Suggest you get a copy of "More Guns Less Crime" by John Lott. It puts alot
of
the stats into perspective in a way that is understandable.

"Jeff Morris" wrote in message
news
Greg wrote:
"Jeff Morris" wrote in message
...

Leanne wrote:

I don't carry a gun on me or my boat, but guns on boats

discussions


should be made with a bit of discretion.


We just went through this discussion a bit ago on alt.rv. Should
we or should we not carry firearms in our RV. I wonder how many
gun owners have killed with their weapon. It takes a lot of
nerve to actually do it. Talking is easy.

Leanne



Of the 30,000 gun deaths in the in 2002, only 300 were "legal
interventions." I would guess most of these were professionals (police,
etc.). Over 750 were accidental. About 12000 were homicides and more
than half were suicide. Over 600 were 14 years of age or under.

Its pretty clear that if a gun is fired and kills someone, its far more
likely that the victim will be a family member, friend, or child, than
than a criminal.

Of course, these stats don't tell us how many crimes were prevented by
the threat of a gun. In some neighborhoods, and for some businesses,
this is clearly a factor, but for the average family, I think a gun is a
liability.

http://webapp.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/mortrate10_sy.html


Your conclusion above doesn't follow the facts you just presented.
About 750 accidental shootings took place.
Over 27,000 were murders or homicides, i.e., someone "intentionally"
killing themselves or others.

The important stat was "legal intervention" which includes self-defense.
The fact that is very low would seem to imply that actually shooting a gun
in self defense is very rare, or not very successful.

The fact that more than half of the gun deaths are suicides is proof alone
that gun ownership is dangerous.


The suicides are sad but if someone wants to do it, not much that can be
done as many means are available.

Wrong. There are roughly 10 attempts for every successful suicide. Which
method do you think has a higher success rate: a handgun or aspirin?
Hopefully, if you or a loved one gets depressed, there will not be a gun
handy.

Also, much of the difference in suicide rates between states can be
explained by easy access to guns. In fact, membership in the NRA seems to
be an suicide risk.


Given the 12,000 homicides, it would seem that a homeowner having a gun
is an asset, not liability. (12000 compared to 750 accidents.) In other
words, 12000 people were killed by criminals, that is, someone's family
member, friend, or child, not the criminal. So if more citizens were
trained and armed, maybe the statistic could be changed to 12000 dead
criminals.

More than half of the victims knew their murderer. You're assuming the
murderer is a criminal that could be deterred if only the victim had a
gun. Its more likely that the murderer is the next door neighbor who's
****ed you ran over his trash can again.

In southern states, where the murder rate is triple that of the northeast,
murder is much more likely to stem from a altercation between
acquaintances. In the Northeast, murder is more often associated with an
actual crime. The obvious conclusion is that while having a gun may
protect against of small risk of burglary, it greatly increases the odds
of killing a friend in a barroom fight.




The funny thing about guns is that if they aren't in your hand when
needed, they can't magically strike down the bad guy - unlike SUVs that
are able to kill people and the environment without human intervention!

So if a person feels the need of a firearm for protection, either the
weapon should be within reach at all times or, some type of
delaying/alarm/alerting system should be in place to give one time to
access and present the firearm. Such as steel doors and frames, windows
high off the ground, and a good alarm system for the home defense
scenario. Unintentionally, the house I built had the first 2 and added
the last after an attempted daylight pre-Christmas burglery.
Also had an incident in Savannah, Georgia, with a violent beggar hitting
up folks at a Burger King. Instead of presenting my .45, I held up my
folding tac knife (still folded) as he approached and he executed an
immediate 90 degree turn away from us and left the area. No police, no
blood, just peace and security for my wife and I and the rest of the good
folks wanting a late night burger. But the firearm was there if needed, a
comforting feeling.

Savannah has one of the highest murder rates in the country - almost
triple that of New York or Boston. I don't think this proves that arming
everyone makes you safer.

The more I look into this topic, the clearer the answer seems: those parts
of the country where people insist on the right, even the responsibility,
to carry a gun, do it simply because they enjoy killing themselves and
each other.