Why have a gun?

[Thumpalumpacus]

Sample size is too small to draw any coherent conclusions.

[popeyespappy]

The US may or not be a third world shit hole as far as crime goes. It’s a subjective call that depends greatly on where in the US you live. The odds of an individual being the victim of a violent crime in any given year may be fairly low, but the odds of being the victim of a violent crime over the course of a lifetime are pretty damn high. According to the BJS 83% of all Americans over the age of 12 will be a victim of a violent crime in their lifetime. 74% of us will be assaulted. 40% of us will be injured as the result of an assault or robbery. Nearly all of us, 99% will be the victim of theft of one sort or another.

The BJS also says we aren’t that safe at home either. Between 2003 and 2007 there was an average of 3.7 million burglaries a year. A household member was at home in roughly 1 million (27%) of those burglaries each year. More than 26% of the household members present during a burglary became the victim of a violent crime.  

The BJS has also weighed in on if firearms are an effective form of self defense. Between 1987 and 1992 an average of about 83,000 people are know to have used a firearm in defense against a crime each year. An average of 62,200 a year are known to have used a firearm in defense of a violent crime. Of these about 20% were injured during the crime compared to about 50% injured while defending themselves by other means. To put that in simple terms a victim of a victim of a violent crime is 2 and half times less likely to be injured if they use a firearm than they are if they try to defend themselves by any other means.

[The Architect Of Fate]

The newest of those studies is over a decade old

[onlinebiker]

The US may or not be a third world shit hole as far as crime goes. It’s a subjective call that depends greatly on where in the US you live. The odds of an individual being the victim of a violent crime in any given year may be fairly low, but the odds of being the victim of a violent crime over the course of a lifetime are pretty damn high. According to the BJS 83% of all Americans over the age of 12 will be a victim of a violent crime in their lifetime. 74% of us will be assaulted. 40% of us will be injured as the result of an assault or robbery. Nearly all of us, 99% will be the victim of theft of one sort or another.

The BJS also says we aren’t that safe at home either. Between 2003 and 2007 there was an average of 3.7 million burglaries a year. A household member was at home in roughly 1 million (27%) of those burglaries each year. More than 26% of the household members present during a burglary became the victim of a violent crime.  

The BJS has also weighed in on if firearms are an effective form of self defense. Between 1987 and 1992 an average of about 83,000 people are know to have used a firearm in defense against a crime each year. An average of 62,200 a year are known to have used a firearm in defense of a violent crime. Of these about 20% were injured during the crime compared to about 50% injured while defending themselves by other means. To put that in simple terms a victim of a victim of a violent crime is 2 and half times less likely to be injured if they use a firearm than they are if they try to defend themselves by any other means.

The anti gun response is very simple.

Roll over and take whatever the criminal dishes out.....


.....

[The Architect Of Fate]

The anti gun response is very simple.

Roll over and take whatever the criminal dishes out.....

Nope, it's "your unlikely to ever be in danger so stop being so fucking paranoid " or " if you're going to be worried about this why not take it to the logical extreme? Oh because that's absurd? Our point exactly. But would expect strawmen from you

[arewethereyet]

We have two guns in the house. One pistol and one shotgun. I used to travel to and from school with a pistol in my car...I had a 90 mile one way commute through the desert. A breakdown on the side of the road presented a lot more problems than a person with ill intent.

Chances of us ever using the guns we have are almost nil. It's not like we grab a weapon every time we hear a noise.

This is a topic that is always one extreme or the other, when for most responsible gun owners it's not that way.

As for the possibility of a domestic violence act....after 30 years, if one of us was going to shoot the other one it would have already happened.

If you don't like guns...don't have one.

[The Architect Of Fate]

If you don't like guns...don't have one.

That logic could be used to justify pretty much anything

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

We have two guns in the house.  One pistol and one shotgun.  I used to travel to and from school with a pistol in my car...I had a 90 mile one way commute through the desert.  A breakdown on the side of the road presented a lot more problems than a person with ill intent.

Chances of us ever using the guns we have are almost nil.  It's not like we grab a weapon every time we hear a noise.

This is a topic that is always one extreme or the other, when for most responsible gun owners it's not that way.

As for the possibility of a domestic violence act....after 30 years, if one of us was going to shoot the other one it would have already happened.

If you don't like guns...don't have one.

(Bold mine)

That’s pretty much my position. Pro-gun people are always quick to point out when a citizen shoots a bad guy, while anti-gun people are just as ready to pounce on a story about an accidental shooting. Both sides, however, seem to miss the point that these are both extraordinarily rare events.

While the numbers vary by source (hardly surprising), the are about 400 million privately owned firearms in the US, leveraged against 40 000 gun deaths. This means that well over 99% of guns in private hands are never used to shoot anyone. Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t help but come to the conclusion that the vast majority of gun owners don’t go round shooting people.

To be clear, I don’t like guns (which is the chief reason I don’t own any). But the only truly anti-gun position I hold is that there are people who are not responsible enough to own guns, and stronger measures could be taken to make sure that they don’t.

Boru

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

If you don't like guns...don't have one.

That logic could be used to justify pretty much anything

Funny you should say that, because I use it to justify my position on a whole lotta stuff - abortion, alcohol, drugs, religion, etc.

Boru

[Neo-Scholastic]

To me, a law abiding citizen owning a firearm is the moral equivelant of having emergency rations for yourself and your family.