Gun Control & RKBA

JDPriestly

(57,936 posts) Tue Oct 6, 2015, 11:20 AM Oct 2015

Guns. Do they make us safer? The numbers. The facts. [View all]

Per Gallup poll, 60% of gun owners own them for personal safety purposes.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/165605/personal-safety-top-reason-americans-own-guns-today.aspx

So how much safer are we when we have guns?

Myth #5: Keeping a gun at home makes you safer.
Fact-check: Owning a gun has been linked to higher risks of homicide, suicide, and accidental death by gun.
• For every time a gun is used in self-defense in the home, there are 7 assaults or murders, 11 suicide attempts, and 4 accidents involving guns in or around a home.
• 43% of homes with guns and kids have at least one unlocked firearm.
• In one experiment, one third of 8-to-12-year-old boys who found a handgun pulled the trigger.

Myth #6: Carrying a gun for self-defense makes you safer.
Fact-check: In 2011, nearly 10 times more people were shot and killed in arguments than by civilians trying to stop a crime.
• In one survey, nearly 1% of Americans reported using guns to defend themselves or their property. However, a closer look at their claims found that more than 50% involved using guns in an aggressive manner, such as escalating an argument.
• A Philadelphia study found that the odds of an assault victim being shot were 4.5 times greater if he carried a gun. His odds of being killed were 4.2 times greater.

Myth #7: Guns make women safer.
Fact-check: In 2010, nearly 6 times more women were shot by husbands, boyfriends, and ex-partners than murdered by male strangers.
• A woman's chances of being killed by her abuser increase more than 5 times if he has access to a gun.
• One study found that women in states with higher gun ownership rates were 4.9 times more likely to be murdered by a gun than women in states with lower gun ownership rates.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/01/pro-gun-myths-fact-check

If you own a gun, why do you own it?

83 replies

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Highlight:

Guns. Do they make us safer? The numbers. The facts. [View all] JDPriestly Oct 2015 OP

This has been hashed over for years. Still keeping mine. nt Eleanors38 Oct 2015 #1

Not safer, just able to respond without waiting from 30min - 12 years. ileus Oct 2015 #2

Good for you ... don't particularly care what you or Mother Jones thinks DonP Oct 2015 #3

Please feel free to... discntnt_irny_srcsm Oct 2015 #4

Yes. Make your own decision. These are statistics, and people living in isolated areas JDPriestly Oct 2015 #6

Just to piss off people that want to ban it.... NT virginia mountainman Oct 2015 #5

Any coherent study... deathrind Oct 2015 #7

I own guns for recreation. nt hack89 Oct 2015 #8

You're unhealthy...may I recommend a dietary supplement? ileus Oct 2015 #14

Mother Jones debunked gejohnston Oct 2015 #9

Hmmm, debunked by a gun worship site that louis-t Oct 2015 #10

Also remember, the CDC is banned from doing research about gun deaths. louis-t Oct 2015 #11

Ummm, no, not really - CDC Ban Lifted by President Obama DonP Oct 2015 #12

Mass shootings are declining? louis-t Oct 2015 #15

CDC data collection discntnt_irny_srcsm Oct 2015 #17

By the way, nice cherry-picking of the report. louis-t Oct 2015 #16

See post #17 and read it slowly this time. DonP Oct 2015 #18

Did you actually read the article associated with the quote? louis-t Oct 2015 #24

the problem with that study was not that the NRA didn't like it gejohnston Oct 2015 #27

So, the solution was to give the NRA louis-t Oct 2015 #28

the ban isn't on research gejohnston Oct 2015 #30

And you are only focusing on parts of the studies that you don't like. louis-t Oct 2015 #31

according to leading criminologists at the time gejohnston Oct 2015 #34

Wait, now the ban is on 'lobbying'? louis-t Oct 2015 #36

the CDC is part of the government gejohnston Oct 2015 #37

Yes. As it SHOULD BE. wanna lobby? Do it on your own tab. nt Eleanors38 Oct 2015 #58

If you're interested, here's an interesting article detailing the issues branford Oct 2015 #35

So you send me another opinion piece? louis-t Oct 2015 #40

So, studies and research you agree with are "facts," branford Oct 2015 #42

You think the NRA will ever "compromise"? louis-t Oct 2015 #46

what are willing to give up in return? gejohnston Oct 2015 #47

All my guns. You? stone space Oct 2015 #53

First, the NRA need not compromise. They're actually almost irrelevant. branford Oct 2015 #48

Define "extraordinarily rare". louis-t Oct 2015 #66

What percentage of the 80-100+ million legal firearm owners branford Oct 2015 #67

Throwing in percentage versus number of mass shootings is diversion. louis-t Oct 2015 #68

Violent crime has been cut by about half in the last few decades, branford Oct 2015 #70

The relative frequency of gun deaths in other countries that permit guns -- Switzerland and JDPriestly Oct 2015 #19

there are an infinite possiblities gejohnston Oct 2015 #22

We need real research on this issue, not just assumptions and unfounded conclusions. JDPriestly Oct 2015 #23

suicides and gangs gejohnston Oct 2015 #25

As long as the NRA is allowed to defeat funding for research louis-t Oct 2015 #29

Good point! JDPriestly Oct 2015 #32

That will never happen. louis-t Oct 2015 #38

to quote ethics blogger Josh Marshall gejohnston Oct 2015 #39

defending nra here, how low can u go jimmy the one Oct 2015 #43

truth bother you Jimmy? gejohnston Oct 2015 #45

alarmed at your ethics jimmy the one Oct 2015 #62

just as I expected gejohnston Oct 2015 #71

gun fly in the ointment jimmy the one Oct 2015 #41

Um no, the CDC gun research ban was not lifted by Obama. SunSeeker Oct 2015 #52

I tried to tell him that already. louis-t Oct 2015 #69

It all depends on the definition of "safer" being used. ManiacJoe Oct 2015 #13

Apparently the statistical evidence is either mixed on that or differently interpreted. JDPriestly Oct 2015 #20

Your inquiry is certainly reasonable, branford Oct 2015 #21

but it does not fit into 140 Duckhunter935 Oct 2015 #26

I don't tweet -- I'm a little, too, to use a euphemism, verbal for that. JDPriestly Oct 2015 #33

The difference is going to be largely cultural. ManiacJoe Oct 2015 #44

The majority of car accidents happen within 5 miles of your home. uppityperson Oct 2015 #49

True. I suppose that is where we drive the most often, where we pay the least attention and JDPriestly Oct 2015 #50

A lot of those "Accidents" and about 20k of those suicides are gun deaths. nt SunSeeker Oct 2015 #51

20K gejohnston Oct 2015 #54

21,175 according to the CDC. SunSeeker Oct 2015 #57

I'm sure you can provide a link or are you making things up Lurks Often Oct 2015 #55

Sure. The stats on kids getting shot by accident are revolting. SunSeeker Oct 2015 #56

And that rate has been falling for years: Gun-owners acting responsibly. Eleanors38 Oct 2015 #59

Not the accidental and gun suicide death rate. Just crime. SunSeeker Oct 2015 #60

And "crime" has been going down or up? Eleanors38 Oct 2015 #65

Crime is going down as our population ages. nt SunSeeker Oct 2015 #72

CDC 2013 numbers Lurks Often Oct 2015 #61

Says a lot about you that you think 69 young kids needlessly dying each year is "not a lot." SunSeeker Oct 2015 #63

It says a lot about YOU that you define .0019 percent as a lot Lurks Often Oct 2015 #64

Per CDC, 505 of the 130,557 annual accidental deaths are gun deaths. That's .39% SunSeeker Oct 2015 #73

It's .0019 percent of ALL deaths in the United States in 2013 Lurks Often Oct 2015 #74

What is the point of comparing gun deaths to age-related deaths? Everyone dies. SunSeeker Oct 2015 #75

Work on your own logic and stop moving the goal posts Lurks Often Oct 2015 #76

People who want reasonable gun control are not "extremists." SunSeeker Oct 2015 #77

You care so much that you post about Chicago, Newark & DC a lot, oh wait, you don't. Lurks Often Oct 2015 #78

Americans do support gun control, it's our NRA fearing politicians that don't. SunSeeker Oct 2015 #79

You can't have it both ways Lurks Often Oct 2015 #80

It isn't the NRA's GOTV, it is the NRA's money spreading lies about Dem candidates. SunSeeker Oct 2015 #81

If it makes you feel better to think that then go ahead Lurks Often Oct 2015 #82

No, guns are inanimate... discntnt_irny_srcsm Oct 2015 #83