Gun Control & RKBA

straw man: Correlation is not ... {causation}.

That's not exactly it. The logic fallacy is saying that correlation proves or implies causation, when it's not necessarily so, and can. Birds flying south during colder weather does not prove birds make it colder, even tho the correlation is rock solid. Birds like warmer weather is a valid inference tho, supported by other data. If a correlation exists, causation can indeed be the case at times.

wiki: Correlation does not imply causation .. to emphasize that a correlation between two variables does not necessarily imply that one causes the other. The counter-assumption, that correlation proves causation, is considered a questionable cause logical fallacy.. also known as cum hoc ergo propter hoc, Latin..
As with any logical fallacy, identifying that the reasoning behind an argument is flawed does not imply that the resulting conclusion is false.

We can demonstrate this with the following correlation between declining gun ownership rates concomitant with declining violent crime rates from early 1990's to now, especially ~1992 - 2000 (gallup agrees). Gun ownership rates declined 25% - 35%, while violent crime rates declined dramatically. There is a correlation between declining gun ownership rates & declining v-crime rates. Does it prove it? no, but the correlation exists & cannot be forcefully DISproved, so I believe the hypothesis that declining g.o. rates contributed to declining v-crime rates. (Clinton's anti-crime bill also contributed).


General Social Survey (GSS), conducted roughly every two years ... The GSS data show a substantial decline in the shares of both households and individuals with guns... 1973, 49% reported having a gun or revolver in their home or garage. In 2012, 34% said they had a gun in their home or garage.
.. personal gun ownership in 1980, 29% said a gun in their home personally belonged to them. This stands at 22% in the 2012 GSS survey. http://www.people-press.org/2013/03/12/section-3-gun-ownership-trends-and-demographics/
... The Pew Research Center has tracked gun ownership since 1993, and our surveys largely confirm the General Social Survey trend. In our Dec 1993 survey, 45% reported having a gun in their household; in early 1994, the GSS found 44% saying they had a gun in their home. A Jan 2013 Pew Research Center survey found 33% saying they had a gun, rifle or pistol in their home, as did 34% in the 2012 wave of {GSS}.