Guns vs. Murders?

There were 15,200 murders with guns in the USA in 2009 versus over 17,500 suicides by gun, means that if you have a gun in your household, it is statistically more likely that someone is going to use your gun to kill themselves, than you are to need a gun because you are a victim of home invasion or other crime of potentially murderous intent.

If you KEEP that gun in your house, in light of this information, you are making a bet, with less than even odds, that no one in your household is ever going to seriously contemplate suicide… This is like playing russian roulette with your children and a half-full gun. Would you ever really do that?

So, if you are SO SURE there is never going to be a suicide with your gun… You must be even MORE sure there won't be a home invasion at your house where you would need it… So get rid of it!

If for some reason you ARE the victim of an armed home invasion, you had better hope like heck that you get the DUMB criminals. The smart ones are going to grab one of your children around the neck and tell you to drop YOUR weapon.

Now, I can't say that you aren't a top-notch marksman. Maybe you hit that paper target with 99% accuracy every time you go to the firing range. But if you can tell me at this instant, that you KNOW you would fire at that perpetrator -- I'd have to say that either you lack imagination, OR you really don't love your children, OR you are quite literally a moron.

I know the argument that goes "If I give up my gun, then only the criminals will have them…", I know it, everyone knows it. So knock it off! First off, I have never argued for giving up the guns completely. I know too many families that augment by hunting, to ever even think of such a thing.

I'm just saying a SHOTGUN will protect you in your home just fine… From home invaders, from bears, from a tyrannical government, whatever you want to conjure up that BY THE WAY ISN'T GOING TO HAPPEN IN YOUR LIFETIME… But go ahead, tell me where you need that AK-47? That M-16? You don't.

And your kid isn't going to blow their head off with your shotgun. Your neighbor's kids head off, maybe. But at least not his or her own.

ON THE VERY SMALL ODDS that you are the victim of a home invasion, it can be armed or unarmed. Let's say 50% are armed (and that is very conservative, most are not!). Then half the time, running out of the house and calling 9-1-1 is going to do it for you. Make a plan with your family. It's a good idea no matter how you feel about guns.

The other 50% of the time, you can have a dumb criminal(s), or a smart one(s). If you have the dumb ones (the majority of that last half, say, another 40% of the time), there is no way you are gonna miss them with that damn shotgun. Problem solved… Well, except for the blood you are going to have to have cleaned out of your carpets and such.

If you get a really smart criminal with an automatic weapon (a grand total of 10% of home invasions), you are basically SCREWED and no matter how you have prepared, you are going to wind up in a sorry state. And the odds of that happening, are sort of like the odds of having won that $380M Lotto the other week.

SO, 15,000 murders BY GUN in the USA in 2009, only 1% of which were home invasion murders. That puts your odds of an armed home invasion at 0.00000438% of a chance. And 40% of that where a weapon would be useful, would be 0.000000195% chance.

For the mathematically challenged, that is a 1 in 5 MiLLION chance. And remember, you still have the shotgun!

In an average day in the US, 41 people die of gunshot wounds that are not self-inflicted. And about 115 die in a fatal car accident. If people were hanging themselves at a rate of 130 per day with seat belts, would we not think twice about having them around? If our children were more likely to die from them, than be saved?

And I haven't even mentioned the chances of an accidental shooting here.

You are still doubting me, I know. So, next time you see a Police Officer, please ask them… Are you safer with a handgun in the house, or no handgun?

AND, if you do that, and you are still clinging to the idea that you NEED a gun, that the only way you are going to be safe is WITH A GUN… Consider all the countries whose laws are stricter than ours. If I can change just a few people's minds about this issue, I'm gonna start working you people over about the Death Penalty...

Murders per capita in selected countries vs. gun ownership per capita:

United States 0.000428 0.90

Switzerland 0.0000092 0.46

France 0.0000173 0.32

Finland 0.0000283 0.32

Canada 0.0000149 0.32

Germany 0.0000116 0.30

New Zealand 0.0000112 0.27

Australia 0.0000150 0.16

Italy 0.0000128 0.12

Spain 0.0000122 0.11

UK 0.0000141 0.06

SOURCES:

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_percap-crime-murders-per-capita

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_gun_ownership