Guns Used More Often to Save Life Than to Take Life
Guns
protect thousands of lives every day. According
to anti-gun researchers in the Clinton Justice Department, there are as many as
1.5 million cases of self-defense with a firearm every year (or more than 4,000
times a day). The National Institute of
Justice published this figure in 1997 as part of “Guns in America ”—a
study which was authored by noted anti-gun criminologists Philip Cook and Jens
Ludwig.
Nevertheless,
there was a much-publicized study (in 1993) which supposedly claims that “guns
are three times more likely to kill you than help you.” And while this study is frequently quoted, it
is a total fraud. Even using the low
figures from the Clinton Justice Department, firearms are used almost 50 times
more often to save life than to take life.
More
importantly, the author of the 1993 study, Arthur Kellerman, refused to make
his research data available until several years later, when the Center for
Disease Control (which had funded the study) required at least some of his data
to be made available to critics.
At
that point, it became very clear that Kellerman’s conclusions—claiming guns are
more likely to kill you than help you—was a complete lie. (Even this 3:1 figure was a repudiation of
his original study in 1986, where he published an inflated figure of almost
1,500 percent, claiming that guns were 43 times more likely to kill a family
member than a criminal.)
Researcher
and attorney, Don Kates, studied the data from Kellerman’s 1993 study, and in
his book, Armed: New Perspectives on Gun Control (2001), reveals that all available data now indicates
that the “home gun homicide victims [in the flawed study] were killed using
guns not kept in the victim’s home.”
In other words, virtually all the
victims were NOT murdered with their own guns!
They were killed “by intruders who brought their own guns to the
victim’s household.”
Alas,
the victims would have been better off having a gun to protect themselves.
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People seem to see firearms as the downfall of mankind when really they’re just a means of defense; unfortunately that defense can be taken out of context. Or to quote Marcus Tullius Cicero ‘Damnant quod non intelligunt'--they condemn what they do not understand”.
I really can't understand how so many can be so mislead. Simple fact tells us that when you remoive guns from society violent crime increases and when guns are allowed violent crime decreases. If you need more information than that I feel sorry for you.
The victims were not murdered with their own guns but with the guns of the intruders and the poster surmises that the victims are better off having a gun to defend themselves? Since they DID have guns and they are STILL DEAD, I'd have to believe that the victims would have been better off if there were laws that kept the guns out of the hands of intruders. Hello?
"In other words, virtually all the victims were NOT murdered with their own guns! They were killed “by intruders who brought their own guns to the victim’s household.”
" Alas, the victims would have been better off having a gun to protect themselves. "
The article clearly states the high number of lives saved by guns . Yes it is unfortunate that having a gun does not guarentee you will survive but it definately improves your chances.
And there are laws that attempt to keep the guns away from criminals but that is what makes them a crimianl now isn't it?
Define the law that would keep guns out of the hands of intruders[criminals]!!!!
My wife and I were sitting at home watching tv one evening when we noticed something moving outside of our living room window. As we continued to sit there, we noticed that there were two men looking in our living room window. They looked in and then moved away. It was not long until they were back. This time they stayed watching for a longer time. I picked up the phone, dialed 911. The operator told me that it would be 15 to 20 minutes before an officer could get to our home. Not knowing what was to come, I went to the bedroom and got the shotgun. When they came back the third time, I leveled the shotgun at the window. I did not fire. However, they did leave and did not come back. Later that night, they broke in and raped a women a couple doors down from us. Do I believe in guns saving lives? Yes, I do.
This expert mentions the '97 study "Guns in America", but would rather you don't read it. GOA should certainly not be suggesting that Philip Cook and Jens Ludwig agree with the 4,000 times a day claim. Here is the link: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/pubs-sum/165476.htm
It is worth reading if you are interested in this issue. If you are impatient here is a relevant paragraph from the conclusions. DGU is Defensive Gun Use.
The NSPOF does not provide much evidence on whether
consumers who buy guns for protection against crime
get their money's worth. The NSPOF-based estimate
of millions of DGUs each year greatly exaggerates
the true number, as do other estimates based on
similar surveys. Much debated is whether the
widespread ownership of firearms deters crime or
makes it more deadly--or perhaps both--but the DGU
estimates are not informative in this regard.