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Owning a gun makes it 2-3x more likely someone in your family will die by a gun. So it makes you less safe, not more. https://slate.com/technology/2015/01/good-

Owning a gun makes it 2-3x more likely someone in your family will die by a gun. So it makes you less safe, not more. https://slate.com/technology/2015/01/good-guy-with-a-gun-myth-guns-increase-the-risk-of-homicide-accidents-suicide.html https://slate.com/technology/2015/01/good-guy-with-a-gun-myt... And it definitely makes it less safe for the rest of us in society.

cwkoss 7y ago
correlation != causality If someone has threatened you with a gun or you live in an area with increased gun violence, I would expect that greatly increases the chances that you'd want to acquire your own. This cohort would already be at a much higher risk of gun death before they owned a gun as well. There has never been a placebo controlled double blind study on gun ownership. Probably never will be because of ethical concerns. It probably does increase risk, but I expect the effect size is much lower than 2-3x.
- mav3rick 7y ago
  How about no one has guns ?
  - cwkoss 7y ago
    How about we fund mental healthcare nationally, reduce wealth inequality, and end racial disparity in policing first? Until then, an attempt to ban all guns is not only a politically infeasible waste of energy, but also seems like a racist attack on the self-defense rights of the disempowered.
    - mav3rick 7y ago
      "What about...". There are mass shootings in schools every year. How about we solve the problems you mentioned and the others in parallel. US spends enough on military budget , they can cut back and solve these. The disempowered don't need "white knights", they are the ones often dying to gun violence.
pageandrew 7y ago
If you have a gun in your house and are responsible with it, nobody will be at risk.
- bsder 7y ago
  Hogwash. My military-trained father-in-law accidentally discharged his handgun inside the house while cleaning it. The bullet ricocheted and could have killed anybody. It was a manufacturing defect. All those guns were recalled and replaced 2 months later.
  - cwkoss 7y ago
    He was cleaning a loaded gun?
    - bsder 7y ago
      We gave him a lot of hell thinking he did exactly that. He claimed he unloaded it and checked he unloaded it. A couple weeks later every single one of those guns was recalled and replaced by the manufacturer. The gun, itself, apparently had a defect wherein it could pop a round loose, hold it where you couldn't see it, and then chamber it if you knocked it a bit. I have no idea how this could possibly occur, but the manufacturer actually claimed this and wound up having to spend enough money that something wasn't right with those handguns. Fortunately, he adhered to standard discipline and made sure the gun was never pointed at anybody. So, when it did go off, nobody was in line of fire. However, it did ricochet and still could have caused quite a bit of harm. Always adhering to discipline doesn't make probabilities zero--it just minimizes them.
- maest 7y ago
  That argument is pretty much a "no true Scotsman" type argument. You can't discard datapoints you don't like because they're not "responsible" firearm holders.
  - pageandrew 7y ago
dsfyu404ed 7y ago
And the same goes for owning a car or having a pool in your back yard. That doesn't make it not worth it.
- ridewinter 7y ago
  Owning a car is necessary for daily life. And your backyard pool will not impact the rest of society.

cwkoss 7y ago

correlation != causality If someone has threatened you with a gun or you live in an area with increased gun violence, I would expect that greatly increases the chances that you'd want to acquire your own. This cohort would already be at a much higher risk of gun death before they owned a gun as well. There has never been a placebo controlled double blind study on gun ownership. Probably never will be because of ethical concerns. It probably does increase risk, but I expect the effect size is much lower than 2-3x.

mav3rick 7y ago
How about no one has guns ?
- cwkoss 7y ago
  How about we fund mental healthcare nationally, reduce wealth inequality, and end racial disparity in policing first? Until then, an attempt to ban all guns is not only a politically infeasible waste of energy, but also seems like a racist attack on the self-defense rights of the disempowered.
  - mav3rick 7y ago
    "What about...". There are mass shootings in schools every year. How about we solve the problems you mentioned and the others in parallel. US spends enough on military budget , they can cut back and solve these. The disempowered don't need "white knights", they are the ones often dying to gun violence.

pageandrew 7y ago

If you have a gun in your house and are responsible with it, nobody will be at risk.

bsder 7y ago
Hogwash. My military-trained father-in-law accidentally discharged his handgun inside the house while cleaning it. The bullet ricocheted and could have killed anybody. It was a manufacturing defect. All those guns were recalled and replaced 2 months later.
- cwkoss 7y ago
  He was cleaning a loaded gun?
  - bsder 7y ago
    We gave him a lot of hell thinking he did exactly that. He claimed he unloaded it and checked he unloaded it. A couple weeks later every single one of those guns was recalled and replaced by the manufacturer. The gun, itself, apparently had a defect wherein it could pop a round loose, hold it where you couldn't see it, and then chamber it if you knocked it a bit. I have no idea how this could possibly occur, but the manufacturer actually claimed this and wound up having to spend enough money that something wasn't right with those handguns. Fortunately, he adhered to standard discipline and made sure the gun was never pointed at anybody. So, when it did go off, nobody was in line of fire. However, it did ricochet and still could have caused quite a bit of harm. Always adhering to discipline doesn't make probabilities zero--it just minimizes them.
maest 7y ago
That argument is pretty much a "no true Scotsman" type argument. You can't discard datapoints you don't like because they're not "responsible" firearm holders.
- pageandrew 7y ago

dsfyu404ed 7y ago

And the same goes for owning a car or having a pool in your back yard. That doesn't make it not worth it.

ridewinter 7y ago
Owning a car is necessary for daily life. And your backyard pool will not impact the rest of society.