Gunshots and Mug Shots; Six of one, half a dozen of the other(Barf Alert)

NW Arkansas Times Online | November 3, 2001 | Wanda Freeman; Copy Editor NW AR Times

[missanne]

- NWAShop.com: Classifieds | Business Directory | Coupons NWANews.com: Contact Us | Advertising Copyright ©1997- 2001 Community Publishers, Inc./ Arkansas-Democrat Gazette. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced, republished or rebroadcast without the express written permission of Community Publishers, Inc./ Arkansas-Democrat Gazette. Have a nice day.

[missanne]

This is for discussion purposes. However I will be demanding equal time for a guest column in the next week to rebutt. Any points Freepers would be very much appreciated. Miss Anne

[dighton]

Something seems to be missing.

[kaylar]

In the weeks since Sept. 11, some Americans have added both holster and lanyard to their workaday gear. They're packing heat and flashing badges in the name of safety, security and peace of mind.

Gun dealers across the nation have reported a surge in business since the terrorist attacks, as have firing ranges, weapons trainers and firearm regulators.

Last month the FBI told the Washington Post that permit applications had increased 15 percent above normal from Sept. 11-13. .

A researcher for the National Association of Federally Licensed Firearms Dealers said the 200 members she'd talked to had seen an upshot in sales, mostly to first-time buyers. Indeed, several Washington-area gun sellers told the Post their sales had increased between 50 percent and 75 percent.

In greater Louisville, Ky., a shooting range operator who provides concealed-weapon training told the weekly Business First he'd had to double his course offerings from five to 10 full classes, each with 21 students.

Badge makers must be pretty busy too. When we aren't buying weapons, it seems we're acquiring employee identification cards. Plastic mini-portraits have spread like birdshot in workplaces big and small, including the Northwest Arkansas Times.

Despite the timing, though, most gun and ID wielders will quickly deny that all this protection is about terrorists.

Kentucky gun dealer Bob Goranflo told Business First the Sept. 11 attacks have "made people realize just how vulnerable they can be." He said people want to "protect their homes from other crimes, like burglary, where a drug addict may break into a house."

A single mother and first-time gun buyer in Virginia echoed that sentiment when she told the Post that the attacks, plus a recent break-in attempt at her apartment, accelerated her decision to buy a handgun.

Meanwhile, employers make do with the placebo affect. "You don't recognize everyone who works here," they remind ID skeptics. "Now, when an unfamiliar person comes in, you'll know whether he belongs here."

Those who've turned to handguns probably think they're better protected than those who suffice with laminated mug shots. But are they really?

Like Goranflo and that Virginia mom, law-abiding citizens typically envision threats coming from burglars, robbers or attackers unknown to them. Handgun ownership can provide peace of mind -- evidence that they'll be able to fend off scary strangers.

Unfortunately, the facts don't support such notions -- not even when you consider the realities that send good people to the arsenal in the first place.

There's no denying, for instance, that wrongdoing is seemingly rampant. The FBI reported 1.4 million incidents of violent crime and 10.2 million incidents of property crime in 1999 alone. The Bureau of Justice says 51 percent of all homicides that year were committed with handguns, and 14 percent with other guns. In 2000, a weapon was present in 26 percent of violent crimes overall and 55 percent of robberies.

No wonder citizens think they need handguns to meet the bad guys halfway.

But wait, there's a twist: Of the 32,166 firearm deaths reported in 1997, a full 55 percent were actually suicides. Homicides trailed at 41 percent. The other deaths were either unintended or of unknown intent.

And even in cases of murder, most victims are killed by people they know. The Bureau of Justice reports that in 2000, only 15 percent of murder victims were killed by strangers. About 45 percent were acquainted with their assailants, while another 40 percent had undetermined relationships.

There's more: The Violence Policy Center says that in 1998, nearly five times as many women were fatally shot by an intimate as by a stranger. Self-defense seems mythical in such cases: In 1997, for every time one woman fatally shot an intimate to save herself, 97 women were murdered by an intimate.

Indeed, the presence of a gun in the home was shown to make a woman three times more likely to be a homicide victim -- and seven times more likely to be killed by an intimate.

Nonfatal violence looks no better. The Bureau of Justice says 40 percent of victims in the workplace know their assailants. And according to the National Victim Center, 75 percent of all rapes involve offenders known to the victim, while more than six in 10 rapes occur to children under 18 -- people too young to buy guns for self-defense.

Still think you've got a shot at the silver bullet? You're not alone: A Police Foundation survey found some 44 million Americans owned 192 million firearms in 1994, including 65 million handguns.

But all that firepower doesn't seem to help much. In the average year, says the Bureau of Justice, only 1 percent, or about 62,200 actual or attempted victims of violent crime use a firearm in self-defense. Another 20,300 claim to use a gun to defend their property during theft or burglary.

Meanwhile, 341,000 gun thefts are reported annually, most of which are taken from households.

Looking at the numbers, it appears that firearms are hardly better than ID cards in the safety and security game. In fact, they may be worse. At least when you flash your ID, you can't hurt yourself or other innocents. And when your children play with your badge, the only shot they get is a mug.



Wanda Freeman is copy editor at the Northwest Arkansas Times. Her column appears on Saturdays.
Link to article

[missanne]

Yeah, when I went to post it, all that came onto the board was what is up. Along with the Have a nice day routine. I guess they have figured a way to keep us from copying to FR. However, tomorrow I will type the entire article in myself to see what happens. Ive never had this happen before. Sorry. I'd do it tonight but it has been an extremely long day. Miss Anne......

[missanne]

OK!!! Thanks for the assist! I wonder why it would not let me copy and paste to the board? God bless ya Kaylar!

[missanne]

I plan to respond any help or suggestions would be helpful. I will demand my "equal time"!

[dighton]

Kaylar, thanks for finding it.

Missanne, I wouldn't know where to start with the likes of Ms. Freeman. Good luck.

[dighton]

PS -- Well, yes I do. Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper wrote a very good piece, with the refrain (as I remember it) STAY OUT OF MY WAY. Someone on the bang_list can surely find it.

[TooBusy]

You can destroy the statisticall argument w/o even looking up the truth.
For example for every time one woman fatally shot an intimate to save herself, 97 women were murdered by an intimate" - if only 1 in 98 women had a gun that means posession is 100% successful.

"A Police Foundation survey found some 44 million Americans owned 192 million firearms in 1994, including 65 million handgun...only 1 percent, or about 62,200 actual or attempted victims of violent crime use a firearm in self-defense" - There is no indication that people who were unable to defend themselves were the people in possession of firearms ,or they may have been in a place where they were unable to carry due to legislation.

Anti-gunners always use statistics of this sort ,and also include that just because a woman knows an attacker or is an intimate is no reason to assume that a firearm would have been useless!

[TooBusy]

although spellling may always be a victim

[missanne]

You are soooo right. I was raped 18 years ago by someone who was known to me. He was as, the truth came to light, not a businessman/owner but a well known drug runner, big time. Had I had my carry gun I would have had a choice. If faced with that decision again, I would not hestitate to use my firearm to protect myself and if I happened to be a statistic, at least I had a choice in the matter.........I am pro choice on guns!

[absalom01]

These sorts of foolish pieces still make my blood boil, mainly because they keep repeating the same old distortions and outright lies of the victim disarmament crowd. The mere fact that the VPC (think pathologial liars) can be quoted as a source given their remarkably shoddy "research" is frustrating as well. I guess that it's important to try to counter these people, but it gets disheartening to see the same garbage endlessly recycled.

[VRWC_Member428]

for all the statistics and sources you'll ever need, check out:

http://www.gunowners.org

Specifically, check out the:

2001 FireArms Fact Sheet

It's a wealth of excellent information. For example,

Self-defense seems mythical in such cases: In 1997, for every time one woman fatally shot an intimate to save herself, 97 women were murdered by an intimate

The key phrase here is "every time one woman fatally shot..."

What they don't tell you is that less than 8% of the time a gun is used in self defense, it is actually fired. Most of the time, one merely needs to brandish a weapon to ward off an attacker. So, what we have here is that 1 woman being the 8% of the time a gun is fired, and possibly 11 women who warded off an attack with the presence of a gun. TooBusy made a good point also. Of those 98 women, how many had ready access to a gun? And were they murdered with a gun, or was it done with a knife, strangling device, blunt object, etc. Conveniently, the article doesn't say.

[cruiserman]

The Violence Policy Center

No there's an unbiased source.

[backhoe]

Good sources- another one:

-Gunfacts--Ammo for the War of Words-hosted by FR's AAABest--

My opinion of the authoress of this bilge?

[sailor4321]

I believe the term for their use of statistics is "meretricious" --- appearing on the face to be valid but utterly specious upon examination. The latest DOJ report on violence between "intimates" (wives/husbands, girlfriend/boyfriend) inidicates that only 15% of such assaults use a weapon of any kind (that includes things like bottles, rocks, guns, knives, etc.). That being the case, an armed intimate is going to be far better able to defend him or her self than one who is unarmed...

It looks to me like this reporter simply took VPC/Brady statistical lies and dropped them into her article. We should be emailing her the other side...

[missanne]

Hey thanks for the link!!! I'll be using the fact on this website to rebutt this liberal feminazi! You would think at a time as this that even the most touchy feely liberal would have had their eyes opened to truth. Maybe she need to face an attacker of her own stare down the barrel of a gun and wonder if SHE will live to see her kids again! I wouldn't wish it on her!

[backhoe]

GTBOS ( glad to be of service! )--