[Vision2020] Hmmm . . .

Nicholas Gier ngier006 at gmail.com
Wed Feb 20 09:57:02 PST 2013


An excerpt from "Dangerous Gun Myths" in *The New York Times 2-2-13 *

*
*

*"Just the facts, madam, just the facts"*


But there is a more fundamental problem with the idea that guns actually
protect the hearth and home. Guns rarely get used that way. In the 1990s, a
team headed by Arthur Kellermann of Emory University looked at all injuries
involving guns kept in the home in Memphis, Seattle and Galveston, Tex.
They found that these weapons were fired far more often in accidents,
criminal assaults, homicides or suicide attempts than in self-defense. *For
every instance in which a gun in the home was shot in self-defense, there
were seven criminal assaults or homicides, four accidental shootings, and
11 attempted or successful suicides.*

The cost-benefit balance of having a gun in the home is especially negative
for women, according to a 2011 review by David Hemenway, director of the
Harvard Injury Control Research Center. Far from making women safer, a gun
in the home is “a particularly strong risk factor” for female homicides and
the intimidation of women.

In domestic violence situations, the risk of homicide for women increased
eightfold when the abuser had access to firearms, according to a study
published in The American Journal of Public Health in 2003. Further, there
was “no clear evidence” that victims’ access to a gun reduced their risk of
being killed. Another 2003 study, by Douglas Wiebe of the University of
Pennsylvania, found that females living with a gun in the home were 2.7
times more likely to be murdered than females with no gun at home.


Regulating guns, on the other hand, can reduce that risk. An analysis by
Mayors Against Illegal Guns found that in states that required a background
check for every handgun sale, women were killed by intimate partners at a
much lower rate. Senator Patrick Leahy, the Judiciary Committee chairman,
has used this fact to press the case for universal background checks, to
make sure that domestic abusers legally prohibited from having guns cannot
get them.

As for the children whose safety Ms. Trotter professes to be so concerned
about, guns in the home greatly increase the risk of youth suicides. That
is why the American Academy of Pediatrics has long urged parents to remove
guns from their homes.

The idea that guns are essential to home defense and women’s safety is a
myth. It should not be allowed to block the new gun controls that the
country so obviously needs.

On Wed, Feb 20, 2013 at 9:44 AM, Paul Rumelhart <godshatter at yahoo.com>wrote:

> A choice I'm willing and able to make for myself, at least for now.
>
> Paul
>
>
>   ------------------------------
> *From:* Joe Campbell <philosopher.joe at gmail.com>
> *To:* Gary Crabtree <moscowlocksmith at gmail.com>
> *Cc:* vision 2020 <vision2020 at moscow.com>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, February 20, 2013 9:00 AM
>
> *Subject:* Re: [Vision2020] Hmmm . . .
>
> These are empirically claims. Could be that pulling out a gun increases
> your risk. It depends on a lot of factors.
>
> The big question is: does the potential for help outweigh the risk of harm?
>
> And I hate to tell you that in a region with a low incidence of gun
> violence, the answer is 'No.' Paul's weapons are more likely to cause him
> harm than they are to protect him.
>
> On Feb 20, 2013, at 8:05 AM, Gary Crabtree <moscowlocksmith at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> Once "he" becomes aware of said gun it becomes a powerful deterrent to
> staying in your house much less helping himself to your belongings or
> continued good health.
>
> g
>
> On Wed, Feb 20, 2013 at 6:56 AM, Joe Campbell <philosopher.joe at gmail.com>wrote:
>
> This is what listening to pop music can do to you!
>
> Paul: If he's in your house, then the gun was not a deterrent.
>
> On Feb 20, 2013, at 6:12 AM, Sunil Ramalingam <sunilramalingam at hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>  But not in a judgmental way. I'm too busy singing to put anybody down.
>
> sr
>
> ------------------------------
> From: jampot at roadrunner.com
> To: sunilramalingam at hotmail.com
> CC: vision2020 at moscow.com
> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Hmmm . . .
> Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2013 06:02:11 -0800
>
> Now you're just monkeeing around.
>
> g
>
>  *From:* Sunil Ramalingam <sunilramalingam at hotmail.com>
> *Sent:* Tuesday, February 19, 2013 11:07 PM
> *Cc:* vision 2020 <vision2020 at moscow.com>
> *Subject:* Re: [Vision2020] Hmmm . . .
>
> The premise of your post was that he was breaking into homes when people
> were there. Now you're inventing his motive to kill you. No, if he saw your
> face, he'd be a believer, not a killer.
>
>
> Sunil
>
>  ------------------------------
> Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2013 22:56:57 -0800
> From: godshatter at yahoo.com
> To: sunilramalingam at hotmail.com
> CC: vision2020 at moscow.com
> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Hmmm . . .
>
>
> It didn't say he was.  If he did, though, I'd want to be able to protect
> myself if he ran across me in a home he thought was empty and he got it
> through his head that I had to die because I'd seen his face.  Or maybe
> he's desperate, and now he's willing to try hitting a house that is
> occupied but looks like he could rob it regardless.
>
> It's a tool of preparedness.  I'd rather not assume that he's harmless if
> he's breaking into houses and robbing them.  If my assumption is wrong, I
> could die.  I'd rather not throw away my chance at survival because "OMG!
> Guns are bad!"
>
> It doesn't mean, by the way, that I'd just shoot this guy for breaking
> into my house.  But a loaded weapon is a good deterrent, and if it turns
> out my life is at stake, I'd rather have a gun than a shoe I could throw at
> him, or whatever I happened to have at hand.
>
> This isn't rocket science.  Be prepared.  It's the good old Boy Scout
> motto.   I also have a smoke detector and a fire extinguisher.
>
> Don't let the "guns are killing our kids!" narrative drive your views.
>
> Paul
>
> On 02/19/2013 10:43 PM, Sunil Ramalingam wrote:
>
>  Paul,
>
> Where does it say he's breaking into homes when people are in? I had a lot
> of burglary cases, and my mistakenly charged clients were usually alleged
> to have entered homes when no one was there. Lots easier to leave with
> stuff that way, said the authorities.
>
> Sunil
>
>  ------------------------------
> Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2013 19:02:25 -0800
> From: godshatter at yahoo.com
> To: thansen at moscow.com
> CC: vision2020 at moscow.com
> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Hmmm . . .
>
>
> What's paranoid about locking up when you're out and being ready to defend
> yourself when you're at home when there is a known burglar in the area?
> Being prepared is not the same thing as being paranoid.  If someone is
> crazy enough to break into your home while you are there, you can go ahead
> and classify that as a situation fraught with danger, in which case having
> some means to protect yourself might be called for.  There are plenty of
> reasonable scenarios where a would-be burglar happens upon a member of the
> household when he thought the place was empty that could end up very badly
> for the person he stumbled upon.  If the burglar knew you were at home and
> invaded the home anyway, then you've definitely got a problem if you are
> happily unarmed.
>
> Better to have that gun when you need it than not.  If guns frighten you,
> which I find hard to believe because of your military background, then at
> least pick up a good aluminum baseball bat.
>
> Do you think I'm paranoid because I keep a set of jumper cables in my
> trunk in case my battery dies and I need a jump from a kind stranger?  Are
> you one of those people that joyously flit from situation to situation
> relying on the gods to keep you out of trouble?
>
> Paul
>
> On 02/19/2013 01:18 PM, Tom Hansen wrote:
>
> <ATT00001>
>
> Paranoia . . . self-destroya.
>
> Seeya round town, Moscow, because . . .
>
> "Moscow Cares"
> http://www.MoscowCares.com <http://www.moscowcares.com/>
>
>  Tom "Proud to be a Filthy Liberal Scum" Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
>
> "There's room at the top they are telling you still
> But first you must learn how to smile as you kill
> If you want to be like the folks on the hill."
>
> - John Lennon
>
>
>
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> ------------------------------
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