Posted on 07/17/2008 1:38:31 PM PDT by neverdem
The Supreme Court may have confirmed that Americans have the right to own guns for protection, but the gun debate is hardly over.
The District of Columbia, whose handgun ban was struck down by the Supreme Court, is still planning on banning most handguns.
And the court decision has spurred the media into overdrive to paint guns as dangerous to their owners.
No one who has taken even a quick glance at the crime data can seriously argue that the D.C. gun ban lowered murder or violent crime rates.
The concerns being raised are not the threat from criminals, but that guns pose a risk to their owners.
In particular, buying a gun and having it in your home is said to increase the likelihood of suicide.
Mike Stobbe for the Associated Press emphasized the problem by pointing out that the majority of gun deaths are suicides.
He also noticed that Supreme Court Justice Breyer mentioned his concerns about gun suicides 14 times in his dissent.
By contrast, he mentioned accidental gun deaths rated only three times.
That is not surprising, given that the accidental death rate from guns is so low not only absolutely but in comparison to other common household items.
A nationally syndicated article by Shankar Vedantam, a Washington Post columnist, has a similar concern.
Vedantam points to a 1991 study in the New England Journal of Medicine that claims that after examining data from 1968 to 1987, “the gun ban correlated with an abrupt 25 percent decline in suicides in the city” and that the “decline was entirely driven by a decline in firearm-related suicide.”
Yes, suicides did indeed decline after the ban.
However, it is unlikely to have much to do with banning guns as non-gun suicides fell even slightly faster than gun suicides (see...)
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
As opposed to AP, who just continually shoot themselves in the foot. :D
Where's Michael Bellesiles, the noted gun-control expert, on this matter? (Google the man if you don't know who he is).
I’ve committed suicide 100 times since I bought my first gun when I was 18. I’m 54 now and because my family got tired of going to all my funerals, I quit committing suicide.
"He also noticed that Supreme Court Justice Breyer mentioned his concerns about gun suicides 14 times in his dissent."
That is not good news. I believe the word for this is called "projection", and I never gave a thought to the possibility that a member of the Supreme Court would be considering suicide.
So let me get this straight. DC is opposed to handguns, not because they are concerned one person will shot another on the street, they’re afraid the greater population of DC will commit mass suicide?
LMAO...so stupid.
It is hard to oppress a population equipped to hunt
animals the size of a man.
— L. Neil Smith, Pallas (New York: Tor, 1993), p. 380
Of course they fear the greater population of DC committing mass suicide. Who tha' heck will pay the taxes and fees?
Isn’t Lott the guy who wrote “More Guns, Less Crime”? He’s got some cred, methinks...
Colonel, USAFR
Isn’t Lott the guy who wrote “More Guns, Less Crime”? He’s got some cred, methinks...
If people are unable to make these decisions for themselves, how can people figure out which politicians should make these decisions for them?
Pow!
You know.
I think I will now pick which laws I will obey.
AND That will be based on which laws they chose to enforce.
(let the sarcasm roll in)
The attempts by the Sociualist to repeal the 2nd Amendment by proxy using various guns laws, use of the media and outright lies and fear tactics will never end.....
For the Socilaist to complete their take over of America they need to disarm as many American citizens as possioble.
Haven’t heard of that one - sounds worth a listen!
Who is the greater population of DC, and why would this be bad???
Sounds good too’ just put a hold for it at my library, thanks.
Poll Finds Obama’s Run Isn’t Closing Divide on Race interesting numbers
Ignoring the court (The U.S. Supreme Court's Heller decision!)
From time to time, I’ll ping on noteworthy articles about politics, foreign and military affairs. FReepmail me if you want on or off my list.
Thanks for the ping.
Take away the guns and the majority would be "car left running in garage - house burned down". Would Mr Stobbe then recommend outlawing garages?
Same folks who are in favor of voluntary suicide as a “right” are upset people use guns to accomplish it?
Odd isn’t it?
What would they have us do?
Thanks for the ping!
Perhaps San Francisco should close the Golden Gate bridge over suicide concerns?
How do the stupid people of DC even get themselves feed and to work everyday?
A very large percentage of them don't. That's part of the problem.
We’re equipped to hunt animals larger than men, and the lucky few of us still have tools designed to take down old tanks...
Interesting that the debate on guns which has been ruled on by the Supreme Court is not over but the debate on Climate Change ended as soon as Al Gore said so.
Gotta love doublethink
Oh, come on! The rest of the country pays for most of DC's operations, so this cannot be their fear.
No, their fear is that most of their idiot constituents will off themselves, leading to their promotion to the private sector by the remaining, non-suicidal, voters.
LOL - and liberals do is sooooo well.
I can doublethink pretty well myself.
Ex = Has Been
Spurt = Drip under pressure
Therefore, ExSpurt = Someone who Has Been a Drip Under Pressure
Well, from a practical standpoint, neither President Obamalamadingdong nor President McPain could move the court leftward by replacing Breyer. That, such as it is, is the good news.
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