The 49ers and Ravens are getting another shot at making the Super Bowl.

Losers in tight conference championship games a year ago, they are returning to the final step before the big game in the Big Easy after wins Saturday.

Baltimore took the long, frigid route, rallying at Denver for a 38-35 victory in an AFC divisional playoff. The Ravens will go to either New England, where they lost 23-20 in the conference championship match last January, or Houston. The Patriots and Texans face off Sunday in Foxborough, Mass.

San Francisco took the NFC game at night 45-31 over Green Bay behind the running and passing of quarterback Colin Kaepernick. That gave both coaching Harbaughs victories Saturday: Jim with the 49ers, John with the Ravens.

San Francisco fell in overtime to the New York Giants for the NFC title last year. The Niners will either visit Atlanta or host Seattle in next weekend’s championship matchup.

The wild-card Seahawks are at the Falcons in Sunday’s early game.

Second-year QB Kaepernick made Jim Harbaugh’s decision to stick with him over incumbent Alex Smith during the season look brilliant. He set a playoff mark for the position by rushing for 183 yards, including a 56-yard TD, and threw for 263 yards. Kaepernick hit Michael Crabtree for two scores and Frank Gore rushed for 119 yards.

The AFC West champion Niners (12-4-1) gained 579 yards.

“It feels like we’re in the same place,” Crabtree said. “Winning that game last year, we’re in the same place. It’s just what we do the next game. It’s all about the next game.”

The NFC North-winning Packers (12-6) beat Minnesota in the wild-card round last weekend, but their defense was overmatched at San Francisco.

Aaron Rodgers finished 26 for 39 for 257 with two TDs and an interception.

Ravens 38, Broncos 35, 2 OT

Rookie Justin Tucker’s 47-yard field goal 1:42 into the second overtime of the longest playoff game in 26 years advanced the Ravens and kept star linebacker Ray Lewis’ career going at least another week.

Earlier this season, the AFC North champ Ravens (12-6) beat the Patriots 31-30 in Baltimore. They lost 43-13 at Houston.

Joe Flacco’s 70-yard heave to Jacoby Jones with 31 seconds remaining forced the overtime. Flacco is the only quarterback to win playoff games in each of his first five seasons, and he heads to his third AFC championship match. He also lost to Pittsburgh in the 2008 title game.

“We fought hard to get back to this point and we’re definitely proud of being here.” Flacco said. “We feel like it’s going to take a lot for somebody to come and kick us off that field come the AFC championship game.”

Lewis announced before they beat Indianapolis in the wild-card round that this was the last of his 17 pro seasons. It’s still going.

“When you look back at it and let the emotions calm down, it will probably be one of the greatest victories in Ravens history,” Lewis said. “It’s partly because of the way everything was stacked against us coming in.”

Peyton Manning lost in his first postseason appearance with the AFC West-winning Broncos (13-4), who had won their last 11 games to earn home-field advantage in the playoffs. They wasted it by giving up long plays, negating a record-setting performance by kick returner Trindon Holliday.

Holliday ran back the second-half kickoff 104 yards for a TD. He went 90 yards with a first-quarter punt return to become the first player to score on one of each in a playoff game.

“He’s one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time and for us to come in here and confuse him the way we did, and make the plays we did?” Lewis said. “We gave up two big special teams touchdowns, but the bottom line is, but we kept fighting.”

Seahawks (12-5) at Falcons (13-3)

Oddly, there might be more doubts floating around the home team with the spiffy record than the visitors.

While Seattle has won six in a row, erased its reputation as a road flop with three straight away victories — including last week at Washington — and has the league’s stingiest defense.

It’s NFC South champ Atlanta, 0-3 in the postseason under coach Mike Smith and with Matt Ryan at quarterback, that probably faces more pressure.

“We’ve been disappointed a few times,” said center Todd McClure, a Falcon for 13 years. “I think we’ve got guys in this locker room who are hungry and ready to get over that hump.”

One of them is Tony Gonzalez, the career leader in nearly all receiving categories among tight ends. In 16 pro seasons, Gonzalez never has won a playoff game. And he’s said this very likely is his final year in the NFL.

“I’m not going to lie to you,” he said. “I really, really, really want to win this game.”

To get it, Gonzalez, Ryan and star receivers Julio Jones and Roddy White must contend with the league’s most physical defense, a unit that completely shut down the Redskins for three quarters in the 24-14 wild-card win.

“I expect our guys to try to play like they always play,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. “They don’t need to change anything because we’re not doing anything different, we’re going to try and hang with them, and we’ll find out what happens.”

Texans (13-4) at Patriots (12-4)

Houston’s reward for its wild-card win over Cincinnati is a return to trip to Foxborough, where the Texans’ late-season spiral began. Houston was in position for home-field advantage in the AFC before being routed 42-14 by the Patriots, then losing twice more in the final three games.

This is only the fourth postseason game in the Texans’ 11-season NFL history. The Patriots began winning Super Bowls with Tom Brady before the Texans were born.

AFC South champion Houston must bring the fierce pass rush it often has shown with end J.J. Watt, who led the NFL with 20 1-2 sacks.

“Biggest goal of them all, Super Bowl, and this is a big step for us,” Watt said, “and we’re really excited about the challenge.”

That challenge comes against the NFL’s most prolific offense. The Texans and Patriots allowed the same number of points, 331, but AFC East winner New England led the NFL in scoring with 557 points, 34.8 per game.

Brady would surpass Joe Montana for most postseason victories by a quarterback by beating Houston. Brady is 16-6, although he began 10-0.

He isn’t looking for a repeat of the Dec. 10 romp.

“Giving us an opportunity to have this game at home, I think that’s the important thing about last game,” Brady said. “Other than that, this is going to be a whole different game full of our own execution, our ability to try to beat a very good football team that’s played well all year.”

DUBUQUE, Iowa – The Coe College track and field teams opened the season Saturday under new head coach Aaron Carley at the Sol Butler Classic. Coe won two events and turned in three top 50 heights or distances in the country.

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Chelsea Poppens (middle) scored 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in Iowa State's win over TCU Saturday. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

AMES —Fifteen remains Chelsea Poppens’ magic number.

So far, anyway.

The Iowa State forward grabbed that many rebounds in a game for the third time this season Saturday, which helped the No. 25 Cyclones to a 68-52 Big 12 win over TCU before 9,745 fans at Hilton Coliseum.

“I think I just got on a roll,” Poppens said. “My energy stayed the same. Nikki (Moody) got me the open looks when I needed it, Brynn (Williamson) got me the open looks when I needed it. They just saw me.”

Hard to miss.

Poppens finished with a season-high 24 points, too, including six during a pivotal 13-2 run late in the first half that gave ISU (12-2, 3-1) the lead for good.

The basket that put the Cyclones in front 21-20 came off a missed free throw, which she hustled to grab, then push through the hoop.

It’s her second such play in the past three games — and something coach Bill Fennelly finds particularly impressive.

“It’s timing, it’s effort,” Fennelly said. “It’s, ‘I’m going to go get the damn ball.’ That’s what it is. … That is a hard thing to do and you don’t see many people do it because most kids, number one, kind of stand there. They don’t really make the effort to go get it. But that’s the kind of thing that has endeared her to our fan base.”

It’s also become the bane of opposing coaches.

“She works her tail off every play,” said Horned Frogs coach Jeff Mittie, whose team fell to 7-8, 0-4.

She wasn’t alone Saturday, but it took awhile for ISU to turn effort into anything but frustration.

TCU controlled the game most of the first half, leading by as many as seven points.

Then the Cyclones finally heated up and the Horned Frogs fell into a funk.

ISU turned a 20-16 deficit into a 29-24 halftime lead despite losing 11 turnovers before the break.

“You cant turn the ball over 11 times when somebody’s sitting in a zone,” Fennelly said. “That’s just bad decision making. … But we got to halftime, doing OK. We tell our kids, ‘Just keep guarding until somebody makes a basket.’”

ISU made 50 percent of its shots after starting out 4 of 19.

Hallie Christofferson drained 4 of 9 3-pointers while scoring 14 points.

Anna Prins added eight points and 10 rebounds.

Poppens finished 8 of 13 from the field and became the fourth player in program history to surpass 900 rebounds (910).

Not that she’d know it.

“She’s not that kind of kid,” Fennelly said, “which is probably why she’s good as what she does.”

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — The Mount Mercy men's basketball team did not look like the ninth-ranked team in the nation over the first 20 minutes, but the Mustangs got it going in the second half and won their seventh straight, 92-79, over Iowa Wesleyan in a non-conference contest Saturday afternoon at Hennessey Recreation Center.

AMES —Texas coach Rick Barnes’ team has slipped into a bad place.

The Longhorns — who stand 0-3 in the Big 12 after Saturday’s 82-62 shellacking by Iowa State — aren’t playing with enough effort or consistency, he said, to win games.

The Cyclones showed Barnes something else.

“I think they’re a better team this year than they were a year ago,” said Barnes, whose team lost before a sellout crowd of 14,376 at Hilton Coliseum. “I just like the way they flow. They do a nice job, they share the ball, they do a lot of great things.”

One of those is shooting.

ISU (11-4, 1-1) drained 11 of 26 3-point attempts, or 42.3 percent — a full 20 percent above what NCAA-leading Texas was yielding.

Actually, the Longhorns (8-8, 0-3) entered the game with the NCAA’s top field goal percentage defense, period, allowing 33.6 percent shooting.

“I felt like we had a great flow going,” said Cyclone point guard Korie Lucious, who narrowly missed a double-double for the second time this season with 10 points and nine assists. “It just worked out for us.”

It certainly did for freshman forward Georges Niang, who delivered a personal-best 18 points in his second career start.

He scored six of those points in a game-closing 11-2 run that turned an 11-point lead into ISU’s first 20-point conference win since early last season.

“He’s as efficient a player as you’re going to see,” said ISU coach Fred Hoiberg, who last season guided the Cyclones to their first NCAA Tournament bid since 2005. “He goes out there and scores 18 points on seven shots. He finishes over bigger players. He can step out and knock down a shot. He’s getting himself to the free throw line.”

Niang needs to work on one thing, though.

“I feel bad because I missed a layup that didn’t give Korie his 10th assist,” Niang said. “Maybe I’ll make the next 10.”

All is forgiven — for Niang and repeat offender Melvin Ejim.

“Melvin did it for a second time,” Lucious said, smiling. “But I’ve still got confidence in him.”

Ejim did other things, as usual, grabbing eight of his game-high 10 rebounds in the second half.

“He makes all the effort plays,” Hoiberg said of the Big 12’s leading rebound.

That’s been a quality Barnes has found sorely lacking in his team.

It was one of the reasons he played leading scorer Sheldon McClellan precisely one minute.

“Where we are, it’s obvious it’s not working, because this is not what we’re about,” said Barnes, whose team’s previous conference losses — like Iowa State’s — came in overtime. “We’ve got to get guys that are gonna compete every single possessions and finish possessions. And we’re gonna get it. Someway, somehow, we’re gonna get it.”

They didn’t Saturday.

ISU did — and from a wide-ranging group that produced 18 assists to a season-low five turnovers.

Forward Will Clyburn notched 16 points, nine rebounds and a season-high five assists.

Percy Gibson, whom Niang replaced in the starting lineup, grabbed four offensive rebounds in 13 minutes.

Tyrus McGee drilled 4 of his 8 3-point attempts and scored 15 points in 17 minutes.

“He’s got that Vinnie Johnson microwave-type role,” Hoiberg said.

It’s needed if ISU is to live up to Barnes’ lofty assessment.

“That’s a heck of a compliment coming from a great coach,” Hoiberg said. “I thought going into this season we’d have a chance. We’re starting to see who we can be.”

Iowa City City High School students wait to board school buses at the end of the school day Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013 in front of the school in Iowa City. Opponents of the Iowa City Community School District's proposed new diversity policy say the measure will result in more kids being forced to be bused to City High as opposed to attending Iowa City West. (Brian Ray/The Gazette-KCRG)

IOWA CITY –  An Iowa City parent who has been a vocal advocate for east-side schools played an active role in drafting a diversity policy proposed for the Iowa City school district that has drawn strong objections from west-side parents, according to documents obtained by The Gazette.

Ed Stone, the parent of two City High School graduates, exchanged drafts of the policy with board member Sarah Swisher, the policy’s chief architect, during the first two weeks of December.

The policy was released to the public Dec. 13, and some school board members said Stone likely saw it before them.

The school district Saturday morning provided 173 pages of emails between Stone and district officials in response to an open records request.

The school board also hosted a forum Saturday seeking feedback on the policy. A couple hundred people attended and voiced strong opinions for and against the policy

The diversity policy would require schools to be within a specified range of each other in the percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch. It also sets capacity requirements on high schools and junior high schools before more secondary schools can be built.

Schools in the City High attendance area have several of the highest free-reduced lunch rates. Also, West High is over capacity and City High has room to spare.

That has led west-side parents to speculate that their kids would be reassigned to east-side schools to meet the policy. There also are accusations that the capacity language is intended to delay construction of a third comprehensive high school.

Board members say they have received a lot of feedback from the public on the issue. Stone, who has spoken out on diversity and capacity issues for years and is a polarizing figure in the district, seems to have had more direct involvement than others, though. The emails show he discussed the policy with board members as it was written and even offered revisions.

On Dec. 2, Swisher sent Stone an email with an attachment titled “second draft diversity.” On Dec. 10, Stone sent an emailing thanking her for sharing the drafts with him and suggesting changes, which he said she should “feel free to use or disregard.” The attachments were not included in the information provided by the district.

On Dec. 11, Swisher told Stone that she “adopted most changes” and a board committee would discuss Stone’s suggestions at an upcoming meeting. She also asked Stone to get the document out of “edit mode.”

Swisher and Stone said in separate interviews Saturday that they did nothing wrong.

Swisher said she accepted some of Stone’s suggestions and rejected others, and she said up to 30 people in the community had some input on the policy. Asked if any other parents reviewed and revised the policy, she said she doesn’t believe anyone else asked to.

“I’m not embarrassed about that at all,” she said of Stone’s involvement.

A board committee discussed the diversity policy at meetings in November and early December.

Stone said he spoke with all of the board members – emails reflect that he met with several of them – and said he did not have any more access than any other member of the public. He also said the district has dragged its feet for years in addressing the socioeconomic disparities in schools and he’s spent a lot of time into trying to resolve that.

He also noted that the principals of the west-side secondary schools sent letters to parents that he felt were meant to stir up opposition to the diversity policy.

“I would be much more concerned about that unfair political advocacy,” he said.

School board President Marla Swesey said she was not aware of Stone’s involvement in crafting the policy and referred questions to Swisher.

Board members Jeff McGinness and Tuyet Dorau said they did not see the diversity policy until a few days before a Dec. 18 meeting when the full board discussed the matter for the first time.

McGinness criticized the negative perception Stone’s involvement would create and what he called the lack of transparency in how the policy was drafted. He said he believes it’s been a small group of board members and a couple of community members who have had the most involvement in writing the policy.

That said, he added, board members meet with the public all the time to discuss issues. Dorau made a similar point, saying she didn’t have an issue with stakeholders like Stone having input in board policies. But she said as many people as possible should be asked for feedback, and she does not believe that occurred in this case.

The emails to and from Stone also show that the longstanding and deeply divisive debate over whether the district should build a third comprehensive high school was at least part of the discussion as the diversity policy was being drafted.

Stone wrote in a Dec. 5 email to Swisher that he had “HAD IT” with Superintendent Stephen Murley talking about a third high school being a pending need and West High being overcrowded while being “absolutely tone deaf to the needs of the rest of the community.”

“You should shut Steve up – or better yet, get him to say publicly that kids WILL NEED TO BE MOVED SOON at the high school level,” Stone wrote. “There is no other path to equity.”

Swisher, a vocal supporter of Murley, said Saturday she did not support the sentiment of that email. She said she also believes a third comprehensive high school should eventually be built.

The board is to have the second of three readings of the policy on Tuesday. The first vote will occur then.

About 30 people spoke at Saturday’s “listening post,” with Swesey, Swisher and Sally Hoelscher representing the board. They had the speakers mostly alternate those for and those against the policy, so the comments were balanced.

E Stone Emails Nov Dec by GazetteOnline

CEDAR FALLS – Marc Sonnen walked into the media room dressed like the star. The senior made his way to table, that three chairs sat under, wearing a clean white t-shirt accented by stonewashed jeans.

Jake Koch followed Sonnen into the room still wearing his home white jersey and shorts. Combined with the attire, Koch acknowledged the type of treatment the Panther’s shooting guard should receive.

As Sonnen began to sit in the seat to the far left, Koch interrupted, “Man, you gotta sit in the middle.”

“That’s all you big dog,” Sonnen replied.

“You made seven 3s,” Koch said ending the discussion.

Sonnen eventually took his seat in the middle after a performance in which he was the center of attention. Sonnen paced a Panther shooting barrage that tied the program record and notched an 84-53 Northern Iowa win.

“It felt good today,” Sonnen said. “Warm ups it was feeling good, and all the little work you put in in the season and offseason, you know, that’s where it all pays off, all the shots you put up. When you’ve got it feeling good, just stay with it and keep shooting.”

Sonnen did just that and the ball kept falling through the net. He finished with a game-high 21. The totals tied his career high in 3s and points for the second time this season. His seven made long balls came on nine shots. At one point he was 7 of 8. Against George Mason, where Sonnen also drained seven 3s, he attempted 10 shots from beyond the arc.

“He’s worked really hard now for the better part of two years to get to the point of where he is,” Northern Iowa head coach Ben Jacobson said. “He had the game at George Mason and he was going again tonight.”

The entire UNI team joined Sonnen in what looked like a 3-point contest. The team tied a McLeod Center record with 15 3-pointers. Nine of those came in the first half. The long range assault catapulted UNI to a 30 point lead with on minute remaining in the first half.

As The Panthers jogged to the locker room at halftime, six players made a 3-pointer. The same six players – Sonnen, Koch, Anthony James, Deon Mitchell, Seth Tuttle and Matt Bohannon – all finished in double figures. On the other side, Bradley only had five made field goals.

“If we were to answer what went wrong, we’d never get to leave,” Bradley head coach Geno Ford said. “What went right? I can answer that. Nothing.”

The Braves made a push to start the second half, slicing the UNI lead to 14 with 15:47 remaining. The Panthers answered like they had all night, with a 3. Koch nailed one of his two 3-pointers and the lead never sunk below 15 again.

Sonnen placed the exclamation point at the end of the Panthers’ response, sinking a 3 with 11:29 remaining that pushed the lead back to 20. It also sprung another run, this one a 22-5 run.

The bigger response came in the form of a conference win. The Panthers sat at 1-3 after Wednesday’s game against Evansville slipped away.

“I think everyone was kind of pissed off,” Koch said. “This is not how you want to start conference season. Two tough home losses, we always like giving our fans a good show, but pretty much I think we were all pissed off and wanted to get back on the court.”

Sunday, the Panthers left little doubt a second Missouri Valley Conference win was on the horizon. Northern Iowa walked off winners not on the score board but in the box score. It held an advantage in every offensive statistical category, including shooting 57.7 percent from the field and from deep.

The Panthers also hauled in 37 rebounds compared to 19 for Brady. Eight of the 37 came on the offensive glass – a number that made Koch, who finished with 11 rebounds to go with his 11 points, proud.

After all, when Sonnen is putting on that type of clinic, it’s easy to become to add one more to the 4,074 in attendance.

“I told him I was going to keep passing him the ball,” Koch said. “I want them all to go in. But as always, coaches can get mad if you don’t crash the offensive glass. So I had to keep crashing.”

NORTHERN IOWA 84, BRADLEY 53

Here’s the “double-bonus,” Gazette reporter Michael Bonner’s quick reaction to UNI’s dominating win over Bradley at the McLeod Center on Saturday afternoon:

Game Ball: Marc Sonnen. The UNI senior hit seven of his nine 3-point attempts (tied a career high for makes) and led the scorching-hot Panthers to a win. UNI shot 58 percent in the win and made 15 3-pointers, which ties a school record.

Lame Ball: Bradley’s first half (14 points on 5 of 22 shooting, 9 turnovers, 2 assists).

Light up the cigar: 10:11 second half. Sonnen drills his sixth 3-pointer of the night, pushes lead to 63-40

Watercooler stat: Bradley didn’t reach double figures until 5:42 left in the first half.

Big Number: 6 – The number of Panthers who made a 3-point field goal in the first half. Also the number of Panthers who finished in double figures.

On Iowa Politics is a weekly news and analysis podcast that aims to recreate the kinds of conversations that happen when you get political reporters from across Iowa together after the day’s deadlines have been met.

This week’s topics include Obama for Iowa’s Brad Anderson’s move from behind the scenes to in front of the camera to take on Secretary of State Matt Schultz, turmoil at the Republican Party of Iowa, and guns, taxes and education reform, also known as the start of the 85^th General Assembly.

Featuring Ed Tibbetts, James Lynch, Mike Wiser & Jon Ericson. The show was produced by Max Freund and music heard in the podcast is courtesy of Copperhead.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Editor’s note: Adam Rees is founder of GRIT GYM, a gym based on results, creating a culture and lifestyle of performance, strength, health and freedom to live life on your own terms. Rees attended Wartburg, worked under nationally recognized strength coach Matt McGettigan at ISU and is generally a glutton for information and improvement in all forms.

By Adam Rees, community contributor

What we’re seeing in the fitness industry is a focus on the right things in a misguided way.

We’re now seeing resistance training (rather than strict, long endurance training), timed intervals (rather than steady state cardio) and an emphasis on slow carbs (rather than no-fat/no-carb) regularly accepted as a superior way of training/thinking, which is incredible.

Where we have fallen off is in the speed/power/strength/durability continuums, as well as mentality and the psychological vs. physiological relationship when training, which basically boils down to needs and readiness.

What may be appropriate for a 14-year-old old male who participates in multiple sports with a focus on baseball is going to be much different from an 18-year-old female who’s primary focus is basketball and track.

This goes without saying how different a 52-year-old mother of three would train, a woman who has had her abdomen basically split down the middle to adjust for the expansion of a child’s development and the toll that raising them has taken. Or the 52-year-old father, ex-athlete, 25-year desk jockey who wants to hop right back into it with 30 extra pounds of fat, 15 less pounds of muscle and a host of joint stiffness and compensations patterns that have been building for decades along with a body that’s ability to recover is far less than he’ll expect.

These are big issues when considering the cookie-cutter approach generalizing everyone’s needs in a group setting. Especially when selecting lifts/exercises and rest times.

I see far too many joint issues to condone head stands, crunches/sit-ups, upright rows, leg curls, leg extensions, incorrectly done yoga poses, pressing in excess, lifting without proper technique (which is rare), using lifts as cardio (where technique will break quickly), and not to mention overuse injuries like too many miles/kicks/punches/jumps/hops/reps. Too much, too soon, too often with not enough rest/recovery/strength/mobility/stability/durability, and not enough balance throughout the body or program.

Thus far, GRIT GYM has been primarily a sport performance facility. In 2013, we’d like to promote the good training practices that should be present in the general public’s programs, as well as prevent the dangers of misguided practice.

It’s common to feel intimidated by this kind of exercise. People feel there’s no way they could do that or they don’t want someone bossing them around. Well, I train my mother who started lifting four years ago. At the beginning her dead lift was 95 pounds and she recently pulled 245 for two reps from the floor. This is total body strength that she will keep for the rest of her life.

The more you build now, the more you keep later.

I encourage you to put the pink dumbbells down and throw what you hear from Jillian Michaels, Tracey Anderson and that other folks out the window. They are TV personalities and that’s where it ends.

Get a highly trained, educated and up to date professional to teach you technique as well as how to warm up. Start slow — a beginner can make huge gains lifting 35 percent of their one rep max. It is a good thing when we get more done with less.

Eat better and be aware of how you feel before shoving food in your mouth. When we’re changing behaviors around food, it’s better to start by addition than by subtraction.

Finally, have a good time doing with what you are doing. We have very few things we have power over and attitude is one of them.

Check www.GRITGYM.com/resources and adamrees.blogspot.com for more on this story and others. Email Rees at adam@gritgym.com

To anyone claiming gun control reduces death or crime, explain this:

If you compare the FBI Uniform Crime Report murder rate for each state and the Brady Campaign rank for each state, there is no relation between Brady rank and murder rate.

Do it yourself at http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/tables/table-4 and at http://www.bradycampaign.org/xshare/stateleg/scorecard/2011/2011_Brady_Campaign_State_Scorecard_Rankings.pdf

The 10 states tied at 39th by Brady rank have murder rates from 2.5 to 7.5 per 100,000. For comparison, the national average is 4.7. California, rated best for gun control, has a murder rate of 4.8, more than double of worst-rated Utah’s 1.9. Number one Brady state California is 32nd for murder rate. Dead last Brady state Utah is seventh best for murder rate. The Brady rank and murder rate just don’t match.

If gun control works, it should save lives and reduce crime. If anyone can reliably evaluate a state’s gun control, the Brady Campaign should be able to. If anyone can provide useful murder rates, the FBI should be able to. Using what should be reliable numbers, a state’s gun control doesn’t seem to have any relation to murder rate. If it doesn’t reduce murder, should we be considering gun control?

Ed Crowell

Cedar Rapids