05-06-2021, 11:17 AM
(05-06-2021, 06:45 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: Anecdotal evidence from a scientific perspective, and since policy analysis is a field of political science that is the way I tend to view it, is an invitation for more empirical and formal study. It can help lay the groundwork for a hypothesis. It can give a more personal feel to the presentation of the data, but without the data to back it up the anecdotal evidence is worthless. I've already said that I want to see studies on this topic, and it's because anecdotally I have seen and heard the same things Fred talks about, here. But anecdotes should never be a basis for public policy.
The interesting, and by that I mean insanely hypocritical, part of this anecdotal evidence argument is that somehow, for some reason, Fred's anecdotal evidence trumps my anecdotal evidence. Fred is being blatantly deceptive in framing this as a common problem. It can, and does, happen, but not very often. In the vast, vast majority of cases ownership can be determined by the area of immediate control or other factors. If a firearm is in a home, whose room was it found in? Sure, a national registry will immediately determine ownership, unless the serial number is removed, which it would be in every single instance. With a national registry every single firearm in criminal hands would have the serial number "erased" so proper ownership could never be verified and, even if you believe Fred's anecdotal exaggerations, you're right back to square one with the problem you're attempting to "solve".
