Has anyone ever calculated the total number of times per year that someone with a handgun actully stops an intruder or "evil-doer" in order to spare themselves or friends or family vs. the number of times per year that the handgun of the owner who is compelled to protect themselves is the cause of an accidental shooting of a family member (usually a child), an impulsive and/or intoxicated shooting of someone who poses no threat, or taken by a disturburbed person who uses it to kill others. In mathmetical terms - handguns are a terrible bet for safety.
The high price of ignoring logic and facts
Another case in point shooting
Facts: - Guns prevent an estimated 2.5 million crimes a year or 6,849 every day. Often the gun is never fired and no blood (including the criminal’s) is shed. (Targeting Guns, Dr. Gary Kleck, Criminologist, Florida State University) - Every day 550 rapes, 1,100 murders, and 5,200 other violent crimes are prevented just by showing a gun. In less than 0.9% of these instances is the gun ever actually fired. (National Crime Victimization Survey, 2000, Bureau of Justice Statistics) - Americans are five times more likely to burn to death, five times more likely to drown, 17 times more likely to be poisoned, 17 times more likely to fall, and 68 times more likely to die in an automobile accident than to be fatally shot. (WISQARS Injury Mortality Report, Center for Disease Control, 2007) - The non-gun homicide rate of children in the U.S. is more than twice as high as in other western countries. And eight times as many children die from non-gun violent acts than from gun crimes. (Kids and Guns ,Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention) Educate thyself, doctor. Surely during such a time, a child psychologist can offer useful advice to parents on how to counsel their children.
Saying that 8x the children die of all other sources than guns actually makes my point - lets see, there are millions of ways that kids can die from non gun violence but it's only 8x less. Again, what does how many times or ways that people die besides being shot to death by a handgun have to do with anything. My premise is guns specifically used to stop an attack vs. guns misused in a manner that brings about undesired consequences. As for the education - I'm satisfied with mine.
I would assume you have taken all of these from gun facts 6.1. It does hold good numbers and validity but many are outdated including your first point which is from 1997. Educating yourself on issues does go both ways. And nothing can change the fact that a gun is an easy purchase/find for a method of killing.
Dr. Dude, if you are going to be posting things on the internet like this, why don't you have someone proofread your stuff before posting it; or at least use spellcheck...i'm sure it has zero to do with your intelligence, but it just looks shoddy. Regarding your theory, i disagree with it. As a kid, we knew this guy in the neighborhood who had a gun. We did not screw with him at all. Not that gun owners post a sign on their house saying "enter at your own risk. i'm packing", but criminals typically don't break into houses with barking dogs and don't break into houses when they suspect somebody may have a gun. Self defense with a registered weapon is like a football game with a good referee. When they're doing their job, you don't notice them or hear about them.
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