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In reply to the discussion: I'm all for a total ban on semi-automatic guns [View all]Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)248. Only amoung right wing NRA chat groups denizens.
In 2005, in this country, 30,694 people died from gunshot wounds; 17,002 cases were suicides, 12,352 were homicides, and 1340 were accidental, police-related, or of undetermined intent. Nearly 70,000 more people received treatment for nonfatal wounds in U.S. emergency departments. The disheartening 30% case fatality rate is 18 times that for injuries to motorcyclists. More than 80% of gun-related deaths are pronounced at the scene or in the emergency department; the wounds are simply not survivable. This reality is reflected in the fact that the $2 billion annual costs of medical care for the victims of gun violence are dwarfed by an estimated overall economic burden, including both material and intangible costs, of $100 billion.1 It's unlikely that health care professionals will soon prevent a greater proportion of shooting victims from dying; rather, we as a society must prevent shootings from occurring in the first place.
Gun violence is often an unintended consequence of gun ownership. Americans have purchased millions of guns, predominantly handguns, believing that having a gun at home makes them safer. In fact, handgun purchasers substantially increase their risk of a violent death. This increase begins the moment the gun is acquired suicide is the leading cause of death among handgun owners in the first year after purchase and lasts for years.
The risks associated with household exposure to guns apply not only to the people who buy them; epidemiologically, there can be said to be passive gun owners who are analogous to passive smokers. Living in a home where there are guns increases the risk of homicide by 40 to 170% and the risk of suicide by 90 to 460%. Young people who commit suicide with a gun usually use a weapon kept at home, and among women in shelters for victims of domestic violence, two thirds of those who come from homes with guns have had those guns used against them.
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp0800859
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Semi automatic handguns are the best available choice for self defense
ProgressiveProfessor
Jan 2013
#1
nice try, but there is a distinction..but lets play SEMANTICS and cloud a life and death
rustydog
Jan 2013
#14
Root causes...gun-speak for more mental health counselors and pills to deter the violent sociopaths?
libdem4life
Jan 2013
#228
We did not have 300 million weapons and middle class, white folks paranoid about their neighbors
libdem4life
Jan 2013
#253
Its not that hard to learn how to do it, just about every cop knew how
ProgressiveProfessor
Jan 2013
#80
OK, but monitoring Sudafed hasn't actually done anything about meth production
Recursion
Jan 2013
#139
So your answer is we shouldn't do anything, because criminals will still find ways to kill
Hugabear
Jan 2013
#79
Thanks for making the effort. I too have a life outside DU, so I empathize ....but..
pkdu
Jan 2013
#281
It is totally within Congress's power to reschedule semi-automatics under the NFA
Recursion
Jan 2013
#109
But there is a difference between a semi-automatic revolver and a semi-automatic pistol
Kaleva
Jan 2013
#263
There are any number of treatises as to why...if I post any them, there will be cries of
ProgressiveProfessor
Jan 2013
#22
The NRA says the "Only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun"
rustydog
Jan 2013
#98
The paucity of data means your (or others) conclusions cannot be valid
ProgressiveProfessor
Jan 2013
#142
Your statistics show your child runs a MUCH higher risk of being killed in your HOME
rustydog
Jan 2013
#55
Actually I was referring back to some of what the prior poster wrote
ProgressiveProfessor
Jan 2013
#85
How many home invaders have you had to kill? How many times while shopping at b-mart
rustydog
Jan 2013
#50
No I didn't miss scales. you're trying to distract because you're arguement is lame.
rustydog
Jan 2013
#147
It took me a long time to find acceptable holsters for both the Glock and the Ruger.
Flatulo
Jan 2013
#244
Expect a lot more of this kind of harassment in the future as fear and ignorance spread. nt
Flatulo
Jan 2013
#254
Your support is for doing nothing about the absurd flood of weapons in this country.
Warren Stupidity
Jan 2013
#234
That is not true...what follows will slow down the illegal weapons traffic in this country
ProgressiveProfessor
Jan 2013
#241
That person is an idiot, but it's her choice. No one is forcing her to defend her life.
Flatulo
Jan 2013
#251
I support her right to make her own choices, I think it is way disturbing that
TheKentuckian
Jan 2013
#258
handguns are a public health issue, everyone around them is in danger.
Warren Stupidity
Jan 2013
#233
You could sit next to my pistol for 10,000 years and you would not be in any danger. nt
Flatulo
Jan 2013
#252
I'm curious... Do you think the War On Drugs caused more marijuana to be grown in Mexico
cherokeeprogressive
Jan 2013
#260
Australia also has a higher gun ownership rate today than before the buyback
Recursion
Jan 2013
#157
"There's a large segment of this country, just waiting for a reason to explode."
guardian
Jan 2013
#204
Seems to me the only ones advocating civil war are those desperate to cling to their guns
Hugabear
Jan 2013
#151
I'm thinking more targeting 'repeating arms with removable mags/without fixed capacity.'
jmg257
Jan 2013
#122
I think the problem is that our country is awash in guns, legal, illegal, stolen, etc
rbixby
Jan 2013
#137
Technically speaking, you are absolutely right. Gun nuts simply do not want to acknowledge this.
Hugabear
Jan 2013
#217
Ha! The 2nd makes a distinction because 5 & 11 yr olds aren't in the well-regulated Militia...
jmg257
Jan 2013
#209
+1. And a mandatory prison term for anyone caught with one after the amnesty period (nt)
Nye Bevan
Jan 2013
#223
Take the actuarial data from the cost of gun violence...like we do health care and autos ...
libdem4life
Jan 2013
#257
I've been saying this since calls for a new assault weapon ban popped up after Newtown
krispos42
Jan 2013
#261