House of Cards.
National Rifle Association tells Americans that you need to buy a gun to defend your home. They tell you there are 1,000,000 to 2,500,000 “defensive gun uses” a year. The implication is that these events happen at homes. America is suffering a "Grand Theft Auto" crime wave, a full on societal breakdown.
As an ordinary citizen you know there are accidents and suicides and civilian homicides. But NRA tells you that having a home defense gun is more important. Gun defenses aren't mainly an artifact of small retail businesses with cash registers. You need a gun at home to survive.
Calling "911" is useless. You're an amateur at violent crime, but you do not need law enforcement officers. You can handle violent criminals.
Their version of things is a lie. "Home defense" gun advertising is similar to Republican claims that Obamacare is a "government takeover of health care" and a tool for "Death Panels."
FBI and CDC tell a very different story. The Bureau collects reports and compiles consolidated statistics by state and for the whole country. The incident reports come in from every law enforcement agency and coroner. These data consolidate directly by category with the CDC medical data.
Put aside fantasy. Here is the ultimate, permanent core of what "home defense" guns are used for:
"Bad" deaths: 28,853. "Good" defensive deaths: 258. In the detail at incident report level, the number of justifiable homicides at homes: 84.Gun murders for 2012: 8,855 from FBI
Gun suicides for 2010: 19,392 from CDC
Gun accidental deaths for 2010: 606 from CDCCivilian justifiable homicides with gun for 2012: 258 from FBICivilian justifiable homicides at residences for 2012: 84 from FBI
28,853 deaths divided by 84 deaths defines the highest-stakes cost-to-benefit ratio related to acquiring a firearm as a "home defense" tool:
Keep a live hand grenade sitting on your kitchen table ??? That might could generate cost-and-benefit numbers that turn out worse.343:1 Negative Pay-out
The suicides fall heavily on the 10-14 and 15-24 age groups and most heavily on the 25-34 age group on a per capita basis. The people who buy the guns do not form a majority of the people who commit suicide. This surprised me as there are thousands of people who buy a new gun for the very purpose of suicide.
CDC statistics clarify the risks. CDC reports far and away more of these gun suicides than gun accidents, even in those early age groups.
On balance, a few crimes are stopped cold. Hunting with guns is a popular hobby. Same for target shooting. Thing is, guns bought solely for hunting are rarely used for homicide or suicide. "Home defense" is what leads to problems. The 28,853 deaths from guns are accompanied by non-fatal woundings, also into the tens of thousands.
This is the real world.
Of course there is an alternative fantasy world available. That is the Right Wing's "Grand Theft Auto" lookalike world, the stuff of propaganda media from Fox News to Limbaugh. Police are impotent. Home invasions abound. People would not dare call "911" in an emergency. You need guns just like in the video game.
Thing is, facts are those "stubborn things" referred to by John Adams in the years before the American Revolution. Take home a gun and you're risking 28,853 "bad" deaths on the chance that you will be one of 84 lucky homeowners who get to kill somebody. And the families with guns have 270% the risk of someone getting shot compared to non-gun owning homes.
That's a crazy-bad bet.
From NRA: guns are good for you, similar to cigarettes and the lead in your paint and gasoline.
"Stand Your Ground" laws have increased the numbers of justifiable homicides in the southern states. This "bad"-to-"good" ratio fell from 350:1 to 343:1 over the last two years. It's not more home invasions. It's more of using guns instead of calling police for help. "Justified" has been expanded.
From recent email: here's a take on "the only way to win at this game is not to play!" -- What's the highest pay-off from having a "home defense" gun, especially a pistol? Wrap it up, put it in a box, and give it to your worst enemy. For a shotgun or a rifle, give/sell it to a hunter.
Links and a bit more below the orange bun:
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