Should you own a handgun? ...

[spin]

First time at a gun range

There is an undeniable feeling of power derived from shooting a handgun. About half of all gun owners buy one for protection. But how many people can actually say that owning a gun saved their life, or at least their property?

A quick statistic to put things in perspective. 25% of Southern Californian households possess a firearm. This is relatively low compared to a national average of 47%. And with a topic like this, the elephant in the room is often “gun safety”. Are the innocent more often the ones who suffer? The answer is a resounding “no”. Hunting accidents aside, around 300 innocent civilians are killed annually by accidental shootings. Factor this against the 6 million who die annually in car accidents.

So how many people have actually used a handgun to stop a crime? A poll conducted by the LA Times shows that 9% of So Cal gun owners have used their gun in self-defense. And of this group, only 2% actually fired it. This means that 98% of the time, the gun alone was an adequate deterrent.

Now before you run out and get on that 5 day waiting list to own a Dirty Harry special, consider this - another poll by the LA Times breaks down the gun ownership in Southern California by race. In So Cal, 43% of Anglo households possess a gun, 33% of African-American households possess, and 25% for Latinos. But when we consider who the victims are of violent offenders, African-Americans are the highest at 20%, Latinos at 17%, and Anglos at 9%. This can be interpreted to mean that citizens who live in higher crime areas (typically minorities) are less paranoid, or perhaps desensitized to crime, and therefore don’t purchase a gun for protection.

Lastly, more criminals have been shot and killed in legal self-defense by citizens than cops. Keep in mind that cops usually offer a verbal warning before they shoot, whereas civilians tend to shoot first and ask questions later.

Owning a handgun is as much a psychological decision as it is an ethical one. If nothing else, handgun ownership is a reflection of the power of media and fear. Who buys more guns, the victims, or those who want to avoid becoming a victim?
http://www.examiner.com/x-48810-LA-True-Crime-Examiner~y2010m5d13-Should-you-own-a-handgun?cid=channel-rss-Society_and_Culture

[Captain Hilts]

1. Women are more likely to be victims of people they know - the people they are LEAST likely to shoot.

I have no problem with carrying a firearm while hiking, out on your boat, etc.

[onehandle]

12. Yeah, if you are a woman and your husband or boyfriend own a gun, maybe you should too.

Funny, that.

[spin]

15. I know quite a few couples who both own firearms ...

it leads to a polite relationship.

[Remmah2]

25. My wife.

She's bought me my most expensive firearms. :) Life is good.

[oneshooter]

28. My Loving Wife and I are both competition shooters

She likes Reduced Course HighPower while I prefer to shoot across the course. We both shoot IDPC and a little bullseye. My youngest son (12)likes to shoot 50yd bench, 22 rim fire.

No MAD here, there are LOTS of types of competition. Just find one you like and enjoy.

Oneshooter
Armed and Livin in Texas

[Xenotime]

50. Sounds very dangerous to me.

[Captain Hilts]

16. A 'Mutual Assured Destruction' relationship? nt

[S_B_Jackson]

24. More like two-person fireteams....

and she's often a better shooter than her spouse, though maybe not as fast.

[jazzhound]

29. The inane hogwash just keeps tumbling from your mouth.

Funny that.

[cliffordu]

2. One or two more things:

You have to know you are betting your life when you pull one out.

If the bad guy gets it, you are dead.

The other thing:

Can you kill some motherfucker in your kitchen???

[Captain Hilts]

3. It takes a lot of poise to handle a firearm under such circumstances. nt

[cliffordu]

4. Yep - even highly trained individuals routinely miss at point blank range.

20 gauge shotgun. Perfect. Won't kill the neighbors when you miss, and just the IDEA of a fucking shotgun freaks the shit out of everyone....

And it'll kill the perp as dead as anything. Quick.

[Captain Hilts]

6. YES. Just the sound of the shotgun being cocked makes 'em run for the hills. As

a vet you will understand how horrified I was when I heard that submarine sailors were being given a couple of days firearms training at Bragg then being sent to Iraq as security for convoys. WTF? I don't want to be around armed folks that haven't had to sleep with their weapons.

There's more to using a firearm than shooting it at a range.

I think the law needs to treat rifles and shotguns differently from handguns.

[spin]

10. I have a side by side 12 gauge for self defense ...

with a 20" barrel.

It doesn't make any intimidating noises unless I pull the trigger, but staring down the double barrels is VERY intimidating.

I had that experience many years ago in Mississippi. I was driving a country road when it ended in someone's yard. I was in the process of turning my car around when this older gentleman ran out of his house and drew down on me with a coach gun. He yelled, "What the hell are you doing in my yard boy? Are you poaching my chickens?"

I looked down the enormous barrels of the shotgun and honestly I felt I could see the shells in the chambers. I politely replied, "I was just driving down the road, sir, and I ended up here."

He just gave me an evil grin and said, "I would get my ass out of here if I was you, boy."

So I did.

I suspect he had a moonshine still on his property, I don't remember any chickens.

[cliffordu]

11. I'd never stand in front of those soldiers for sure......

[oneshooter]

22. They are not "solders" they are squids!! n/t

[lepus]

38. Are they enlisted? Are they in the field acting as a soldier or taking ones place ?

Then they are soldiers, leave the fucking squid shit somewhere else.

I can understand that the extra, on average, twenty plus IQ points that they have may seem formidable, the pale skin frightening, and the stench startling, but look up history sometime. Submarine sailors have been in the thick of it more than a few times.

Sorry, but convoy duty is not rocket science nor an elite field that one can only aspire to after years of training.

Btw, squid is a general derogatory term for a sailor. A submariner deserves a better quality term denoting his service. Coner and bubblehead along with a few others will work.

[oneshooter]

39. They are Sailers, a good transport unit for Marines! n/t

[lepus]

40. Ah, marines. Good solid department of the navy personel.

If they were important enough, they would have their own department in the DOD.

Look at the history of the construction builders if you do not think sailors can fight, the corpsman, etc. My training building was named after an electronics technician chief that was awarded a MOH posthumously while protecting an amphib landing force in a frigging rowboat.

Sorry buddy, but for most purposes, a sailor can do any job most soldiers do given the need and a modicum of training. The opposite is not true.

[oneshooter]

41. You take things way too seriously

The Marines are a part of the Navy, I was a Marine for eight years. The banter between Marine and Navy has been going on for over 225 years,remember there was a Corps of Marines BEFORE there was a US Navy! Nobody I have met, Marine or Swabbie takes it seriously. Except maybe you.

Oneshooter
Armed and Livin in Texas

[lepus]

44. Nah, I only take the fucking squids comments seriously.

Btw, why is there a flap on the front of the navy dress blue uniform pants.

[Travis Coates]

42. Marines are a department of the Navy

The men's department

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InBXu-iY7cw

[lepus]

45. Yup, the girly mans department

[cowman]

43. Hear Hear

I was one of those construction builders in Vietnam and I saw alot of action with the Marines at Con Thien.
U.S. Navy Seabees
Can Do

[NewMoonTherian]

19. That's an interesting position.

I think the law needs to treat rifles and shotguns differently from handguns.

How do you mean? What differences would you like to see specifically?

[benEzra]

34. It does.

I think the law needs to treat rifles and shotguns differently from handguns.

It does, both at the Federal and state level.

[spin]

14. Well put ...

If you can't answer, "yes" to your question then a gun is not a good choice for self defense.

Can you kill some motherfucker in your kitchen???

[Remmah2]

26. How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

How does one prepare to defend ones life with a firearm?

Practice, practice, practice....................

Firearms, not for the meek.

[backwoodsbob]

20. the answer

yes

[DissedByBush]

23. "If the bad guy gets it"

He should have to club you to death with it.

Because you emptied it trying to shoot him.

[GreenStormCloud]

27. You assume that I am safe before I draw the gun.

"You have to know you are betting your life when you pull one out." Whatever makes you think that my life is not already being wagered? You are implying that my life is not being bet until I go for a gun. Why should I draw a gun if I am not in danger? I will be drawing my gun when I believe that I am already in danger.

How is the bad guy going to get my gun if I shoot all the bullets in the gun into the bad guy? Why is it that so many posters here assume that the bad guy is going to take my gun away from me? I think some people watch way too much TV. Do you people think that the bad guys are all super-ninja-Jedi types?

Yes, I can shoot a burglar in my kitchen, or living room, or office, or wife's office, or rec room, or spare bedroom, or bedroom, or hallways, or even in the bathroom. Does that answer your question?

[spin]

37. A comment I've heard ...

"If you have to pull your weapon, it should come out smoking."

[RaleighNCDUer]

5. Clue to the author of this piece -

if you are writing an article which spouts a lot of statistics, do NOT use statistical hyperbole - 6 million who die annually in car accidents? WTF?

Enough to make me ignore the rest of the article entirely.

[Euromutt]

7. "The 6 million who die annually in car accidents"?

Where did the guy get that figure? Even if you count all traffic-related deaths and injuries the number's still under 3.5 million, and of that, a comparatively tiny number (~45,000) are fatalities.

[slackmaster]

8. Most of those people die spiritually, not physically

:grouphug:

[spin]

9. I believe the writer meant the 6 million auto accidents ...

that occur each year.

Killed by Car Accidents

Highway fatalities account for more than 94% of all transportation deaths. There were an estimated 6,289,000 car accidents in the US in 1999. There were about 3.4 million injuries and 41,611 people killed in auto accidents in 1999. The total number of people killed in highway crashes in 2001 was 42,116, compared to 41,945 in 2000. An average of 114 people die each day in car crashes in the U.S. more... and 1999
http://www.unitedjustice.com/death-statistics.html

That mistake led to a LARGE error.

[Statistical]

33. Maybe globally? or likely author has no clue.

[onehandle]

13. I see six million dead people.

Give or take a few million.

[old mark]

17. Sure. I have 7 or 8 or so right now...seriously- I am counting them..

Actually 9 - I forgot a display revolver from 1898.

If you want to, of course you should.

mark

[spin]

18. Handguns are like rabbits. They tend to multiply over time. (n/t)

[old mark]

30. Actually 10-I forgot the old High Standard .22 revolver in my safe...nt

[Travis Coates]

21. There is an undeniable feeling of power derived from shooting a handgun.

There is an undeniable feeling of power derived from shooting a handgun.

IDK I think shooting all that charge 7 WB off a M110A2 kinda ruined it for me. If nothing blows up when you shoot what's the point?

[AtheistCrusader]

31. Only if you can't carry a rifle all the time

[WheelWalker]

32. Exactly.

[Dont TS Me Brah]

35. while everyone has the RIGHT to own a handgun...

many people I've known SHOULDN'T. There really should be mandatory training/education that goes along with gun purchases. And this comes from someone who is a big gun hobbyist... I've owned and enjoyed everything from Sig's to Clock's to Colt's to AK-type, a Galil, an SP9, a G3, an Uzi and have test fired numerous automatic weapons at special events. But I have taken numerous safety and proficiency courses.

[Travis Coates]

36. Elitism is elitism no matter what you call it NT

[SteveM]

46. While training is certainly recommended, think Jim Crow...

Any sort of "requirement" has to pass muster constitutionally lest it be used to thwart or infringe on the Second. The passage of the constitutional amendment barring poll taxes (in Texas, but the rest of the nation as well) is very instructive.

[Taverner]

48. "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should"

My thoughts exactly

[Taverner]

47. In all of the emotions on both side of the issue, this is a sane question to ask

[jazzhound]

49. Agreed ---- it's always a fair question to ask.

As I've shared before, my sis is an example of a person who should not own a handgun by virtue of the fact that she freezes in even slightly tense situations. She'd never be able to pull off a defensive shoot, or even pull the weapon.

Massad Ayoob tells folks to sit themselves down for a deep soul searching in making this decision, as some people are unable to take a life even to save their own or that of a family member.