Articles like this kill me (Sorry totally bad pun). The "informed" author of this piece mentions little facts that sound so good until put into perspective. Like he mentions "in the 44 years since Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King were shot to death, bullets have ended the lives of more than one million people." just after mentioning "There are almost 300 million privately-owned firearms in this country."
Let's put that into perspective. First he doesn't mention whether those deaths occurred exclusively in the US, but lets ignore that one since I don't have those statistics. Wait cancel that, a couple of Google searches seems to support his numbers and indicate he may have underestimated the number by as much as 20%. Course lets toss some other numbers out there. Death by heart disease per year: 720,862 (Anyone banning bacon?). Death by Cancer 514,657. (Anyone banning smoking...wait they are trying that one. NVM) Death from strokes 143,481. (Anyone trying to ban thinking? Well besides Politicians?) Death from Motor Vehicle Accidents: 43,536. (We should ban cars. Course when pondering some of the drivers I see, that might not be a bad idea.) Finally death from violent crimes 26,513 (and for the record only 60% of those included the use of a fire arm.) (Keep in mind that these are rough estimates based off gleaning info from several different sites including law enforcement ones.)
So there are some impressive numbers for you. When compared to other causes of death, gun violence doesn't even come in a close third. Now some people might argue that most of the above statistics only affect the person dying and not anyone else and they'd have a point. (well except for the driving one) However, lets look at it another way. There are 300 million privately owned guns in the US and there are only (Roughly) 16000 firearm related deaths per year. If owning guns was really the problem, that number would be a hell of a lot higher.
It is a FACT (That naysayers so love to ignore.) States with favorable concealed carry laws have lower rates of crime than states with restrictive concealed carry laws. Overall, the
homicide rate for states with favorable carry laws is lower, and the robbery rate is lower, than for states with more restrictive laws. The so-called experts don't like this fact, but it is true. Look it up for yourself if you don't believe me.
homicide rate for states with favorable carry laws is lower, and the robbery rate is lower, than for states with more restrictive laws. The so-called experts don't like this fact, but it is true. Look it up for yourself if you don't believe me.
When I was in High School, we had a Shooting Club that met after classes and before Football Practice. (Also coincided with Band Practice on Wednesdays so the middle of the week was busy for me since I was in all three.) The members would bring their rifles to School with them and store them in lockers. Hell some who didn't have cars even carried their guns on the bus. We were taught to respect and properly use these deadly weapons and I can promise you not a single member of my class ever walked into school and opened fire.
Guns are not the issue here, people are. People who don't give a damned how many people they hurt or how much horror they produce are what is wrong with the world today and until we start dealing with the people, this problem will just keep getting worse.
I have no problem with ID checks or waiting periods for gun ownership even though these actions restrict only the law abiding, not the violent criminals. I'll gladly plunk down my license and wait my 7 days to by a gun. If that makes you feel more comfortable and secure, then I will gladly deal with the inconvenience of it. Tighter gun controls, stricter laws and even an outright ban on firearms will not stop the violence. People who are determined to do harm will always find a way to do it. All taking away our arms will do is prevent other people from stopping them. I promise you this much. I will always own firearms to protect my family and friends. I will always use them responsibly and I will blow the hell out of anyone who ever tries to hurt me and mine. The Government doesn't like it? Society doesn't like it? TOUGH!
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| Remember the Colorado dead and injured in your prayers and thoughts. |
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