Gun Myths

Like I said, when you really want to close your tab on Life

Robb Allen — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:05:35 GMT

It listed the possible cause of death of Mr Phyall as ‘complete transaction of the neck’ and ‘chainsaw wound to the neck.’

Luckily, Mr. Phyall didn't have access to a firearm because that could have rendered him suicidal.

Meanwhile, in Jolly Gun-Free England

Robb Allen — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:13:49 GMT

Man, 33, hands himself in over student murders

It is understood that credit and charge cards are missing from the rented flat in New Cross, South-East London, where Mr Bonomo and Mr Ferez were gagged, tied to chairs, stabbed 243 times in the head, chest and back and finally set on fire.

'Former girlfriend was used to lure Shakilus to death at hands of gang'

It is understood she sent a text message asking Shakilus to meet her alone and that he agreed because he still had feelings for her. The victim, who was part of a gang himself, was knifed to death after agreeing to the meeting.

Man, 21, is killed in weekend of London stabbings

The 21-year-old victim suffered wounds to the arm and chest following an argument in the early hours of this morning. Scotland Yard said they were called by the London Ambulance Service after paramedics found two men with injuries.

And many, many more...

I debated posting this because I don't want to be like the Brady Campaign and use the blood of innocents to push an agenda. However, I am not asking for your money nor am I asking you to submit yourself into servitude to the all powerful state.

What I want to point out is that people can be violent assholes and will use whatever tools are at their disposal to give themselves an advantage over their prey. Sometimes this can be sheer strength. Sometimes it's a sharpened stick. Other times a knife or a gun. Regardless of the tool used, some people are just predatory.

The myth that guns cause anything except blisters is ridiculous. The problem with crime isn't as easy as pointing to an object, condemning it, then patting yourself on the back for doing such good work.

Suicide tools

Robb Allen — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:58:33 GMT

So, there's a lot of hand wringing and PSH over the fact that over have of gun deaths are suicides. This is news? If I remember correctly, a well known blogger brought this up a long time ago. Glad to see I'm well ahead of the media in this regard.

Funny though that the media wants to put the blame at the tool.

No doubt about it, a firearm is a very, very effective tool to use for suicide. Nail clippers are very effective for trimming toenails, but you don't blame the nail clippers for increased nail growth now do you?

When someone wants to kill themselves, they will do it regardless of the effectiveness of the tools available. Japan, a country with practically no hand guns, had more suicides than we had homicides by firearm total. Remember, a homicide doesn't mean murder (the arthritic, old lady in a wheelchair who revokes the birth certificates of three goblins intent on robbing her of her pain medicine adds three to the total count).

Having a gun may provide a more effective way of committing suicide but it doesn't cause you to kill yourself. It is possible that, having an effective tool available may ease the decision to end one's life as very few people wish to die painfully, but that choice was made without the help of a heap of plastic, metal, and wood.

Here, shoot me again

Robb Allen — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:22:09 GMT

Here's some Grade-A Stupidity.

You could have easily used a mannequin or something else to illustrate that point. To use a live person is the epitome of dumb. As firearms enthusiasts we should always strive to promote a good image. Shit like this doesn't help.

The sad thing about this video is that it does illustrate, quite stupidly in my opinion, a few myths of guns that have been propagated by Hollywood and the entertainment industry. First, being shot with most any firearm isn't going to lift you up and throw you 100 feet. For those not in the known, a .308 is one hell of a cartridge. And a rifle is exponentially more powerful than a handgun so the movie scene where Dirty Harry shoots a guy at 30 feet and the guy goes flying through drywall is a complete fallacy.

I'd also like to point out that, at POINT BLANK RANGE with the rifle, neither one of those shots hit center mass. Notice how Idiot #2 doesn't aim but rather (to steal a Brady Campaign to Spew Misinformation) 'sprayed from the hip'. Even only a foot or so away, he comes dangerously close to missing. In the movies, the hero alway manages to put the bullet exactly where he wants while diving behind cover. Sorry, but if you don't aim, you don't generally hit anything, especially what you'd like to. Idjit #2 illustrates this point quite nicely.

Hat Tip Say Uncle, who you shouldn't vote for.

What gun owners have to deal with

Robb Allen — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:10:33 GMT

I think this is one of the most ignorant things I've read on gun ownership to date

Do proponents of gun ownership really feel they are protected simply by owning a gun? It seems to me that to be really protected one would need to have the gun accessible at all times.
Maybe we’ll eventually have to return to the Wild West and carry guns in holsters. It could make for a booming gun holster business. They could be designed for men and women and come in various colors and designs. They would have to be worn at all times in all places.
Then it would come down to who is the quickest on the draw.
Mary Lou Akright
Leawood

Speechless.

So much for the blood in the streets

Robb Allen — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:47:03 GMT

One of the common talking points of the PSH crowd when it comes to promoting the ideas of Castle Doctrine and Self Defense laws is that people will simply shoot their neighbors and use the excuse of being "in fear of their life" and simply walk free.

John Gutmacher points to why this isn't the case

The question was squarely answered as applied to an "unreasonable" belief in the recent case of Hill v. State, 33 Fla.L.Weekly D. 1038 (Fla. 3DCA 2008), where the appellate court held that there is no "imperfect self defense" in Florida. In order to lawfully use self-defense -- your belief must be "reasonable" in fact -- as judged by the "reasonable man" standard. (ie: Could a reasonable person in the same situation so believe).

In this case, a mistaken but unreasonable belief that two men were about to kill the defendant -- did not justify the defendant taking their lives. Hence, the conviction for murder stood. The moral -- use common sense, not paranoia.

Castle Doctrines and laws that do not require you to retreat do not grant you a license to kill at will. The Brady Campaign would have you believe that all you have to do is tell a cop that you killed the busload of middle school children because you felt they were threatening your life and that you can just go home like nothing happened. Not that it's a surprise, but that is patently false.

You must be able to prove that you were in imminent danger and that your use of deadly force was reasonable. If not, you're going to be charged with murder and go to jail.

Quote of the Day - Machine gun edition

Robb Allen — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:52:18 GMT

From John R. in the comments here

From a strictly practical point of view, if someone's goal was to inflict fatal injuries, a shotgun is a much more ferocious weapon. Machine guns have better PR.

Why the police shouldn't be the only ones with guns

Robb Allen — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:27:00 GMT

Because they tend to abuse them more than the average citizen

OCEANSIDE, Calif.—An 8-year-old boy who was with his mother when both were shot by an off-duty San Diego police officer in a parking lot confrontation was hit once in the leg, police said Tuesday.
The boy's mother, Rachel Silva, was hit twice in the arm, said Oceanside police Lt. Fred Armijo. Both were hospitalized after the shooting but have now been released.
The officer, Frank White, fired five shots during the March 15 altercation outside a Lowe's store in Oceanside.
...

Iredale said White pulled up on the right side of Silva's car and began firing, hitting her son in the passenger seat and shattering her right arm as she reversed to get away.

...

"She was unarmed, she did not threaten the man, she did not assault the man," Iredale said. "He just lost it—it was a classic case of road rage."

To Protect and to ... HEY! Did you just CUT ME OFF???? BLAM! BLAM!!!!

Well, it bears repeating

Robb Allen — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 12:55:32 GMT

I've said it over and over, but alas it is my duty to continue to do so. Guns are not difficult to make objects

Police are receiving an urgent warning: be on the lookout for an old-style gun that's apparently making a comeback on the streets.
The concern? It may be impossible to tell if someone is carrying the gun.
Experts say this gun is so small it can be hidden in a belt buckle, necklace or even a flashlight.
And what's even scarier – the gun can apparently be made at home.

Emphasis mine. A gun is a tube, sealed at one end and partially plugged at the other with a projectile. Put enough gas pressure in the tube and the projectile will force its way down the tube to the end where it will come out. Kids make Potato Guns with PVC pipes, tubers, and lighter fluid. The principle is the same, and the level of construction is not much different.

Some criminals are apparently making them at home since they can't purchase guns legally at places like Target World.
"It's a very, very crude gun and often times they're only made to be fired once," says Cowles. "And often times, you fire once and they kind of self-destruct. So, it's only good for one shot."

That's why modern firearms cost hundreds to thousands of dollars. They're engineered to fire more than once. A criminal doesn't generally require high quality, only something that will kill or harm his target. Besides, a zip gun cannot be traced.

The point is, people, that keeping firearms out of criminals' hands is a noble goal and I have no issues with the actual background checks themselves (it's the record keeping / "sorry you can't because the system is down" crap I have the problem with). But the majority of laws meant to keep the guns out of the wrong people's hands tends to instead make it difficult for the right people to obtain them. And it won't stop the criminal anyway.

Hat Tip War On Guns

30,000 lies

Robb Allen — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 15:27:10 GMT

I hear it all the time. The blood dancers scream "30,000 people die each year from violent firearm deaths!!!!!" It is repeated so often that most people probably take it for a fact.

I'm here to kill that rumor once and for all. And I'm going to do it using the CDC's data itself.

Go here to start. It's the WISQARS Injury Mortality Reports, 1999 - 2004.

For question 1

1. What was the intent or manner of the injury? (Select one)

Choose

All Intents

For question 2

2. What was the cause or mechanism of the injury? (Select one)

Select

Firearms

Leave everything else alone. This will get every death caused by firearms for every age, race, etc. Hit Submit.

Number of Deaths	Population	Crude Rate	Age-Adjusted Rate**
29,569	293,638,158	10.07	9.94

There's the mythical 30,000 number we hear about. That would seem damning if it weren't for the other options available to narrow this down.

Go back to the other screen. Let's look at the choices available for question 1.

All Intents
Unintentional
Violence-related
- Homicide and Legal intervention
- Homicide
- Legal Intervention
- Suicide
Undetermined intent

Now. unintentional deaths are interesting. This would mean "accidents". How many people die accidentally with firearms?

Number of Deaths	Population	Crude Rate	Age-Adjusted Rate**
649	293,638,158	0.22	0.22

Aren't we always told how dangerous guns are? How they'll kill everyone within a 20' radius. Interesting that 18,807 people died from falling yet there aren't any calls to repeal the law of gravity.

Anyway, back to the meat of the issue. Notice how the CDC groups suicide in with "violence". How many people committed suicide with a firearm in 2004? (Select Suicide for question 1)

Number of Deaths	Population	Crude Rate	Age-Adjusted Rate**
16,750	293,638,158	5.70	5.62

Now, that might lead one to believe that most people commit suicide because of the gun, but consider that 32,439 people committed suicide in 2004. Half of them didn't use a gun.

So now, let's do a little math shall we? If 29,569 people died via gunshots in 2004, but 16,750 of those were suicides, then the true number of homicides was 12,819. Not quite the 30,000 tune the blood dancers sway to. Now, we can't break it down any further except via "Legal Intervention" which means police shootings (311). Justifiable homicide is lumped in with murder

From the CDC's definitions

Homicide - injuries inflicted by another person with intent to injure or kill, by any means. Excludes injuries due to legal intervention and operations of war. Justifiable homicide is not identified in WISQARS.

Emphasis mine.

So, the next time you hear someone shout about 30,000 deaths, send them here. While 12,819 is 12,819 too many, it's nowhere near the 30,000 we're told about. Scare mongers need bad statistics to help them lie. A little research will show they have nothing but lies to stand on.