Comment Re:Most famous quote. (Score 1) 531
One of the major problems with getting an accurate impression of how many times crimes are prevented with guns is that a lack of crime is typically not very newsworthy. People are interested in hearing that some crazy shot up a shopping mall, but they would be less captivated by reports from several individuals that they were approached and threatened by someone who high-tailed it when they pulled out a firearm (or possibly even shot him). Especially if no shots are fired, then it's hard to even know what and if to report.
I believe that the number of reports of self-injuries also tends to be inflated, for the following reason: if you're involved in something shady (such as trying to rob/attack someone), and get shot, when you go to the hospital, what are you going to claim happened? That you tried to commit a crime and were emphatically dissuaded, or that you were cleaning your gun and accidentally shot yourself? Sure, there are other alternative stories you might use, too, but the important point is that they all involve the perpetrator claiming either an accident or that a crime was perpetrated on him with a gun.
There have been studies done by people from both sides of the camp on accidental deaths of children and so forth, and they naturally get widely different results. However, make sure, as always, you check the methodology before subscribing to any published statistics (For instance, make sure that when a study refers to "children", it's not defining them as "under 24-year-olds"). If you look at the number of children under 10 who accidentally shoot themselves according to the data we have, the yearly number in the US would appear to normally be under 10.
Sure, you say, that's 10 more than is acceptable. I agree that it would be good to avoid, but have a little perspective here - Many more kids that age die in bicycle accidents, drowning in bathtubs, drowning in swimming pools... even drowning in 5 gallon buckets is about on part with that, as is getting struck by lightening.
There's interesting research out there, and as always both sides try to skew things in there favor, but my opinion is that there does appear to be at least an implicit, and possibly an explicit, bias against gun ownership in what the media portrays. I'm not claiming it's belligerent, but it does seem to be there. And I don't even own any guns. I don't care much about them, except that I'm in favor of being able to get one if I wanted to. I'm in favor of would-be criminals thinking that I or my neighbor or someone else just might have a gun. This comment has gone on longer than I intended.
