The best defense is a good offense. And by offense, we mean self-inflicted wound.
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court struck down the DC handgun ban as unconstitutional. The basis for this ruling is the interpretation that handgun ownership is justifiable for the purpose of “self-defense.” On the heels of this ruling, a CNN report cited statistics that 55% of the 31,000 gun deaths that occurred in 2005 (the most recent data) were suicides. This statistic also accounts for 52.1% of total suicides, according to the American Association of Suicidology.
The long and short of it is that for every dozen or so people who utilize the lethal capabilities of a firearm to successfully defend themselves, about 17,000 people turn the guns on themselves. And another 789 die doing the fake-suicide spoof, or dropping their pants, or cleaning guns while drunk, or hunting without orange hats, etc., etc. Way to defend yourselves, America!
In other news, I’ve recently purchase an auto insurance policy that only covers me if I am lying in the middle of the interstate.
About The Author - Ben is a formerly aspiring icthyologist, musician, and theologian. He is now a advertising copywriter living in Brooklyn, where he resides with his wife, two cats, and a basement full of bicycle parts. - Visit Ben's site.
Loading ...
Guns don’t kill people. People kill… themselves?
You slay me. In self-defense, of course.
guns don’t kill people, MUSLIM TERRORIST BARACK OBAMA KILLS PEOPLE. just saying.
There are 2 fatal flaws in your reasoning:
1. I, as a law abiding, educated, and trained gun owner am not the “average” gun owner who you assert is more likely to shoot themselves. I store my guns safely (in a very large and secure safe), I have hours upon hours of training, and I have a better understanding of the science behind guns than most people. Lumping me, and many similarly situated gun owners in with the negligent people who leave their loaded guns lying around, or who are gangbangers, simply doesn’t make sense.
2. Many of the studies that say “you are X times more likely to be killed by your own gun” are junk science. Worst of all, a suicide is not really a gun related death. True, a gun was used, but that is only because the suicide committing person is a practical person who chose an effective tool. That is not the fault of the gun, or law abiding and non-suicide-committing gun owners. Nor have I seen a study showing *causation* between gun ownership and increased suicide rates.
Fatal flaws. I hope that’s a pun…
Anyway - I am all for highly-trained and safety-committed gun enthusiasts right to own guns. But the self-defense argument falls flat for me for the simple fact that it’s just one of the many reasons gun owners own and enjoy their firearms (the ones I know mostly use them for hunting, or just because they think they are fun, or they like to collect). To offer self-defense as a blanket justification for an individuals right to own and operate is disingenuous.
The NRA estimates that 150 million households have at least one gun. I have a high enough opinion of Americans to believe that (like car owners) those responsible and educated comprise a minority.
On the suicide front - in most cases, it’s a premeditated decision, and expediency is often the greatest contributor to one’s ability to follow through. I have to believe that if the most popular method of dispatching onesself were unavailable, we would not see an equivalent increase in, e.g. jumping out of buildings. You are right - it is certainly not the fault of the gun, but their ubiquity has an undeniable social cost.
Thank you for your comment. Sorry to not be all bloggy and sarcastic.
Allow me to be all bloggy and sarcastic on my colleague’s behalf.
I don’t understand how a suicide by gun isn’t a gun related death. A gun was used and somebody died, right? Kinda cut and dry to me.
But I think you’ve also hit on a key point. A gun is an incredibly effective tool. Slitting your wrists or jumping out of a building require a hell of a lot more commitment then, say, pulling a trigger.