February 24, 2014 by David K. Sutton
Guns Only Make You FEEL Safer
New Rule: Gun-lovers must admit they are servicing paranoia not safety by owning a firearm.
Will we ever reach a point when card-carrying NRA members, concealed-carry pocketbook moms, and Ted Nugent wannabes will admit that guns don’t make people safer? The statistics on this topic are in, so there’s no dispute here. There is no debate even if you want there to be one.
Yes, as affirmed by the Supreme Court, you have a right to own a firearm. So there’s no need to embellish for the sake of sharpening your debate skills. You want to own a firearm, you can own a firearm. But let’s stick to the facts, okay? People who own firearms are more likely to commit suicide or die by homicide.
Guns are the most popular and effective method of killing—both of oneself and of others. Around 31,000 die by the gun annually and gun deaths make up over half of all completed suicides and over two-thirds of all homicides.
Save me your silly nonsense that people can be killed by means other than firearm, because that’s a completely ridiculous boilerplate retort by gun enthusiasts. Guns make killing people efficient. Guns make killing people less intimate. Many other means of murder require closer access to the victim. You can kill someone with a gun from clear across the room, or from a block away (or further), depending on the type of gun and accuracy. You aren’t killing someone with a knife or a baseball bat from across the room, and at least the intended victim has a fighting chance.
And if we are really being honest, we would also acknowledge that human beings, with our limitless array of emotions and ever-changing mental states, are not really mature enough to be entrusted with the power of a firearm, without challenge, for life. But that is the law as it stands, and I’m not arguing against that here. All I’m asking is for all the gun-worshippers out there to quit fooling themselves. You aren’t safer because you own a firearm, you simply think you are.