A Gun in Hand

“According to the 2007 Small Arms Survey, there are currently 270 million guns owned by civilians in the U.S., that’s nearly half of all guns owned worldwide.”-Freedom States Alliance

So how important is that we have easy access to guns. Very!

Just ask Aaron P. Jackson. This Falmouth, Va. man fatally shot his girlfriend, their two children and then himself. He used an assault rifle to kill his girl friend in a mobile home they shared, then used a handgun to shoot the couple's two children, Nicole Jackson, 2, and Aaron Jackson, 18 months, and himself. The children were shot in their cribs.

It’s strange how the AP story failed to mention whether the guns were legally purchased or not.

Hasn’t the debate been about the safety of legally purchased guns? The media has conveniently ignored the fact that those same weapons can be used illegally later. I’ve been told that nearly thirty thousand gun deaths a year is a reasonable price to pay for your second amendment right to insure your safety. In fact, guns help us weed out the weak among us: suicides account for 57% of the gun deaths: 17,424.

Of course that leaves us with over 12,000 deaths due to homicides, making us the number one most violent industrialized nation in the world. We’re number one, we’re number one…..!

I found this old quote that is almost, strike that, is laughable today: "The National Center for Health Statistics report for 1998 (latest available) shows that of the 30,708 total firearms-related deaths, only 11,798 -- slightly more than a third -- were homicides (some of which are justifiable). An incredibly low 866 were accidents, and 620 were listed as "undetermined" or "other" -- which probably includes a lot more self-defense shootings" I love the use of “only,” “slightly,” “justifiable,” “incredibly low” and “probably includes a lot more self-defense shootings.” Of course, that’s what it probably was. Right.

You can be sure criminals all over the country are canceling their plans to rob families tonight based on the fact they can’t be sure who, out of 40 percent of households, are standing watch for intruders.

According to my figures from 2004, the heavily armed countries like Australia scared off so many criminals that only 56 people were murdered. England of course learned their lesson after WW2 and armed everyone, resulting in an amazingly low number of murders; just 73. Sadly, since Illinois and Wisconsin refused to pass concealed carry legislation, the U.S. was left unprotected, resulting in a free for all; 11, 344 murders. Have they no shame?

One pro gun statement still confuses me. How can they boldly claim that “guns make us safer,” and then complain that “guns don’t kill people, but people kill people?”

Is it because saying “people make us safer” sound idiotic?

UPDATE: The Aaron Jackson murder suicide story has been updated and now includes this short, but important, line: "police at this point can only speculate as to why Jackson, who had a concealed handgun permit, had so much weaponry and what spurred his actions."