[PREV - ADDRESS_THE_PROBLEM]    [TOP]

GUNS_AGAINST_CRIME

                                             January 10, 2013

       Concerning the deterent
       effect of private guns
       on crime, my understanding
       is that there doesn't             GUNS_TO_NO_EFFECT
       seem to be any measureable                            But then, some
       effect way or the other.                              are arguing
                                                             otherwise:
          And consider the case for keeping
          a gun for emergency purposes: it                      MOJO_GUN
          takes a considerable amount of
          training to have some hope of
          using it effectively, and there's
          a rather narrow range of                     "movie-plot
          circumstances where using it at               threats"
          all would be appropriate.

              Potential perverse effects
              abound: you might shoot the
              wrong person (including
              yourself); pulling the gun at
              the wrong moment might
              escalate a conflict rather
              than deflate it; the gun
              intended to deter thieves may
              become a target for them; you
              might be shot by the police          The negative scenarios
              (e.g. they were called in to         don't come up very
              deal with a problem, and find        often in the movies.
              a guy with a gun running
              around...), etc.

              Now think about other kinds
              of emergency equipment
              and emergency training.
              Are you stocked up with
              first aid kits?  Got some
              EMT training?  How's your
              bottled water and canned
              food supply?

                  For that matter, you
                  car drivers out there:
                  is your spare tire
                  inflated?



--------
[NEXT - GUNS_TO_NO_EFFECT]