich that sends them over the edge, thereby creating another "cracked" individual (the sort of person capable of, say, shooting 26 kids and teachers) that we don't know about... Until it's too late. There's just not any realistic way to avoid that.

The statistics are fairly undeniable: countries that severely restrict gun ownership don't have people getting murdered with guns. By supporting our right to bear arms (one I don't believe we should give up), we make guns available to not only the responsible people, but also to the crooks and the insane. I'm afraid that's just a reality we have to deal with.