There are many misconceptions and generalizations coming from people who don't understand guns, and are simply fearful of the image of a scary-looking gun that looks like it is used by the military. These are facts about guns. No emotions here, just facts. Educating people about guns is important because guns in America are here to stay.
1. 7/12 gun deaths counted in statistics are suicides
According to wikipedia (https://bit.ly/1zKNqVI) 7.10/11.96 gun deaths per capita are suicides. Suicide is a huge problem in the United States, however this is not a gun violence problem, and instead a mental health problem. America is facing a mental health crisis, something rarely talked about, and overshadowed by gun control advocacy.
2. Legal gun owners are 6 - 10 times less likely to commit a violent crime
According to statistics varying by U.S states, legal gun owners are 6-10 times less likely to commit a violent crime. Forget any stereotypes you have about gun owners. Believe it or not, legal gun owners are mostly good people, according to statistics. As someone who plans to buy a rifle and conceal carry, destigmatizing gun owners is very important to me. Feel free to disagree with my beliefs, but seeing gun owners as terrible people is ignorant. Most gun owners are simply passionate about freedom, and self protection. There is a legitimate argument on both sides of this, but vilification of either belief is simply ignorant.
3. Rifles (Like the AR-15) only compensate for less than 1% of gun deaths
Before I get started on this one, I would like to note that the "AR" in "AR-15" does not stand for assault rifle, it stands for Armalite Rifle. But yes, rifles (a.k.a assault rifles) only account for less than 1% of gun deaths, therefor, putting aside the fact that banning rifles would only take away rifles from law abiding citizens; The 1% of gun deaths involving rifles would instead simply be committed by handguns instead of rifles. Pistols are statistically and fundamentally more deadly than rifles. Therefor someone who advocates banning "Assault Rifles" most likely fundamentally believe in banning all guns, including pistols.
4. Every gun is semi-automatic (Other than the revolver, technically)
When people advocate for banning semi-automatic guns, Most don't realize that almost every single gun is semi-automatic, other than obviously automatic guns, which are already banned. Semi-automatic guns are guns which are fired once for every time the trigger is pulled. This means when you click the trigger it shoots once, even when you hold it down. Automatic guns are fired at a high rate every time the trigger is pulled. The term "semi-automatic" may sound scary because it contains the word "automatic" in it, but it basically means "not automatic".
5. More people die from texting while driving than by a gun
The news would be SO boring if it covered the problem of texting while driving at the same rate it does gun violence. Gun violence interests more people, and gets more ratings. I think you know where I am going with this. If you truly care about people dying from problems that can be easily solved, become educated on this, and other bigger issues. Source: https://on.tdo.com/2NZLjPo. To those who do not know, the government also bans texting while driving, yet people still do it. The government also bans going above the speed limit, selling lemonade without a permit, and other things that people still do. Government bans historically don't work.
Post written by Danny Parks
Nice post, author (I don't see your name posted here). I grew up with guns in my house (hunting rifles) and personally have no problem with people owning those types of guns. I do, however, believe that assault rifles are far too easy for people to gain access to. You bring up a great point that mental health is a major issue in our country, and you're right -- it most definitely is. With this in mind, why not make people wait a while before they can own an assault rifle? Why not perform a background check to see if the person trying to get the AR-15 is considered safe? If most gun owners are fundamentally responsible, then is there a profound difference waiting an extra week (maybe even less?) to obtain a gun? Curious what you think.
ReplyDeleteHi Mr. Lawler. I would argue that making guns more accessible, and easier to obtain would be more beneficial. Guns are very easy for criminals to obtain because of the dark web, and the black market of guns. This black market exists in all countries. To further my point, blueprints for 3D printable guns are all over the internet, and even if the government cannot stop that. The only people who would be effected by inconvenient gun laws are the legal gun owners. Background checks are completed in 10 seconds by computers, and this is because the advancements in technologies we have made. In that 10 seconds, everything that the government/FBI/Fill in the blank could check has already been checked.
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