https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/scientists-agree-guns-dont-make-society-safer/
Scientists who conduct research on
gun violence overwhelmingly agree that firearms make society more dangerous, according to a recent poll conducted by
David Hemenway of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Hemenway, an expert on the public health impact of gun
violence and director of the
Harvard Injury Control Research Center, recently polled 150 scientists who publish on firearms on their opinions about guns and safety, and wrote about the results in an April 22, 2015 op-ed in the Los Angeles Times. “Scientific consensus isn’t always right, but it’s our best guide to understanding the world,” he explained in the op-ed.
An overwhelming share of the scientists he polled (84%) said that having a gun in the home increases the risk of
suicide—which corresponds to scientific evidence on the subject. Most scientists also agreed that a gun in the home increases the risk that a woman living in that home will be a victim of homicide (72%), and that a gun in the home makes it a more dangerous place (64%) rather than a safer place (5%).
“Can reporters please stop pretending that scientists, like politicians, are evenly divided on guns?” Hemenway wrote. “We’re not.”
Read David Hemenway’s Los Angeles Times op-ed:
There’s scientific consensus on guns – and the NRA won’t like it
There are numerous studies available online that explain why owning a gun makes it more likely that it will be used against you, rather than used to save your life. All you have to do is read them. I don't like the fact that my husband owns guns, but at least he never carries concealed any longer and considering that we live in an ultra safe neighborhood and have 3 little barking dogs that would warn us if anyone comes near our home, I'm not really worried about him owning guns because I'm sure he will never be in a position where he will attempt to use one. I just don't feel they are necessary and I'm working on encourgaging him to get rid of them. If I were to notice the slightest sign of cognitive decline, I will take the damn guns to the local gun store and take whatever they offer me.
I was taught to use a gun when I was much younger, but other than target shooting a few times, I never felt comfortable using a gun. I know plenty of Southern women who carry concealed. Some are in their 70s and have health problems. One younger woman who I worked with was about 5ft tall and weighed about 95 lbs. She carried a rather high caliber gun. I think these women are a bit nutty. I once had a nursing supervisor who brandished her gun at a man who got into an argument with her over traffic. Brandishing a gun at someone is illegal. It did get the man to leave her alone, but it might not have worked out that way, if the man was nutty enough to try and take her gun away, or if she had shot him when it wasn't clear if he was much of a violent threat. There have been many examples of women having their guns used against them too, and I remember a woman who's toddler took her gun out of her purse and either shot his mom or himself in a Walmart. It was about ten years ago, so I don't remember the details. Atlanta has had so many teenage deaths by guns lately. Why is it so easy for a teenager to get a gun, even if in some cases the guns weren't legally owned? A few months ago, a 2 year old was accidentally killed by a gun that his father had hidden under his pillow. WTF! A lot of people are too stupid to own a gun. A few months before that, a pastor brandished his gun at a robber. The robber took the man's gun and shot him to death. I've also been told if you pull out your gun, you better use it. We're a sick society when it comes to guns!
But wait...I'm not done ranting....
The nuttiest example of an armed person I ever saw, was a frail looking man on 02, using a walker, who looked about 80, openly carrying. He was with his family so maybe he didn't go out alone with that gun, but I did wonder if the man didn't realize how easily someone could knock him down and take his gun. I wondered if he lived alone and thought about the potential danger of such a person owning a gun. But hey! This is America, where anyone with very few exceptions can legally own a gun and in many state they can carry concealed or openly. Thanks to the idiots who wrote the 2nd amendment, we now have far more guns than we do people. Of course, they intended that the constitution would be rewritten or updated on a regular basis like it is in most places. Instead, we have people who value that stupid amendment more than the better parts of the constitution. That's a big problem, imo.
One more....When I lived in NC and was making a home health visit, an elderly man didn't like what I told him about our services. He started yelling at me and I noticed he was wearing a large side arm. I gathered my things and ran out of his house. He yelled that he wasn't going to shoot me, but I certainly wan't going to take a chance. Too many men have lost their tempers and used their guns. I just read this week that one just shot two of his neighbors in Florida over a minor disagreement over the laundry room. After he killed the two neighbors, he told the police he regretted doing that, but he had lost his temper. The shooter was 75 years old. Now two people are dead and he will spend the rest of his life in prison, leaving his wife alone. Was it really worth owning that gun! There are countless examples of the misuse of guns by people who should have never had access to them, imo.
The US now has over 415 million guns. We will never get rid of all of the guns, even if there was a way to ban them, but we can at least ban assault weapons and we can at least regulate gun ownership. I guess that phrase "well regulated" means nothing these days. That won't stop all of the violence, but it will reduce it. I don't understand the gun fetish. I'm not claiming that all gun owners fetishize their guns, but the ones who do are the biggest problem, especially the nut jobs in Congress who have had adds which include family members holding assault weapons, sometimes even making indirect threats to their opponents. It's sick!
