COVID-19, gun sales and guns in homes

[txradioguy]

In March an astounding 3,740,688 background checks took place, according to the FBI.

While this does not correlate exactly with gun sales, it is close and tells us that more guns were sold than any time since the background check system began in 1998.

This purchasing of firearms is not surprising now that the COVID-19 virus is causing unpredictable health and financial disruption. People are afraid a desperate person will break into their home. President Trump has called COVID-19 “the Chinese virus” as if we were being attacked by foreigners.

Even before this, for decades, the gun industry marketed guns as the best defense against home invasions. But there is scientific research on the use of guns for self-defense and on the risks of having guns in homes.

Dr. David Hemenway, a professor at Harvard’s school of Public Health, summarized the research studies on the risks vs. the benefits of owning firearms and found, “there is no credible evidence of a deterrent effect of firearms.” Defensive gun use is rare, and “it does not appear that self-defense gun use is more effective at preventing injury than many other methods of resistance,” Hemenway found.

https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/492353-coronavirus-gun-sales-and-guns-in-homes

[truth_seeker]

The always trusty FBI.

[txradioguy]

The always trusty FBI.

@truth_seeker

If we've learned anything over the last three years...it's that the FBI can't be trusted in its current state.

[Smokin Joe]

Defensive gun use is rare, and “it does not appear that self-defense gun use is more effective at preventing injury than many other methods of resistance,”

Well that sounds like a product of the north end of a southbound horse to me.

First, the professor is summarizing other research, without testing that research or data for bias or error.

Second, if my defensive use of a firearm is successful and I do not have to discharge my weapon (preferred because of the lack of paperwork involved), there may be no official record of the event.

Third, if I have to discharge my firearm, then someone is going to be injured, at the very least. With a noted tendency for researchers to include perpetrators as "victims" of "gun violence", I wonder that the numbers are skewed.

Fourth, What "other means of defense" is the writer talking about? Not  all of us are masters of some other martial art, nor does everyone stand an even chance against one or more younger, stronger perpetrators. Sam Colt's equalizer evens those odds whether you are an NFL Linebacker, Black Belt, or a little old lady. Remember, when seconds count the police are only minutes away, if the perpetrators even let you dial 911. (The time needed to bludgeon someone to death is well under 1 minute, and 672 people were murdered with fists and feet in 2018, alone --more than twice the number who were killed with those mean looking "assault weapons" (rifles)).

I'll keep my guns, thanks.

[MajorClay]

Well that sounds like a product of the north end of a southbound horse to me.

Yep