Robert MacNeil’s Axiom – Econlib

Pierre Lemieux’s excellent post op The economist‘s rejection of an argument against gun control reminded me of a line from, I think, one of Robert MacNeil’s books. He said: “It has always been self-evident to me that easy access to firearms would lead to more crime, especially murder.”

Do you see the problem? It is not axiomatic. It may be true, but it is not an axiom. MacNeil’s claim needs to be investigated. When I read that years ago, I remember being so disappointed that someone who made his living as a reporter would take such a statement for granted. And because he did, he probably never looked for the evidence.