” “If you have a gun at home, you’re more at risk of gun-related violence.” “
This topic comes up frequently on Free Republic. It always leads to the usual reactions by sane people, and the suggested and expected answers. Please allow me to provide you with the answer that thrashes this subject with an insurmountable argument and tends to leave doctors speechless.
“Let me ask you a question doctor, since one of my biggest concerns is cancer, why I am here talking to you when the foolproof cure is already available? Think not? Listen closely.
According to the highly reputable American Cancer Society, my total chance of dying of some form of cancer if I live long enough is 23%. Yet if I find a woman that has had three previous husbands die of cancer, the odds of her having a fourth husband die of cancer is a number considerably below 1%. All I’ve got to do is become her fourth husband, and my chances of dying of cancer are less than 1%.
Now I’m sitting here putting up with your inane questions because I know NEITHER of those premises are true. I can’t avoid cancer just by who I marry, and I’m no more at risk with a gun in my house. They are both just tricks of statistics and mean nothing. If either were true, they would both be true.
But I must say, that you’ve been taken in so easily by this gibberish does cause me some concern.”
End of questions
Excellent answer.
My question is....would you *really* say that to your doc?
The most reasonable answer (if the foregoing statement is true) is that people who have guns at home live in neighborhoods that make them more at risk of gun-related violence. It's the neighborhood - not the gun.