Urban theorist and author suggests gun safety laws may prevent gun deaths

This information in an article in the Atlantic was sent to me by a friend relating to correlations among variables such as poverty, stress, and gun laws and gun deaths point to some interesting observations.  The author, Richard Florida, is careful to note that its impossible to say a single variable or group of variables causes more gun deaths.  But if you look at the actual data collected from 2007, it points to a relationship between these data and gun deaths, and their, "analysis shows fatal gun violence is less likely to occur in richer states with more post-industrial knowledge economies, higher levels of college graduates, and tighter gun laws."   Here's a graph of the correlations Florida found:

Note that, "Though the sample sizes are small, we find substantial negative correlations between firearm deaths and states that ban assault weapons (-.45), require trigger locks (-.42), and mandate safe storage requirements for guns (-.48)."

These facts, despite the inability to find causation, do seem to speak for themselves.  Even if gun laws are marginally effective and prevent unnecessary loss of life and injury, like the people who were recently shot in Arizona, why wouldn't gun safety and some gun restrictions be a good idea?  Isn't there a way for gun advocates to understand that there out to be some common sense limitations on some of the freedoms they enjoy?


(Original Source: http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/01/the-geography-of-gun-deaths/69354/)