In case you missed the news, the Supreme Court overturned Washington DC’s ban on handguns. This naturally has been a topic of conversation all over, including the exciting (some of the time – see oakbook link) character-laden city I call home.
Over the weekend I discovered that the views, global warming ain’t happening, and that handguns should be owned by anyone who wants one can exist in the same person. So a global warming denier can also be a gun acquirer! I made me an old fashioned Venn diagram which is a most excellent visual aid to understanding this beautifully crazy world.
I wonder what proportion of those who deny global warming also happen to believe that owning handguns is great? Anyone have any guesstimates for the G & G? Please comment if you do!
All I want to know is this:
If
People believe that is it perfectly logical that one should own a gun to defend against an improbable event
Then
Why isn’t it logical for everyone to take action to prevent global warming, an event/process for which the probability is close to 1?
Of course IMHO global warming is already occurring – witness the extreme weather events all over the world, not to mention the glaciers and the poles. That said, if we make an effort, things can get better.
Now at the end, I should make my own position about guns clear. I don’t much care for guns and I don’t want one in my home because well designed studies have made it clear that there are way too many accidents in homes with guns. And the incidence of guns being used in self defense in almost the entire western world is negligible – anything under 5% is negligible for me. But policy implications of studied are apparently more difficult, at least based on the studies mentioned in all the leading newspapers.
For policy implications I’d like to see behavioral experiments with guns as well as better statistical analysis. But my gut feel is that better policing is answer to making citizens feel safe. Just like two wrongs don’t make a right, two guns in a room does not mean that the right one will stay safe.
2 responses so far ↓
rick g // July 1, 2008 at 12:53 am
It sure would be nice if you would support your contention that there are people with the opinion “that handguns should be owned by anyone who wants one”.
“And the incidence of guns being used in self defense in almost the entire western world is negligible”. I guess if you are one of the survivors you probably feel more then part of a negligible statistic.
What do you suppose a Venn diagram would reveal bout people that feel you should give up your lifestyle and income to a political movement but your right to self defense against criminals is preposterous?
By the way, I applaud your decision on not owning a gun or having one in your home. I think you should put a sign in your front yard and tell the world.
moonkub // July 1, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Rick,
You missed the point or chose not to address the point of the post.
What are you so angry about anyway? That someone has an opinion different from yours? Is that the reason you had to get personal and talk about signs in my yard?
Its too bad that your post can provide additional evidence for studies that show that gun owners are more likey to be angry and depressed than non-gun owners.
Hope you cheer up and lighten up! And yes I have met people that rail against “global warming conspiracy” and the gun control laws in the same breath.
And I said improbable because nobody has any reliable estimate of how often guns are used in self defense. I have read of estimates ranging from 1% to a million incidents.
The only reliable statistic we do have is that suicides account for 55% of nearly 31000 firearm deaths in 2005, the last year for which data is available.
Hope this helps.