A new study attempts to debunk the claim that gun owners rely on their firearms for self-defense.
The left-leaning Violence Policy Center released a study Wednesday that finds people are much more likely to use a gun to kill someone without cause than to protect themselves.
According to the study, gun owners committed 259 justifiable homicides compared to 8,342 criminal homicides in 2012, the most recent year data was available.
That means gun owners are 32 times more likely to kill someone without cause than to act in self-defense, the study reasoned.
Nothing about that statistic surprises me.
You may tell yourself you are buying that gun to protect yourself and your family, but the reality is your are buying it for the sense of power that it provides.
And the idea of wanting to feel powerful when you are angry, or scared, or frustrated, is very seductive. And all a gun owner has to do is grab their gun when they are in a heightened emotional state, to change their lives, and their victim's life, forever.
Obviously Dylann Roof needed his gun for protection when he entered Emanuel AME. Poor guy just wanted to go to church but ya gotta be extra cautious when in the company of all those evil black folks.
ReplyDeleteThe Friday Snark Queen
Interesting that the study is reported in the "right-leaning" [The] Hill and that it couches its description in phrases like "attempts to debunk" and the "left-leaning Violence Policy Center." The Hill's journalistic point is to soften the blow of statistics so that its NRA -supporting readers won't have to worry too much. Tomorrow another study will be reported in The Hill, one that guarantees its faithful that guns are totally benign as are their owners. Of course the pro-gun study will not include Gryphen's remarks which go to the heart of the matter.
ReplyDeleteBeaglemom
As alarming as this study is, I'm glad to see it documented.
ReplyDeleteHopefully it will get disseminated widely, although I have little hope that the people who need to see it will, however, maybe the family members, neighbors, coworkers and friends of the open carry and other gun nuts will see it and maybe have some influence. (I can dream.)
R in NC
I find this post outrageous. I, and everyone I know, who own a firearm do so not for a sense of power, nor do we own them to supposedly make up for penis size. We own them because times have changed and we refuse to be victimized by the growing (bolder) criminal element. All of us are veterans, sane, and highly trained in firearm safety/use.
ReplyDeleteYeah, yeah, so that's why thousands and thousands of gun owners get killed in criminal homicides (without cause) a year -- including deaths of family members, children killing their siblings/parents, mass killings of school kids/church members. This is self-defense?
DeleteYou say ALL of you are sane.
Give me a fucking break. You are delusional and part of a big problem -- you guys are more likely to cause a death or your own just by toting around a gun or owning guns (so often it seems) unguarded. Day after day, news stories tell us this: it is sickening. I am outraged!
And if you also claim to be Christian, what happened to that Commandment, Thou Shat Not Kill. Huh? You pick and choose among those 10?
This post makes you angry because you know the findings are right.
Don't try and give these nuts facts...they know everything without educating themselves or studying statistics. Willful ignorance is bliss to them, even when innocent people get killed.
Delete"All of us are veterans, sane, and highly trained in firearm safety/use."
ReplyDeleteSnark, right?
Most Vets are Dead already OR dieing 22 a day @ the recieving End of the gun they own.
DeleteWell, looks like I caused some predictable backlash. Anon 5:22, in reply, I'm talking about within my circle of friends. Anon 4:59, I can't vouch for ALL veterans, just my friends whom I was referring to in post, and by the way I am agnostic, Anon 4:59. By the way, Anon 4:59, I am a 72 year old retired health care administrator with three college degrees, and a background in the mental health field. So no, I'm not delusional and not part of the problem. Please know I feel the heartbreak and pain when tragedies happen. I do not "tote" a gun as Anon 4:59 alleges.
ReplyDeleteThen we need to hear more voices like yours speaking up and out against the gun extremists. They give all of you a bad reputation.
DeleteM
I'm with you 101% 6:01.
DeleteIMers are a bunch of knee jerk reactionary liberals.
They don't no jack, but think they know all.
ReplyDeleteYou don't have to live In a combat Zone, to live in a combative world.
Obvisouly!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDelete