Jeff has a link to an article on guns that implies arming oneself is a choice (ala abortion). Now, while I don’t think that’s a good comparison because abortion is about more than choice, it does represent a trend in reporting lately that isn’t anti-gun:

Million Mom founder Donna Dees-Thomases has issued the dire warning that if the ban expires, “terrorists, drug lords and the mentally unstable will be able to stock up on assault weapons that can wipe out a schoolyard full of kids in a matter of minutes.”

True, perhaps, in theory. But practically speaking, most criminals use guns against one another. Assault weapons rarely figure in domestic violence or other forms of violence against women or children. Guns of any kind (primarily handguns) are used in only 4% of rapes/sexual assaults. Abusers are more likely to stab, strangle or bludgeon their female victims to death than to shoot them. Gun accidents happen, and every one of them is a tragedy, but data consistently show that far greater threats to children exist: automobiles, improperly stored household chemicals, even unattended swimming pools.

Posted in uncategorized on May 7th, 2004 by SayUncle | RSS 2.0 |