Posted on 04/01/2013 12:38:44 PM PDT by jazusamo
We all know that guns can cost lives because the media repeat this message endlessly, as if we could not figure it out for ourselves. But even someone who reads newspapers regularly and watches numerous television newscasts may never learn that guns also save lives— much less see any hard facts comparing how many lives are lost and how many are saved.
But that trade-off is the real issue, not the Second Amendment or the National Rifle Association, which so many in the media obsess about. If guns cost more lives than they save, we can always repeal the Second Amendment. But if guns save more lives than they cost, we need to know that, instead of spending time demonizing the National Rifle Association.
The defensive use of guns is usually either not discussed at all in the media or else is depicted as if it means bullets flying in all directions, like the gunfight at the OK Corral. But most defensive uses of guns do not involve actually pulling the trigger.
If someone comes at you with a knife and you point a gun at him, he is very unlikely to keep coming, and far more likely to head in the other direction, perhaps in some haste, if he has a brain in his head. Only if he is an idiot are you likely to have to pull the trigger. And if he is an idiot with a knife coming after you, you had better have a trigger to pull.
Surveys of American gun owners have found that 4 to 6 percent reported using a gun in self-defense within the previous five years. That is not a very high percentage but, in a country with 300 million people, that works out to hundreds of thousands of defensive uses of...
(Excerpt) Read more at creators.com ...
One must also add into the cost/benefit of guns not just their protection from criminals, but from governments. In the 20th century, about 100,000,000 disarmed people were murdered by tyrannical governments, or killed on the efforts to fight tyranny. That’s a million gun deaths per year caused by gun control. (A 9-11 every day, for the entire century). Or 3% of all those who lived in the 20th century were killed by gun control.
Very good point and it especially applies when there’s tyrants like the current resident of the WH.
Thank God for Thomas Sowell, a voice of reason in a wilderness of absurdity!
” If someone comes at you with a knife and you point a gun at him, he is very unlikely to keep coming, and far more likely to head in the other direction, perhaps in some haste, if he has a brain in his head. Only if he is an idiot are you likely to have to pull the trigger. And if he is an idiot with a knife coming after you, you had better have a trigger to pull. “
Trump that logic, gun grabbers.
It's important to realize that repealing the Second Amendment simply removes the explicit prohibition barring the federal government from infringing the pre-existing right to keep and bear arms.
Such repeal would in no way eliminate the unalienable right to keep and bear arms.
Thanks for the post.
Too late for New York State which the Commumnists have morphed into a Canadian province:
viz:
“Highlights of Canada’s Firearms Laws
Canadian Firearms Program
The main purpose of the Firearms Act and its supporting regulations is to keep firearms out of the hands of people who are likely to be a danger to themselves or to others. The Criminal Code and its supporting regulations define a firearm for the purposes of the Firearms Act, and set out penalties for the illegal possession and misuse of a firearm.
Licence Requirements
Businesses and individuals need a valid firearms licence to be able to possess (own, borrow or store) a firearm in Canada. They must keep their licence up to date and renew it before the expiry date if they possess firearms.
Individuals must be at least 18 years old to get a licence that will allow them to own or to acquire a firearm. Minors aged 12 to 17 can get a minors’ licence that will allow them to possess a non-restricted rifle or shotgun, but a licensed adult must be responsible for the firearm.
The Possession and Acquisition Licence (PAL) is the only licence now available to new applicants over 18 years old. An existing Possession-Only Licence can be renewed, but new ones are not being issued.
Applicants for a PAL or a Minors’ Licence must meet specific training requirements in the safe use and handling of a firearm.
All licence applicants must pass a public-safety check. A computer link between the Canadian Firearms Information System (CFIS) and the national police database helps to speed up the process and allows for continuous checks of licence holders. As part of the background check, spouses and common-law partners with whom a PAL applicant has lived within the previous two years may be notified of the application to find out if they have any concerns about their own or someone else’s safety.
Top of Page
Registration Requirements
The Government has announced its intention to simplify licence requirements for firearm owners and to remove the requirement to register non-restricted firearms. However, any changes to the Firearms Act must go through a legislative process and pass in Parliament. This will take time. In the meantime, firearm owners and users are required to comply with the current law. An amnesty protects some owners of non-restricted firearms while they acquire licences and registration certificates.
All firearms must have a valid Canadian registration certificate. To be able to register a firearm, an applicant must be at least 18 years old and have a valid firearms licence allowing them to possess that class of firearm.
Owners of restricted and prohibited firearms that were registered in the former Restricted Weapons Registration System (RWRS) were required to re-register their firearms in CFIS by January 1, 2003, to update the information and link it to their licence.
A registration certificate issued under the Firearms Act does not have to be renewed unless the firearm is modified in a way that changes its class. When a firearm changes ownership, it will be registered to the new owner as part of transfer process. When someone borrows a firearm, they must also borrow the registration certificate for that firearm.”
http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cfp-pcaf/pol-leg/hl-fs-eng.htm
Sowell BTT. The good Professor knows whereof he speaks - he was a Marine pistol instructor.
Woman's handgun sends her assailant running Sunday night in Oregon City
A 22-year-old woman sent her assailant running on Sunday night when she flashed her handgun, according to Oregon City Police.
The woman had just parked her car near the intersection of 8th and John Quincy Adams streets around 10:21 p.m. Sunday when a stranger approached her from behind, grabbed her hair and dragged her backwards, police said. She was assaulted until she pointed her legally-owned handgun at the man and he fled on foot.
Several Oregon City Police officers and a Gladstone K-9 officer responded and searched for the suspect, but were unable to locate him in the area. Oregon City Police are currently investigating.
Police said the suspect is described as a male in his late 20s, approximately 5-foot-8-inches tall with a slender build. He had medium length hair down to his chin and no facial hair. He was last seen wearing a brown zip-up jacket or hoodie with dark colored pants.
The Oregon City Police Department is requesting help from anyone who may have witnessed the attack. The department's tip line can be reached at 503-496-1616.
No on explains it better...
Dr. Sowell knows whereof he speaks. He has nailed it yet again. Thanks, my friend.
Amen to that, TOL!
Excellent point. And one might add that gun control contributed to 25 deaths at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The sign advertising that it was a "Gun Free Zone" might just as well have said it was a free fire zone to any whack job who wanted to get his jollies by gunning down teachers and little kids.
According to the FBI crime report, 2 to 3 million Americans a year successfully defend themselves with their firearms(not hundreds of thousands, but millions)most of them don't fire a shot, and these are just the incidents that are reported, no telling how many times it happens with no crime being reported.
Bump!
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