flynn23 wrote:
Decius wrote:
The legal ruling that the District's citizens can keep loaded handguns in their homes doesn't mean that they should.
Just nine of those shootings were legally justifiable homicides or acts of self-defense; guns kept in homes were also involved in 12 accidental deaths, 41 criminal homicides and a shocking 333 suicides.
In Atlanta, a city where approximately a third of households contain guns, a study of 197 home-invasion crimes revealed only three instances (1.5 percent) in which the inhabitants resisted with a gun. Intruders got to the homeowner's gun twice as often as the homeowner did.
I know a lot of people who explain their gun ownership based on the theory that they are going to defend themselves from some sort of home invasion. I think of this a bit like I think of Ralphie Parker's dreams of fending off Black Bart with his BB gun. In general, your home is not going to be invaded while you are there, and you are not going to defend yourself this way if it does happen. Shooting can be a fun hobby, but you're not John Wayne.
The problem with using shooting DEATHS as a statistic, is that it ONLY takes into account the people that actually died. Death is certainly a final event, however, it would be more accurate to include events where handguns actually saved lives too, for the sake of reality. Unfortunately, most of the episodes where a firearm is presented as a defensive measure and NOT discharged are simply not reported to the police.
My own mother thwarted a would be car jacker in East Hartford, CT in the laty 80's, by drawing her Taurus 9mm from her purse, and my current shooting partner also thwarted a robbery of his persons at Gwinnett Mall in the late 90's by drawing his pistol when he was asked for his wallet. Neither of these incidents were reported to the police, as the suspects fled the scene when they faced armed citizens. Both my Mother and my current shooting partner are both licensed for concealed carry, and I also know for a fact that these two episodes were NOT reported to any authorities. The police don't want to know about crimes that "almost" happened.
I've been a weapons owner since the age of 12, and I've never thought of myself as "John Wayne" or any other TV hero with my weapons. I simply know that it is another tool, like my hammer, screwdrivers, or drill, that performs a job for me if needed.
I carry my weapon every day, to and from the office, and keep it locked in my vehicle. I don't use a trigger lock, barrel lock, or any other foolish "safety" equipment with my weapons. I have taught my entire family how to shoot, handle weapons, and respect them. I don't even let them shoot nerf guns AT each other. It's not a game, it's not a movie, it is a tool that one has to be skilled with, in order to use it when necessary. Practice is simply that skill. I pray every time I handle a weapon, that I will not ever have to kill a human being with it.
