This is a comment by wellokaythen on the post “Mass Shooting in Aurora, Colorado—Tell Me Why We Don’t Need Gun Control Again?“
“When considering the effect of loosening gun laws, it would be helpful to consider the statistics about ALL the causes of death and injury by firearms. How does the number of people killed accidentally by guns compare to the number murdered by handguns? And, how does the number of self-defense cases compare to the number of accidental cases?
“I suspect that arming everyone all the time would save a few thousands lives every year. But, I suspect that would lead to about 3-4 times as many people killed accidentally.
“Ultimately, it would be a decision about acceptable risk to other people. Of course the swimming pool in your backyard is 200 times more likely to kill your child than a handgun in the house, but then again your swimming pool is not likely to kill 30 people all at once when you go off the rails.
“Good thing Plaxico Burress was armed when he went into that nightclub. His own leg could have attacked him, but fortunately he was able to put a bullet in it to stop a much greater calamity. I would hate to think what could have happened if he had not shot himself … “
Photo credit: Flickr / DieselDemon
About the Editors
This is what I should have posted a moment ago …
I live in the Chicago area and work with troubles youth in a residential setting. More then 98 percent of the kids I work with are court mandated into treatment and I would comfortably say that at least 70% of those kids have pretty serious criminal records which include gang activity, armed robbery and many have had the occasion to use a gun.
One of the conversations I’ve had with these kids is about gun control. I’ve asked these guys that if they thought the person they were targeting for a crime, had a gun, would they think differently about robbing them. All of the guys I posed the question to sais if they thought these people had a gun, they wouldn’t target them at all.
When it comes to things like robbery, they aren’t interested in getting hurt much less wanting to hurt the victim. They simply want what the victim has.
When I asked them about gun control and the elimination of guns, they mirrored what my dad used to say, “Outlaw guns and only outlaws will have guns.” They laugh when I ask about gun control and state that the guns they have aren’t legally obtained. Old cliché, “Guns don’t kill, people kill.”
And to my dad (passed away over 35 years ago) You were so right!
@Tom B- absolutely, the rash of tourist carjacking in FL during the early 90′s was coincidental to FL making it about as easy to get a carry permit as it is to get a Voter ID card; maybe easier these days.
Gun Control Laws in the US arose in Racism and continue due to racism.
Look at Detroit & DC and the outlying suburbs.
I have lived in areas of high gun possession rates and observe that it was all a bit more polite there.
That being said- I’m not in favor of arming everyone.
There are 2 guys in my neighborhood to whom I suggested they not get their own lawnmowers..
The Wear and Tear on my machine is less aggravation than maintaining their machines as well as mine.
Guns are relatively easy for Average Joe Taxpayer to obtain legally, within established gun control laws. Some gun advocates, including some of the commenters on the previous article, propose that if more people were armed to begin with, we wouldn’t have this kind of senseless violence. In other words, some are saying it’s for the collective good for the general civilian population to be well-armed.
So why doesn’t everyone who is eligible to own a gun already have one? Obviously it’s not because they CAN’T. So the best conclusion I can arrive at is that not everyone wants to be armed.
I know that’s true for me personally. I know I could easily go out this week and get a gun. I know I would be better protected against the boogey(wo)men of the world if I carried a gun on me. I absolutely do not want to own or carry a gun, much less shoot one. I don’t think I have it in me to actually shoot someone, even if I were under attack. “With great power comes great responsibility,” and I do not want to be responsible for the power of a gun. I do not want to be responsible for using it to defend myself or others. I do not want to be held responsible for what happens should I be in that situation and *not* fire my gun.
Those who are willing to use a gun already have one. It’s not like the rest of us are clamoring for gun ownership or only being held back from gun ownership because of restrictive gun laws. So gun advocates can say all they want about “if the public was adequately armed this wouldn’t happen” but I doubt very much that will make people like me go out and get guns that we’re not willing to use.
That’s true in rural America. It is far less true in cities. Just *try* getting a permit in NYC. On paper, you can. If you apply, you’re going to get turned down unless you’re a former cop or have connections.
Thanks for correcting me. I really don’t know about specifics of gun law, other than that they do vary widely from state to state. I live in Ohio but obviously have never tried to get a gun; my best friend’s boyfriend got one earlier this year and didn’t seem to have any difficulty with it, so I assume there aren’t many obstacles here.
Aren’t gun laws by state, and not by city, though? Is it that difficult in all of New York State or just in NYC?
Though, for the most part, that is correct. There’s no sense in trying to force people to own guns. Those who are deathly afraid of them aren’t going to be any better with a firearm that the those who lack he proper respect for them.
I’d suggest people read the following …
http://www.mwkworks.com/onsheepwolvesandsheepdogs.html
“Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in America said, “Thank God I wasn’t on one of those planes.” The sheepdogs, the warriors, said, “Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference.” When you are truly transformed into a warrior and have truly invested yourself into warriorhood, you want to be there. You want to be able to make a difference.”
Personally, I’m more in line with being a sheepdog. There are people who want to own guns and then the ones that don’t, it’s that simple.
Yeah, but whatever your mentality is you are no good without capability and a gun is by itself not a capability. When I was conscripted (not in the US) the person who were the most gung-ho about getting a gun was the person less able to use it (and I am not talking about accuracy). He was the one who did not end up killing some of his squad members because there were only 20 rounds in his magazine. He asked and got permission to empty his clip on full automatic on an open field gun range. We normally trained using controlled burst of 2-3 on semi-automatic in both open and urban scenarios. His squad members were standing behind him as he proceeded to empty the clip and being unable to hold the barrel down because of the recoil the last round went straight up while he fell on his back. The last bullet landed 20 feet or so to the side of them. Had the clip been full with 30 rounds he might have ended up shooting behind him and hitting someone. Both him and the sergeant giving him permission without ensuring that the private had the capabilities to handle it got a reprimand for that episode. That was a training issue regarding how to physically handling the gun itself. Another thing is training to handle situations where one is using the gun.
Wanting to own a gun is not enough. Shooting at cans or stationary paper targets at a range once a month is not enough. No former criminal record or no mental health issues on your medical record can perhaps exclude a subset those who aren’t capable, but in itself it says nothing about their capability to handle a gun.