Lil_G, I know your last post was not directed at me, but I wanted to jump in here. You mention the 'more likely to be used against the family' stat. That is actually 43 times more likely, but was from a study done by Kellerman in 1986(?) comparing the gun death rate between Seattle, Wa. and Vancouver, B.C. There were a number of problems with that 'study'. First, it was funded by Handgun Control Inc. and Kellerman's conclusions were made before the study was ever conducted or he would not have gotten the money to do it. Kellerman used the wrong statistical model when he presented it in an attempt to make his numbers look better. Fortunately he did include the raw data in his study and we found that he had classified the families by risk level. If you looked only at the 'low risk' households the presence of a firearm was actually around 1.3 times more likely to be used for the benefit of the family, but Kellerman included the 'low risk' families and those figures were so skewed the other way that by lumping 'high' and 'low' risk factor families together he was able to get the '43 times more likely' figure. What he really did was prove that his criteria for evaluating the risk factor was what determined the danger and misuse of firearms in the home. You may rest knowing that the total number of accidental gun deaths and the rate of accidental gun deaths is at its' lowest point ever in the U.S. There were about 1200 accidental gun deaths in 1999 (maybe 1998) for a population of nearly 270 million people. The rate was highest in the 1920's where we had a much lower population and higher number of deaths. It has been in steady decline. Education has been the key with reducing the number of accidental gun deaths just as selt belt education and drunk driving programs have had an impact on reducing vehicular deaths. I want to point out that in your road rage example that the availability of firearms has nothing to do with it. This was a common cry in Texas in 1994 when Texas was going to pass their concealed carry legislation. Since then over 200,000 Texans, myself included, have obtained permits which allow us to legally carry a concealed handgun and there have been no shoot outs over fender benders. Now a person was killed by a permit holder in Dallas after an accident when the truck driver began to beat on the guy he hit. The person in the car, in lawful self defense, shot and killed the truck driver. We knew it would be okay because many states have had concealed carry for years, like here in Indiana, and it has not caused a problem. I fully understand your concern, many before you have had the same concerns, but it just doesn't happen.
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