Chris, but maybe the reason fewer people are accidentally killed by guns is BECAUSE we recognize their inherent danger and take reasonable steps to minimize the risk. Things that are not so obviously inherently dangerous many people fail to safeguard against. Pools, baseball bats, cars, etc. all have a different purpose other than shooting and killing things. A guns sole purpose is to shoot and kill something, so its danger is always in the fore front of our minds.
I think what anti-gunners fear is, is not accidentally getting shot. If someone is afraid of that then they just simply refrain from owning a gun. I think their fear is of getting intentionally shot by the one who owns the gun. And if they don't own a gun, then they are put at severe disadvantage. You have absolute power over anyone who doesn't own a gun (if you so choose to use it). I think that is what they are really afraid of. They view that as impinging up their freedom from fear. They want to be able to walk down the street and feel safe that someone isn't going to shoot them intentionally with a gun. If no one owns guns, then no one could do this. That is their utopian idea. On Feb 2, 10:14 am, Chris Jenkins <[email protected]> wrote: > In 'Freakonomics', Steven Levitt explored the remarkable phenomenon of > parental misperception of risk. He noted that a child was 11 times more > likely to die by swimming accident at a friend's house with a pool, than by > shooting accident at a friend's house with a gun, and yet parents as a > generality never restricted play due to the presence of a pool, but would > restrict play due to the presence of a gun. > Statistically, I am far more likely to kill you with my: > > car > knife > baseball bat or other blunt trauma intrument > alcohol > > than with my gun, yet your perception of personal risk is so skewed that you > literally feel your freedom is impinged upon merely by my possession of this > tool. That's a psychological phenomenon that is really irrelevant to the > greater conversation, and which probably deserves a thread unto its own. > > On Mon, Feb 2, 2009 at 11:39 AM, Ian Pollard <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Your posession of a firearm makes me less safe. Not being murdered or hurt > > is a pretty fundamental freedom; can we agree on that much? Now, am I more > > likely to be a victim of gun crime in a country with lots of guns or a > > country with very few? > > > (First person to mention Switzerland gets bitch-slapped.) > > > Ian --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Minds-Eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
