Guns for Safety? Dream On, Scalia.

[depakid]

...In his majority opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia explicitly endorsed the wisdom of keeping a handgun in the home for self-defense. Such a weapon, he wrote, "is easier to store in a location that is readily accessible in an emergency; it cannot easily be redirected or wrestled away by an attacker; it is easier to use for those without the upper-body strength to lift and aim a long rifle; it can be pointed at a burglar with one hand while the other hand dials the police."

But Scalia ignored a substantial body of public health research that contradicts his assertions. A number of scientific studies, published in the world's most rigorous, peer-reviewed journals, show that the risks of keeping a loaded gun in the home strongly outweigh the potential benefits.

In the real world, Scalia's scenario -- an armed assailant breaks into your home, and you shoot or scare away the bad guy with your handy handgun -- happens pretty infrequently. Statistically speaking, these rare success stories are dwarfed by tragedies. The reason is simple: A gun kept loaded and readily available for protection may also be reached by a curious child, an angry spouse or a depressed teen.

More than 20 years ago, I conducted a study of firearm-related deaths in homes in Seattle and surrounding King County, Washington. Over the study's seven-year interval, more than half of all fatal shootings in the county took place in the home where the firearm involved was kept. Just nine of those shootings were legally justifiable homicides or acts of self-defense; guns kept in homes were also involved in 12 accidental deaths, 41 criminal homicides and a shocking 333 suicides. A subsequent study conducted in three U.S. cities found that guns kept in the home were 12 times more likely to be involved in the death or injury of a member of the household than in the killing or wounding of a bad guy in self-defense.

Oh, one more thing: Scalia's ludicrous vision of a little old lady clutching a handgun in one hand while dialing 911 with the other (try it sometime) doesn't fit the facts. According to the Justice Department, far more guns are lost each year to burglary or theft than are used to defend people or property.

In Atlanta, a city where approximately a third of households contain guns, a study of 197 home-invasion crimes revealed only three instances (1.5 percent) in which the inhabitants resisted with a gun. Intruders got to the homeowner's gun twice as often as the homeowner did.

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/27/AR2008062702864.html

[jgraz]

1. I think we should all bring Glocks to the Supreme Court and sit in the front row.

Let's see how safe Fat Tony feels then.

[shireen]

2. gun ownership comes with responsibility and training

Anyone who has taken the NRA intro to handguns classes knows how to deal with the situations cited by the good doctor.

As for "impulse" uses like suicide and the angry spouse scenario, driving a speeding car off the cliff and stabbing with a knife can accomplish the same purpose.

I have the right to defend myself from an attack. As a woman, I am not physically strong enough to fight a muscular male assailant. For that reason, I want to have a gun for self-defense in my home. I have been trained to use it correctly, and take extraordinary careful precautions to keep it from the wrong hands. I value life enough that I would not shoot someone unless I was in danger of being physically harmed (that is, I would not shoot someone without warning and certainly would not shoot someone over a DVD player -- i'd let the thief take it!)

If the goal is to reduce accidental shootings and bad responses to home invasions, gun owners should be required to take training classes as a condition for getting a license. Taking guns away from us is NOT the solution to reducing gun violence.

[OhioChick]

3. I completely agree with you.

I also have a gun in my home for the same reasons you cited and agree with all that you mention. Very well said, I might add. :thumbsup:

[awoke_in_2003]

4. Some here don't want to hear it

but a handgun is the great equalizer. 90 lb woman versus 220 pound man is no match, an equalizer is needed. And to those who say "call the cops", i say "when seconds count, cops are minutes away" (and in some cities that is optimistic)