Gun Ownership
I am an American, a combat veteran and a gun owner. I also tend to side on the liberal side of issues, voting for Democrats more often than not. Hell, I even worked on Obama's campaign.
In the USA gun ownership is a right, unlike driving which is a privilege. The Constitution, specifically the Bill of Rights, makes is clear what our rights are: free speech, free press, not to be bothered by religions, due process, warrants, etc. And of course, the NRA's favorite Amendment, the Second - a right to bear arms.
What the Constitution does not say is what constitutes _arms_. For the NRA and other gun nuts, it means pretty much anything they can get their hands on, to include ICBMs, M1A1s and gatling guns. To people who have actually read the Constitution - or the so-called, Constitutional purists - _arms_ could mean bows and arrows, swords, knives, or a trebuchet.
But this isn't a post about gun owning philosophy, this is a post about the research into the claims of defensive gun ownership. It starts off with a few case studies of people who used their firearms without regard for others; people who were so wrapped in their fear they forgot to be responsible or rational.
And that's the crux of the gun debate issue: are people responsible enough to own guns?
Most of us are. I read somewhere there are are something like 300 million firearms in this country. That means there is a gun for nearly every single person within the United States. According to the above article, only about .16%of them have ever been used self defensively. That's a relatively small number which blows the NRA's argument out of the water. Which, I believe, was the whole point of the article.
I don't have stats on hand right now, but I read somewhere you're more likely to be shot by a cop than by the average gun owner.
And yet, media teaches us entirely different than reality. In the media guns are used to solve crimes, to defend self and others, as a tool of protection. They are also used to kill for the sake of killing. They are glamorized with gold and nickel plating, fancy scroll work and occasionally romanticized names. Now, I don't like the term _gun culture_, but yes, in the United States we have a romantic relationship with them. Rambo, Gi: Joe, Optimus Prime - hell, even Lara Croft - all use guns to solve their problems. Captain America uses a gun, as does Iron Man (after a fashion), Rocket the Raccoon and thousands of other _heroes_ on TV and in film.
In TV, books, movies and elsewhere, a person with just motivations pulls a trigger and the bad guy goes down. It's that simple.
But it's not. Shooting someone is a lot harder than it seems. Not the act, but the mental and emotional ability to set aside the primal desire to keep the community alive and healthy. Just look at the thousands of soldiers who come back from wars scarred from their experiences. And those are trained people. Bob the NRA moron who loves talking about his guns, wearing them in public; who gets off on the reactions he receives from people, isn't as well trained as the average soldier. He's more likely to hurt himself or others because he's relying on that myth of defensive gun ownership and the image of the gun itself, riding on his hip, to let him win through any situation he might find himself in. He's relying on the myth of the Wild West where a man was only alive as long as he was armed and a faster shot that those around him. He's relying on the false narrative that, if he has a gun, he's a hero.
He's not.
Most responsible gun owners, luckily, don't find themselves in precarious situations. The few times I thought my residence was being broken into I've grabbed the bat over the gun.
As Joe Rogan said, America has a mental health problem disquised as a gun problem: https://twitter.com/joerogan/status/295534798716407808
And while I firmly believe in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, I'm also not naive enough to believe everyone is mentally prepared and trained properly to own a deadly weapon. When you make killing too easy, too many people become killers. Pride, ego, envy, jealousy, fear - all elements of the human condition and all elements of people who shouldn't have easy access to firearms.
In the USA gun ownership is a right, unlike driving which is a privilege. The Constitution, specifically the Bill of Rights, makes is clear what our rights are: free speech, free press, not to be bothered by religions, due process, warrants, etc. And of course, the NRA's favorite Amendment, the Second - a right to bear arms.
What the Constitution does not say is what constitutes _arms_. For the NRA and other gun nuts, it means pretty much anything they can get their hands on, to include ICBMs, M1A1s and gatling guns. To people who have actually read the Constitution - or the so-called, Constitutional purists - _arms_ could mean bows and arrows, swords, knives, or a trebuchet.
But this isn't a post about gun owning philosophy, this is a post about the research into the claims of defensive gun ownership. It starts off with a few case studies of people who used their firearms without regard for others; people who were so wrapped in their fear they forgot to be responsible or rational.
And that's the crux of the gun debate issue: are people responsible enough to own guns?
Most of us are. I read somewhere there are are something like 300 million firearms in this country. That means there is a gun for nearly every single person within the United States. According to the above article, only about .16%of them have ever been used self defensively. That's a relatively small number which blows the NRA's argument out of the water. Which, I believe, was the whole point of the article.
I don't have stats on hand right now, but I read somewhere you're more likely to be shot by a cop than by the average gun owner.
And yet, media teaches us entirely different than reality. In the media guns are used to solve crimes, to defend self and others, as a tool of protection. They are also used to kill for the sake of killing. They are glamorized with gold and nickel plating, fancy scroll work and occasionally romanticized names. Now, I don't like the term _gun culture_, but yes, in the United States we have a romantic relationship with them. Rambo, Gi: Joe, Optimus Prime - hell, even Lara Croft - all use guns to solve their problems. Captain America uses a gun, as does Iron Man (after a fashion), Rocket the Raccoon and thousands of other _heroes_ on TV and in film.
In TV, books, movies and elsewhere, a person with just motivations pulls a trigger and the bad guy goes down. It's that simple.
But it's not. Shooting someone is a lot harder than it seems. Not the act, but the mental and emotional ability to set aside the primal desire to keep the community alive and healthy. Just look at the thousands of soldiers who come back from wars scarred from their experiences. And those are trained people. Bob the NRA moron who loves talking about his guns, wearing them in public; who gets off on the reactions he receives from people, isn't as well trained as the average soldier. He's more likely to hurt himself or others because he's relying on that myth of defensive gun ownership and the image of the gun itself, riding on his hip, to let him win through any situation he might find himself in. He's relying on the myth of the Wild West where a man was only alive as long as he was armed and a faster shot that those around him. He's relying on the false narrative that, if he has a gun, he's a hero.
He's not.
Most responsible gun owners, luckily, don't find themselves in precarious situations. The few times I thought my residence was being broken into I've grabbed the bat over the gun.
As Joe Rogan said, America has a mental health problem disquised as a gun problem: https://twitter.com/joerogan/status/295534798716407808
And while I firmly believe in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, I'm also not naive enough to believe everyone is mentally prepared and trained properly to own a deadly weapon. When you make killing too easy, too many people become killers. Pride, ego, envy, jealousy, fear - all elements of the human condition and all elements of people who shouldn't have easy access to firearms.
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