Most people are stupid, I agree. I have no problem with taking away peoples right to carry when they fuck up by being over aggressive or under responsible. What I don't agree with are assertions that people don't deserve the right to protect themselves because other people abuse it, to me that is like saying no one should be allowed to drive because lots of people choose to do it intoxicated.
There is a huge problem of firearm ignorance, I agree am_. I grew up in a family where there were guns everywhere, and I've had a bb gun as long as I could remember that I was entrusted to be responsible with, and I've been carrying shotguns and rifles at my summer cabin since I was 11 or 12. Gun safety has always been a huge deal to me and to see someone being irresponsible with a firearm and treating it like a toy is extremely angering to me. The basics are so simple, never point it at anyone or anything you don't want to kill, always check the chamber to make sure it is empty before you do anything else. But how do you instill people with values and common sense through law? Preventable deaths will always happen because people make mistakes, are ignorant, malicious, or whatever. It comes with the territory of being a free society. What it boils down to is how many freedoms are you going to give up because people can't stop doing bad shit? I'd rather live in a society where good people were allowed to defend themselves while bad people did their usual shit than one where good people were always at the mercy of bad people.
Concealed carry laws are being enacted for a reason. Violent crime goes down in states where they are allowed. There are hundreds and hundreds of cases where people have successfully defended themselves from perpetrators, and studies show that there are hundreds of thousands more stories where criminals turn away because someone might be armed or a gun was pulled out by the defender and they didn't have to shoot. Look at the statistics of home invasion in America compared to say... the UK. Criminals don't want to get shot and violence is avoided.
Sure there is a lot of murder in the US, but by who?
The rates of firearms deaths in the U.S. vary significantly by race and sex. The U.S. national average was 10.3 deaths per 100,000 population in 2001. The highest rate was 34.5/100,000 for African-American males, more than double the rate of 16.3/100,000 for white males and well above the rate of 2.7/100,000 for white females. (CDC, 2004)
This is primarily a problem of drug prohibition and violent people that should be restricted from firearm ownership and tossed into jail for a long long time. In this country we let violent people back onto the street because prisons are overcrowded. We have a failing justice system, not an epidemic of normal people getting their hands on a gun and becoming uncontrollable killing machines.
Accidental deaths were about 800 in 2001. Certainly worth addressing but not out of control. Numbers have been falling due to safety regulations and increased persecution of people that pull triggers. Most people just accidentally shoot themselves.
"Another study showed that two-thirds of accidental firearms injuries occured in the home, and one-third involved children under 15. 45% were self-inflicted, and 16% occurred when children were playing with guns. (Morrow and Hudson, 1986) A study from 1991-2000 showed that twice as many people died from unintentional firearm injuries in states in the U.S. where firearm owners were more likely to store their firearms loaded. (Miller, et al, 2005)"
A lot of statistics are inflated by including suicide deaths, which were 16000 people in 2001, and failed attempts, which were very high. Suicide in America is still lower than most of the developed world though, including places where guns are banned.
Driving is a part of everyones lives. The problem with car accidents is directly comparable to the problem with guns. Every person that accidently shoots someone or goes out and kills a group of people is just like the person that was on their cell phone or was drunk or speeding and killed someone. I don't want to live in an America where I have to blow into a breathalizer every time I start up my car, there are cell phone scramblers running while in gear, and I had to undergo a psych evaluation to buy a vehicle. Lots of liberals want to force this onto gun owners though. To what end though? When do you stop encroaching on freedom so people can feel a little safer and shine their do-gooder shields?
