Questions the left won't discuss about gun control, but should - and soon.

[Straw Man]

137. Stop letting dictionaries do your thinking for you.

Ignore the syntactic matrix at your peril. Without it, you remain mired in reductive, simplistic thinking.

I first wrote: .. so I believe the hypothesis that declining g.o. rates contributed to declining v-crime rates.

You are apparently claiming that the above statement is equivalent to this:

"I think that the hypothesis {that declining g.o. rates contributed to declining v-crime rates} may be true."

The first affirms acceptance of the hypothesis as fact. The second indicates that more investigation is necessary. They are clearly different.

Straw man argues 'believe' cannot equate to 'think':

At long last, sir, have you no shame? Please stop pretending I said anything of the kind. Here is what I said:

Hypotheses are developed from what individuals think may be true. If you think that that phrase is equivalent to believe to be true, then you have a problem with your vocabulary as well as your scientific method.

I'm standing by that. The key word is "may." Once you state that you "believe" a hypothesis, you have reached a point of certainty. If you do so without scientific support, you are engaging in an act of faith.