Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Gun Advocates Use Unreliable Data to Prove Need for Weapons

CONSERVATIVE journalist and Former Speechwriter for President Bush, David Frum, says the number of times guns are used defensively has been vastly exaggerated. He goes on to say that "The trouble is that this claim of 2.5 million defensive gun uses is manifestly flawed and misleading."
For gun advocates, however, the main problem with the government estimate is that it is not nearly high enough to support their case that private gun ownership is the best way to stop crime. Many of them prefer another statistic, this from a study published in 1995 arguing that Americans use guns in self-defense some 2.5 million times a year, or once every 13 seconds. A Google search finds more than 1 million citations of this study posted online.
Better yet:

But most of the time, gun owners are frightening themselves irrationally. They have conjured in their own imaginations a much more terrifying environment than genuinely exists -- and they are living a fantasy about the security their guns will bestow. And to the extent that they are right -- to the extent that the American environment is indeed more dangerous than the Australian or Canadian or German or French environment -- the dangers gun owners face are traceable to the prevalence of the very guns from which they so tragically mistakenly expect to gain safety.
Read more here

6 comments:

  1. David Frum, conservative? The guy is a neocon who came up with the "Axis of Evil". If it were up to him, the US would invade and occupy the entire Middle East. I guess that must be your idea of conservative.
    It's funny though, you give no credence to the Daily Mail, but somehow, the jingoist Frum is okay in your book. LOL!!!!
    your friend
    orlin sellers

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  2. A journalist said so, so it must be the settled truth.

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. I am also confused that someone didn’t take Holmes’ guns away from him during the shooting and use them against him, because I have been told that is what happens when you carry, especially openly.

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    1. Just so--according to the control freaks. The only people who can use guns effectively are the police and the insanse. Of course, they also argue that the NRA is an all-powerful organization, while also a group without support. That we possess guns that can shoot down airplanes, but would be ineffective in resisting a tyranny. The list goes on.

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  5. http://www.abc4.com/content/about_4/bios/story/conceal-and-carry-stabbing-salt-lake-city-smiths/NDNrL1gxeE2rsRhrWCM9dQ.cspx

    Gun carrying man ends stabbing spree at Salt Lake grocery store

    Updated: 4/27 12:26 pm | Published: 4/26 8:20 pm
    Reported by: Don Hudson

    SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - A citizen with a gun stopped a knife wielding man as he began stabbing people Thursday evening at the downtown Salt Lake City Smith's store.

    Police say the suspect purchased a knife inside the store and then turned it into a weapon. Smith's employee Dorothy Espinoza says, "He pulled it out and stood outside the Smiths in the foyer. And just started stabbing people and yelling you killed my people. You killed my people."

    Espinoza says, the knife wielding man seriously injured two people. "There is blood all over. One got stabbed in the stomach and got stabbed in the head and held his hands and got stabbed all over the arms."

    Then, before the suspect could find another victim - a citizen with a gun stopped the madness. "A guy pulled gun on him and told him to drop his weapon or he would shoot him. So, he dropped his weapon and the people from Smith's grabbed him."

    By the time officers arrived the suspect had been subdued by employees and shoppers. Police had high praise for gun carrying man who ended the hysteria. Lt. Brian Purvis said, "This was a volatile situation that could have gotten worse. We can only assume from what we saw it could have gotten worse. He was definitely in the right place at the right time."

    Dozens of other shoppers, who too could have become victims, are also thankful for the gun carrying man. And many, like Danylle Julian, are still in shock from the experience. "Scary actually. Really scary. Five minutes before I walk out to my car. It could have been me."

    Police say right now they have no idea what caused the suspect to go on the dangerous rampage. (We will update as soon as we learn new information.)

    So far, police have not released the names of the suspect, the victims or the man who pulled the gun.

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