Yet another reminder that for the vast majority of Americans, guns don’t make you safer:
JIM MCMAHON would leave home and forget how to get back.
Sometimes, he would stay in his room and lie on his back in the dark because the pain in his head was so excruciating. At his darkest moments a few years ago, when it was just about too much to handle, the former Chicago Bears quarterback thought about killing himself.
“I am glad I don’t have any weapons in my house or else I am pretty sure I wouldn’t be here,” McMahon said. “It got to be that bad.”
I know, I know… the gun nuts will scream in the threads that I want the guvmint to take away their guns. That’s not the point of these posts at all. What I want is to educate Americans that guns don’t make you safer. Especially handguns. They just don’t.
If you’re a hunter or a sportsman then you need a gun. I’ve got no problem with that. Hunting is at least as moral as factory farming (assuming you intend to eat your kill), and I know from personal experience that target shooting can be loads of fun. But if you’re just some average Jane or Joe purchasing a handgun for personal protection, you’re making a big mistake. Having a handgun in the house dramatically increases the risk of you or a loved one being a shooting victim. Men in particular are much more likely to shoot themselves than an intruder.
The best way to reduce gun violence is to reduce easy access to guns—particularly handguns. And the best way to do that is to change Americans’ attitudes towards guns so that we’re less likely to keep one lying around the house.
Hi Goldy. It is indeed me. I won’t comment on the insane implication and foolhardy assumptions you made to come up with this latest piece of crap post…lol….But hey, at least you are consistent, even if it is consistently wrong!! I do hope you are doing well. Hello to the other misguided misfits aka Leftist Pinheaded Klowns…and to the handful of right-minded thinkers like Puddy.
Of course you won’t comment on Goldy’s post (and then do comment on it… which is it, Mr. Cynical?) Anyway, I’m not surprised you won’t debate the substance of Goldy’s argument because the facts (meaning empirical data, Mr. Cynical, empirical data – look it up if you don’t know the meaning of ’empirical’) support Goldy’s position. I imagine (because you won’t comment) your claim that Goldy has ‘foolhardy assumptions’ is based on some NRA talking point. But that is just speculation on my part.
I know I know, in the fantasy world which you right-wingers like to reside, facts don’t matter. It is all about faith. But in the REAL world, facts do matter. I realize too that trying to debate with you is pointless, because I live in reality, and you live in some fantasy world, but it still needs to be said.
Do why is it you anti-gunners never post links to actual studies ? Oh yeah, it’s because you spew BS.
@3 here you go:
Guns in the Home and Risk of a Violent Death in the Home: Findings from a National Study
Authors: Linda L. Dahlberg, Robin M. Ikeda, and Marcie-jo Kresnow
Am. J. Epidemiol. (2004) 160 (10): 929-936.
http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/.....ull#ref-30
Abstract:
Data from a US mortality follow-back survey were analyzed to determine whether having a firearm in the home increases the risk of a violent death in the home and whether risk varies by storage practice, type of gun, or number of guns in the home. Those persons with guns in the home were at greater risk than those without guns in the home of dying from a homicide in the home (adjusted odds ratio = 1.9, 95% confidence interval: 1.1, 3.4). They were also at greater risk of dying from a firearm homicide, but risk varied by age and whether the person was living with others at the time of death. The risk of dying from a suicide in the home was greater for males in homes with guns than for males without guns in the home (adjusted odds ratio = 10.4, 95% confidence interval: 5.8, 18.9). Persons with guns in the home were also more likely to have died from suicide committed with a firearm than from one committed by using a different method (adjusted odds ratio = 31.1, 95% confidence interval: 19.5, 49.6). Results show that regardless of storage practice, type of gun, or number of firearms in the home, having a gun in the home was associated with an increased risk of firearm homicide and firearm suicide in the home.
#3 Here is another one, a recent meta-analysis:
Risks and Benefits of a Gun in the Home
David Hemenway, PhD
Harvard Injury Control Research Center, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF LIFESTYLE MEDICINE November/December 2011 vol. 5 no. 6 502-511
http://ajl.sagepub.com/content/5/6/502
Abstract:
This article summarizes the scientific literature on the health risks and benefits of having a gun in the home for the gun owner and his/her family. For most contemporary Americans, scientific studies indicate that the health risk of a gun in the home is greater than the benefit. The evidence is overwhelming for the fact that a gun in the home is a risk factor for completed suicide and that gun accidents are most likely to occur in homes with guns. There is compelling evidence that a gun in the home is a risk factor for intimidation and for killing women in their homes. On the benefit side, there are fewer studies, and there is no credible evidence of a deterrent effect of firearms or that a gun in the home reduces the likelihood or severity of injury during an altercation or break-in. Thus, groups such as the American Academy of Pediatrics urge parents not to have guns in the home.
Screaming screed:
Puddy and Travis Bickle posted studies around guns on this blog before. Real empirical evidence. You wanna see them again? Ask the clueless crazed cretin Take away the guns from the good peeps and you actually think the criminal element will give up their guns? Haven’t you read about what happened in Australia and England? Didn’t you pay attention to the robbery in Knightsbridge last May where the criminals had guns and stole 150,000 Pounds worth of designer bags? Wait… Did Puddy say the criminals had guns? Yes Puddy did!
So we have an anecdotal story about Jim McMahon from Goldy. Well Here’s Obummer’s own study… http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=18319 Guess what screed… They found out having a gun saves your life. Here it is in a synopsis. http://www.storyleak.com/woops.....ave-lives/ Google “personal guns saved their lives”…
@3 Omigod, how many times do I have to post the same links to the same studies, only to be told that I never post links to any studies. Go the the Harvard School of Public Health’s Firearms Research page, and click through all the links yourself.
The data is overwhelming. There is a strong statistical correlation between access to firearms and firearm morbidity and mortality. On average, keeping a firearm in the house increases your risk of firearm injury or fatality due to homicide, accident, and especially suicide.
Ahhh yes, the link again… http://gunssavelives.net/category/self-defense/
The problem is gun studies like Harvard’s don’t want to acknowledge the link above! Also how does Harvard think the guns will be removed from the criminal element?
You can’t talk about mild and sensible gun regulations to conservatives, because within instants they are terrified that we want to take all their guns and they will be helpless against the invading not their color invaders and/or will be helpless against the government that will load them into trucks to take them to reeducation camps where they will forced to love gay marriage, global warming, atheism and income equality.
better,
U R A MORON! Go look at what happened in Australia when they took the populace’s guns… It was white on white crime. Most crime has a spatial relationship. So it’s white on white or black on black crime. Look at Chicago crime better… Go look at Houston crime better… Man you are really idiotic. The only one that breaks that are the his panics who are still killing blacks in LA near and around the barrios. Puddy submitted those links too. Ask the crazed clueless cretin from the crazed databaze. It’s all there! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographic_profiling
BTW that’s one run-on sentence!
We should ban guns because when we banned drugs we no longer had a drug problem!
It’s really telling how rabid gun nuts get at the mere suggestion of treating guns as a public health issue and merely advising people not to buy one. So, no regulation. No advising people not to buy a gun. No nothing. How long until the gun nuts mandate a gun in every home? That would be a major boon for gun manufacturers, the only entities in these discussions who actually matter.
@8 I’ve met you, Puddy. I know you’re not stupid. So why do you either assume everybody else here is by posting something that only a stupid person wouldn’t recognize as stupid.
The studies referenced on the Harvard site are statistical analyses. And you counter them with anecdotes?
Nobody claims that guns are never effectively used in self-defense. Nobody is claiming that for some people, gun ownership for self-defense may be a reasonable and rational decision. All I’m saying is that on average, gun ownership makes you and your family less safe, and that on average, most urban and suburban households are increasing their risk of harm through gun ownership.
Not everybody. I admit to the possibility of extenuating circumstances. But most Americans increase their chance of being shot by keeping a handgun in the house.
LOL! The silly BUTThole trolls admits that latinoes are merely fighting over turf..
A big departure from that “black genocide” shit. What a moron!
LOL! The silly BUTThole trolls admits that latinos are merely fighting over turf..
A big departure from that “black genocide” shit. What a moron!
@11 pbear. We tried prohibition, it worked as horribly as the prohibition on drugs is working now. Then we legalized alcohol and experimented on how to regulate until we found how minimize alcohol’s impact on society while still having people have their alcohol. Just like we need to do with guns.
@13. There are guns that will not fire unless they have the corresponding watch nearby. A kid cannot accidentally shoot themselves if they find the gun.
HAYES: The Armatix iP1 digital smart gun will only fire if it is within 10 inches of a special wristwatch personalized for the user. That means if a kid finds it hidden away in a drawer somewhere or a criminal is able to wrestle it away from a police officer, it cannot be fired.
HAYES: On Thursday, after word got out that Andy Raymond, the Maryland gun dealer, wanted to sell the personalized Armatix iP1, the nation`s first smart gun, he faced an avalanche of hate from gun supporters opposed to the selling of this particular weapon. The Facebook page of his store Engage Armament filled up with accusations of treason. He says he
got death threats, telling “The Washington Post”, his phone was ringing off the hook. He says he was so worried someone tried to burn down his store he slept there much of Thursday night, just him and his dog.
It was during that night long last week that Andy Raymond responded through this Facebook video and announced that he changed his mind.
The NRA zealots are blocking their sale and threatening the lives of the family members of anyone who sells them. Thugs like that are the problem.
I truly pray everyday that the Left makes the Gun Debate a top priority in any election. The Left can have Gay Marriage. I truly don’t care if two guys wanna get married or two chicks. It’s a free country. The Left can have our School System. Keep teaching those little buggers like you do and see how wonderful they turn out. They certainly won’t be our Greatest Generation. The Left can have their first Black President. I’m glad we are past that and we all have the T-Shirt and now we can go back to electing people with a Resume, Administrative Skills, and even a modicum of love for our country. But take note and please understand the Left can never ever ever take guns away from American citizens. It can’t be done legislatively. It can’t be done forcibly. It simply can’t be done. You can make a mockery of marriage. You can destroy the Public School System. You can destroy the Black Family. You can destroy Capitalism. You can even take away their Happy Meals but you will never ever get their guns. I so wish that the Left would try. Then every American that is to busy raising their children not be thugs and every American who is actually raising a family without a Village or WIC or Welfare or free Daycare or Medicaid, or Subsidized housing….you know the vast majority of Americans who love their country and look at the Lefts idea of a country and tear up a little. Yeah those Americans. They will finally see the Left for what they truly are. They aren’t concerned about poor people, the environment, education, inequality, homosexuals, illegal immigrants, or any of the other myriad of topics that have always seemed to anger them. They will see that the Left is only interested in one thing. The one thing they so desperately want but can never get in this country as long as the citizens are armed. Control. That’s all they want. Control. Try as you might because better people than you have tried. You can’t control an armed populace.
Make it your number one Platform Piece in every election if you dare. I beg of you.
Did you know that people with rope in their house are more likely to hang themselves that people without rope in their house. Ban rope it is evil. Did you know that people who drive cars are more likely to die in an auto accident than people that don’t drive. Ban cars they are evil.
You are making huge leaps in logic that you would never apply to any other situation. You are assuming that the gun caused that person to commit suicide. People who want to do harm to themselves or others will find a way with or without a gun.
As someone with decades of experience of working with the seriously mentally ill, firearms do greatly increase the risk of successful suicide. Lots of people take pills, hang themselves or even ram their cars into large fixed objects and survive. Gunshots to the head are usually fatal. Or worse, the person survives with horrible, permanent brain damage.
I’m not anti-gun but I’ve sure become anti-gun nut. I own assault rifles and handguns. I’ve even used a gun to deter a robbery in a remote, rural area. But this hysteria over even the most minimal of regulation (or even funding for research) is over the top. Parading around in public with rifles just to be assholes, telling parents that their dead children aren’t worth their guns and so on is simply indecent. Fuck you all.
@18. He reenforces my point. Any rational discussion causes their brain to short circuit to paranoia. For him, guns are the last barricade against the social tidal wave of tolerance and liberalism.
In that theme, please encourage every last gun zealot to open carry all the armament they can stagger under, to every restaurant, bar, church and school they can find, everywere. That will do more for the gun regulation cause than anything else.
Years ago, I had a friend who was bi-polar. Somehow (unbeknownst to her family and friends) she acquired a handgun. During one of her down periods, she “ate” it.
Suicide by hanging or jumping off a bridge is much more difficult, not to mention painful, than putting the barrel into your mouth and pulling the trigger.
Gun owners have a responsibility to keep their weapons secure in a gun safe and away from people with mental problems, not to mention children, addicts, thugs, and felons.
Goldy – how did you ever get people to write comments that make you seem like a calm, rational adult? I rarely go down the rabbit hole of reading the comments on blogs like this, but your family here is really entertaining.
I’m unaware of any claim ever made that having a length of rope in one’s home was a valid method of self-defense. A length of rope has many uses other than suicide by hanging; the sole purpose of a handgun is to put a fatal hole in a human being.
Banning guns will fail for the same reason banning drugs did. Our goal shouldn’t be legislation, but changing our social mores. Gay marriage was voted into law here by the general population; it wasn’t imposed by anyone. That happened only after decades of work, required to alter the fear and bigotry against gays. We can change the image of gun ownership as well, starting with this proven reality: having a gun in one’s home makes a person less safe.
@23 The gun posts always bring out the crazies.