Stephan: According to the Pew Research Center, "A
Pew survey conducted in February found that 37% of households had an adult who owned a gun — 24% said they owned a gun, and 13% said someone else in their household did." Most of these people who own guns are perfectly safe, although those families are far more likely to experience a gun injury or death involving a family member. There is a measurable risk to having a gun in the house or on your person.
I have been a gun owner, indeed the owner of multiple guns. From 12, when I got my first .22, to 22, guns were a significant part of my life. Hunting never interested me but mastering the precision of shooting targets in all their forms at a high success rate I found very satisfying. I can only speak for boys: Guns are very cool to handle. And Hoppe's No.9 has a scent that for some is as seductive as Channel No. 5. Then I got drafted during the Viet Nam years and became a medic.
I came out of the Army sold several very fine shotguns made for Trap and Skeet, and threw the rest of my guns into the ocean. I believed then, and now, that people should be able to own guns. I just don't have any interest in owning one. But I accept the principle.
The second amendment is important. But the Founders never had any idea of creating a system supporting unlimited, and unregulated ownership of all firearms. No one can read a biography of Benjamin Franklin and have any doubt that he would be appalled at the situation that exists today. The ownership of guns must be regulated just as a driver's license.
As a society we are insane about guns. Our behavior is irrational and anti-life, destructive of wellness. Here is a good description of the case.
And the irony is that its not really about guns. The gun argument is really a small group of excessively fearful people, aided and abetted by corporations that make profit from any aspect of the the civilian arms industry. The one feels the government is not to be trusted, and that they are under threat. The other profits from those fears.
And, as this report describes, we now have the data to compare the social outcomes of regulated and unregulated arms policies. Here is what mean. And you can click through to get the Pew Report itself.
National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre speaks on the second day of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at National Harbor, Maryland March 15, 2013.
Credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque
A law requiring people to apply for a permit before buying a handgun helped Connecticut quietly reduce its firearm-related homicide rate by 40 percent, according to a new study out from Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research. And this week, announced in conjunction with the research, lawmakers from Connecticut introduced a measure to encourage other states to adopt their own permit programs.
Connecticut’s “permit to purchase” law, in effect for two decades, requires residents to undergo background checks, complete a safety course and apply in-person for a permit before they can buy a handgun. The law applies to both private sellers and licensed gun dealers.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins reviewed the homicide rate in the 10 years before the law […]
