Just some points of discussion for the great DU gun debate.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

Here are a few ideas that are generally accepted by even the strongest 2nd Amendment advocates and as far as I can tell, through research, that includes the dreaded NRA and no I'm not a member. We don't want to eliminate the laws that currently prohibit convicted felons and people adjudicated mentally ill from possessing firearms. In fact most of us here favor stronger enforcement and increased criminal penalties for felons found to be in illegal possession of a firearm. This is important because people legally prohibited from possessing firearms are the same people who commit the vast majority of murders with firearms. We also realize that the vast majority of firearm homicides are committed with pistols not with rifles of any type. So that would mean that semi-automatic rifles are very rarely used to commit murder. It seems silly to ban rifles with certain cosmetic features when they are used in so few murders. Most of us agree with the regulations within the National Firearms Act of 1934 or it's current form. Even the liberal member of the Supreme Court agreed that the 2nd Amendment protects an individuals right to possess firearms without specific membership in any type of militia. While gun violence, usually perpetrated by those prohibited from possessing firearms, remains a significant problem in the US. Accidental deaths from firearms are not a significant problem when compared to the other causes of accidental deaths in this country. Let's try and have a polite, rational discussion on these points.

David

[TheWraith]

1. A quick nitpick...

More like ~90% of murders involving a gun are committed using a handgun. While it's true that rifles account for 3% (just under that actually) shotguns are more heavily represented than rifles in murders.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

2. Fixed it, I thought I took the figure out earlier, thanks.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

3. Yeah, pretty much.

Inanimate objects, whatever their form, are not a threat to me. Of course, we could follow the lead of Great Britain and ban the possession of butter knives because they COULD be used as weapons but hey! They lost the last war we had with them so what do they know?

I know that if "We the people" had no arms, we would have all been speaking English now instead of American.

And for you who take things too literally, YES, I'm kidding!

[depakid]

4. Accidental deaths from firearms certainly are a significant problem

in that they would not occur if the family didn't have guns in the house. In other words- every single one of them was prevenatbale but for the regretable decision to purchase the gun and keep it around.

Not even close to the same sort of a risk as falls or accidental suffications.

[one-eyed fat man]

5. 14,700 injuries among children every year.

300 deaths! You would think with those kinds of statistics, people would know better!

Where is the public outcry? Most of the children were younger than 6 years old, and the number of injuries was highest for 2-year-olds..............

What kind of gun is responsible for all this carnage?

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103769777

The TV..........yes, the infamous "Boob tube". Children pulling TV's and heavy furniture onto themselves actually results in more accidents for toddlers than that iconic and inaccurate "Public Service Message" portrayed.

You remember, the earnest toddler pushing a chair across the room to climb into the closet to retrieve a Beretta from a shoebox, fade to black, sound of gunshot and the announcer says, "300 children a day........."

[SteveM]

6. Accidental "gun deaths" among children fastest falling statistic...

According to the National Safety Council, gun-deaths among children have been decreasing faster than all other listed accidental categories for several years, and remain well below drowning, falls, electrocution as a means of death.

[jmg257]

7. How about the risks of using water, matches, and cars? We can certainly avoid all those deaths.

And those objects cause FAR more accidental deaths then the 83* or so attributable annually to firearms.

Regrettable that such deaths are almost totally preventable, as they would not occur if people just avoid using those objects.


2006 kids ages 0-16 Unintentional injury deaths
WISQARS

MV Traffic: 2834
Drowning: 820
Fire: 411
Suffocation: 280
Poison: 200
...
Fall: 94
Firearms: 83

[pipoman]

9. One of the stats I find most useful in these discussions

is ATV deaths/accidents. I think there are definite arguments that the actual utility of cars. ATVs OTOH have only a couple of uses as far as children are concerned. The most common would be use as a recreational vehicle, not unlike the utility of firearms as recreational instruments. The second most common use would likely be for underage drivers (mostly rural) to commute in rural areas...an obvious utility yet definitely a gray area.

2006 ATV deaths for children UNDER age 16: 139
2006 ATV related Emergency Room Visits Under 16: 39,300

http://www.atvsafety.gov/stats.html

Compared to WISQARS data for 2006 unintentional firearms deaths children 0-15: 64

Also worth noting is that the stat for accidental firearms death indicates nearly 25% of unintentional firearms deaths 0-16 are attributed to 16 year olds...legal age to hunt without supervision in most states.(0-15:64, 0-16:83)

[jmg257]

10. Excellent info - thanks! Of course the damn kid wants a quad, and we have guns! OMG!! ;)

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

8. Almost every accidental death is preventable.

[raimius]

11. Of course

If you want to mitigate that risk, simply choose not to own a firearm!

As for me, I'm willing to accept the risk for the returns I experience (hobby, job skill proficiency, and endless intellectual debates on the merits of Constitutional law.)