The Famous 50% (Lawful Gun Owners Who Should Be Disarmed)
A few years ago I wrote a post called The Famous 10%. It became one of my most popular, arousing much animosity from the gun-rights fanatics and frequently quoted and referred to by gun control advocates. I reposted it here.
Almost immediately it became clear that I had been much too generous in the assigning of percentages. Soon I was talking about 35% and not long after that 50%
If you spent as much time as I do reading about gun violence, I think you'd agree with me, unless, of course, you had a personal agenda to protect.
Here's how it breaks down.
Divided into the approximately 65 million gun owners (see the latest Pew Poll) we have the following amounts.
Alcohol abuse is difficult to define, but let's take a study that found that 30% of Americans abuse alcohol. That translates straight across the board to gun owners. Please note that we're not including the regular, normal drinkers, whom some believe should be disqualified as well. These are the binge drinkers and the out-and-out alcoholics. That's 30% of gun owners who need to be disarmed for alcohol abuse.
Drug abuse is also difficult to define, let's take a survey that says 10% of Americans abuse illicit drugs.
That's another 10% of gun owners who need to be disarmed for drug abuse.
Mental disorders afflict many Americans. One conservative estimate says 22% are sufferers. It may sound harsh, but if you have a mental condition that requires medication for you to function in society, you cannot be trusted with guns. That's another 22% of gun owners that need to be disarmed for mental illness.
Rage and anger affects many people. Estimates say 7% of adults suffer from Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED). That's another 7% of gun owners that need to be disarmed for their anger problems.
FBI Crime Stats show us that about 500,000 crimes are committed with a gun each year. Let's say most are committed by criminals and only a small percentage by folks like this guy who had no previous felony convictions. Let's call it 1%. That's 1% of gun owners who need to be disarmed for turning bad.
Stupidity and clumsiness affects many people. We frequently read stories like this one representing stupidity, and this one representing clumsiness. Let's be generous and say another 1% only. That's 1% of gun owners who need to be disarmed for stupidity or clumsiness.
Obviously some of the marijuana and cocaine users also could be binge drinkers, and some of the rage guys are fueled by alcohol, so we will have some overlap.
Let's round it down to a nice even 50%. That's 50% of lawful gun owners who need to be disarmed.
Now, before you attack me for being so anti-gun, please take note of the fact that I believe in the rights of the other 50%. I don't think the 2nd Amendment has anything to do with it, being an obsolete, meaningless and antiquated piece of writing, but I do believe that the other 50% has every right to own and operate guns.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
Almost immediately it became clear that I had been much too generous in the assigning of percentages. Soon I was talking about 35% and not long after that 50%
If you spent as much time as I do reading about gun violence, I think you'd agree with me, unless, of course, you had a personal agenda to protect.
Here's how it breaks down.
Divided into the approximately 65 million gun owners (see the latest Pew Poll) we have the following amounts.
Alcohol abuse is difficult to define, but let's take a study that found that 30% of Americans abuse alcohol. That translates straight across the board to gun owners. Please note that we're not including the regular, normal drinkers, whom some believe should be disqualified as well. These are the binge drinkers and the out-and-out alcoholics. That's 30% of gun owners who need to be disarmed for alcohol abuse.
Drug abuse is also difficult to define, let's take a survey that says 10% of Americans abuse illicit drugs.
That's another 10% of gun owners who need to be disarmed for drug abuse.
Mental disorders afflict many Americans. One conservative estimate says 22% are sufferers. It may sound harsh, but if you have a mental condition that requires medication for you to function in society, you cannot be trusted with guns. That's another 22% of gun owners that need to be disarmed for mental illness.
Rage and anger affects many people. Estimates say 7% of adults suffer from Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED). That's another 7% of gun owners that need to be disarmed for their anger problems.
FBI Crime Stats show us that about 500,000 crimes are committed with a gun each year. Let's say most are committed by criminals and only a small percentage by folks like this guy who had no previous felony convictions. Let's call it 1%. That's 1% of gun owners who need to be disarmed for turning bad.
Stupidity and clumsiness affects many people. We frequently read stories like this one representing stupidity, and this one representing clumsiness. Let's be generous and say another 1% only. That's 1% of gun owners who need to be disarmed for stupidity or clumsiness.
Obviously some of the marijuana and cocaine users also could be binge drinkers, and some of the rage guys are fueled by alcohol, so we will have some overlap.
Let's round it down to a nice even 50%. That's 50% of lawful gun owners who need to be disarmed.
Now, before you attack me for being so anti-gun, please take note of the fact that I believe in the rights of the other 50%. I don't think the 2nd Amendment has anything to do with it, being an obsolete, meaningless and antiquated piece of writing, but I do believe that the other 50% has every right to own and operate guns.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
So you got reblogged on a site that supports gun control? Well, congratulations. That doesn't give any credence to your assertion about percentages, since you still provide no evidence to support it.
ReplyDeleteThe links are there, Greg. You purposeful blindness makes perfect sense given your untenable position.
DeleteMikeb, you've made up a lot of claims here about percentages. None of them have support. There are lots of "let's say" or "estimate" and similar words. Those are guesses.
DeleteNonsense. The whole thing is predicated on the inescapable fact that gun owners are no different than the population at large, another thing you guys like to deny.
DeleteNo, what I deny is that the population at large is as bad as you claim.
DeleteOf course you don't. You have very low standards.
DeleteUnwilling to do any thing to stop needless death, is more than low standards, it's supporting needless death.
DeleteSo the problem does not exist?
ReplyDeleteYour arguments show that 50% of the population needs to have their cars, kitchen knives, cigarette lighters, baseball bats, heavy or blunt objects, fists, etc, taken from them. By force, presumably.
ReplyDeleteNo, only their weapons that were manufactured to kill other people.
DeleteYou have a magical view of objects, Mikeb.
DeleteMagical? What, to say that cars are not made to kill and guns are?
DeleteYour magical thinking is in the belief that guns cause people to do wrong.
DeleteYou know goddamned well that I don't think that. What I think, as you very well know, is that too many gun owners are idiots, drink too much, use drugs, have mental problems, are raging maniacs, etc. They need to be disarmed.
DeleteWhich ones of those categories apply to you, Greg? Why are you so personally offended by this?
Mikeb, why do you always play that card? If I take issue with something you claim, you accuse me of being a part of the group we're discussing. What I object to here is your claims that are based on no evidence or on irrelevant facts. You do a lot of "let's take" and "let's say" and so forth, but I'm not obliged to accept your guesses.
DeleteWe are not obliged to accept your lies, especially when you refuse to back them up with facts, as you never do.
DeleteBut we are obliged to accept your own words, and it's your own words that prove you are a criminal lying coward.
Greg, you desperately try to insist that gun owners are not afflicted with drug addiction, mental illness, alcohol abuse, rage and stupidity like the general public. That's such an absurd position I'm just trying to understand where you're coming from.
DeleteMikeb, I don't say that. I say that gun owners in particular and the public at large aren't as bad as you believe.
Delete