>>>>> On Fri, 11 Feb 1994 04:47:25 GMT, fcrary@benji.Colorado.EDU (Frank Crary) said:
> a correlation, even with a comparison to a control
> group, does not prove a causal connection. In the case of home-ownership
> a common factor can cause both measured results. (I.e. poverty
> results in higher violent crime and renting one's home.) By the
> same reasoning, living in a high-crime area promotes both
> gun ownership and death in violent crimes.
Controls were matched for neighbourhood, so this is not a plausible
explanation for the correlation between gun ownership and homicide.
Tim