If you call 75.000 non fatal firearm injuries and 37000 deaths due to "injury by fire arms" an "occasional tragedy or occurrence" then I'm going to save my breath for someone that has a sane and rational grasp on things and please don't take that personally you are just a refection on American society and its warped views on "freedom" and taking your "own Responsibility" and (here's that word again) "right" to make those type of decisions, Its such a shame that these rights and freedoms are taken away from the 40.000 people killed last year by firearms last year in America I wonder what they would say about that? anyway as history time and time keeps showing the rest of the world it doesn't matter how many people are killed by guns in the hands of " responsible - sane - reserve the right to make their own decision " you guys will keep on making your own "fake news" an alternative realities and now some people want to carry that across drones as well, well I'm hoping it will never happen and it probably won't although I am talking about America here and who is your President again? that alone feels like a completely off the wall type of TV show called " what if the world went mad " Haha and I was going to save my breath.
I know I should just let this go and not take the bait but I can't help myself. Where 'o where to begin.
- The Australian Gun Ban Conceit
- Here in the U.S. it's a Constitutional Right.. PERIOD!
- The Second Amendment: A Primer - The Truth About Guns *If you don't read anything else, ready this and then we can discuss "Guns in America."
Read the 2 articles above, the story below and when you're ready, lets go head to head in an open forum. Live streamed and open access for all. I'll set it all up and all you have to do is show up and debate your beliefs and thoughts vs mine. I'm 100% dead serious about this so lets do it! P.M. me and we can sort out the details.
Hypocrisy, Drunk Driving, and Gun Control December 16, 2012
Disclaimer: The point of this article is not to argue for or against gun control. The point is to illuminate
inconsistencies in the way humans think, and to make you stop and think about your own thought processes.
In the United States in 2007 there were 12,632 homicides with a firearm. This does not include
firearm related suicides (another 17,352). Accurate statistics of gun ownership is not available, but
most estimates are around 200-250 million legally owned firearms in the U.S. Also in the U.S.
during 2007 there were 247 million registered automobiles, and 13,041 fatalities from drunk
driving. In 2006 there were 22,073 alcohol related deaths (I assume this includes deaths from DUI).
For our purposes today, the homicide rates from firearms and guns/DUI is identical. Of course they
are not perfectly identical, and they flip flop on which has more depending on the year. But the
numbers are close enough for this discussion, as absolute accuracy is not required.
Every life is precious. Every life has untold value left untapped. The loss of every life has a ripple
effect on family, the community, and society. So why do we not treat fatalities from DUI the same
value that we treat fatalities from mass shootings?
When people talk about gun control they talk about banning certain types of guns, banning certain
features of guns, or banning all guns outright. We never hear about car bans. We never (lately) hear
about banning all alcohol sales. We even give people with DUI convictions second chances, and
return their drivers licence after some period. If we banned all private cars or alcohol, would we not
save as many lives as if guns magically ceased to exist in the U.S.?
At this point those in favor of gun control will be saying something like, “but the only purpose of a
gun is to kill, and cars have other purposes”. To which I say, “All life is precious”. Is your right to
drive 3 minutes to the store more valuable than someones life? Is the inconvenience of public
transportation more valuable than the life of a child?
I am not seriously proposing banning of cars and alcohol, but it does make one pause and reflect on
what is important to us.
The truth is that we value our cars much more than those 13,041 people killed by DUI in 2007. We
value our alcohol much more than those 22,073 people killed by alcohol. But we value some lives.
We value those 12,632 people who were shot in 2007, because they are the easy ones to value.
Because banning guns does not inconvenience our daily lives, but banning cars does. We have to
drink that beer or wine at that party, so we are unconcerned with those that die from alcohol.
Aren’t we the hypocrite for wanting to ban guns, yet not banning alcohol or cars? Shouldn’t we be
ashamed for only valuing the “low hanging fruit”?
So let’s go back to the “guns only purpose is to kill” statement. There are many purposes for a gun
that do not involve killing of people. Of course there are the shooting sports (target shooting,
shooting competitions, etc.). People use guns for hunting, which in some areas and for some animals
is an important method of population control to maintain healthy wildlife. Guns are used for
survival, especially in remote areas. And of course guns are used for protection from human and
non-human threats. All of these are legal uses for a firearm.
The people who are pro gun control do not see the value in these legal uses for a gun. That’s not
really a fault of theirs, because maybe they live in a relatively safe urban environment where they
don’t need to worry about bears invading their home, or they don’t need to protect themselves from
intruders. The shooting sports is of no interest to them (much like I don’t care for the Ballet).
So lets talk about something that strikes closer to home: rape. In the U.S. there are approximately
208,000 sexual assaults a year. That is one every two minutes. 84% of rapists used physical force
only (no weapons). If you are a woman, your chances of being raped are near 4% by the time you
turn 40.
Statistics on rape are hard to find. Research on rape prevention are even harder. But this paper has
some interesting numbers. When a sexual assault occurs, women who used non-aggressive methods
(crying, pleading, etc.) to deal with their attacker were raped 96% of the time. Women who used a
forceful verbal resistance (screaming) were raped 44-50% of the time. Running away resulted in only
15% of the victims being raped. Hitting, punching, etc. resulted in 14% of the women raped. And
women who used guns or knives were raped only 1% of the time. No statistics were available for
the use of pepper spray.
Guns have their place in society. They have legal uses. In some cases there are no non-gun
alternatives. The vast majority of gun owners law abiding citizens, just like the vast majority of car
drivers or beer drinkers.
Conclusion:
We are hypocrites for valuing some lives more than others, simply because we view them as “low
hanging fruit”. We are essentially arm-chair-quarterbacks when we want to make policy decisions
on things that really have little to no effect on our lives. We are cowards for yelling the slogans of
political and social change without getting involved ourselves.
If you want to save lives, then learn the issues and go out and save lives. Don’t just put a “Coexist”
bumper sticker on your car and call it good. Volunteer at a homeless shelter. Do some hard labor
with Habitat For Humanity.
If you want to ban guns, fine. But get involved with a rape prevention program too. Do what you
can to provide young people with alternatives to joining gangs. Help with suicide prevention
programs and try to prevent some of the 35,000 suicides per year in the U.S..
When a mass shooting happens, it is easy and even fashionable to join the rally for change. But what
does that change really mean? Is it just lip service, or is it real and meaningful change? Sadly, most
of the time it is just lip service.
Get involved. Become a boot on the ground for saving lives. Learn the facts about whatever topics or
social issues that are important to you, and learn the facts that put those issues in perspective. Make
sure that the change you want will have the desired effect. And above all, understand that all life is
valuable– not just the low hanging fruit.