(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Murderer or Defender - a tale of two guns [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-05-02 Left: Beretta handgun. Right: Colt assault rifle. Source: Wikimedia Commons I went to a fire safety conference last week where one of the presentations was about the competence of guns to be an ignition source for structure fires and explosions. The researchers discussed terms such as “muzzle flash”, “projectiles” and “heated fragments” and presented test results that demonstrated how each high temperature source could start fires under the right circumstances. But there was a side point that these researchers made that caught my attention. On multiple occasions, different presenters said — “I’m not a gun person” — as a means of exonerating themselves if they relied on improper or archaic vocabulary about guns in a way that would expose their ignorance about current gun culture. I’m not a gun person either. But that’s precisely the point I want to make in this diary. What makes someone a “gun person”? May I suggest that there are four basic relationships people can have with guns: Avoidance — “Don’t need ‘em, don’t want ‘em.” Adoption — “Yes, I want a gun for self-defense (e.g. liquor store owner) or recreation.” Angst — “The bad guys are a constant threat and I need lots of guns to protect myself.” are a constant threat and I need lots of guns to protect myself.” Atrocity — “I’m going to shoot up a bunch of bad guys because they ruined my life.” Exponential growth of assault rifle production since 1990s. Source: Wikimedia Commons In a paper published by Pew Research, the authors present different breakdowns on the demographics of gun ownership, the most remarkable being that only 30% of U.S. adults currently own a gun. If we overlay my four categories on top the Pew data, I think it is safe to say that the category “Avoidance” must cover approximately 70% of the U.S. population. I don’t know if corroborating statistics are out there, but I will offer an opinion that the exponential increase we have seen in AR-15 production since the 1990s (see figure) can be attributed almost entirely to the Angst and Atrocity categories. Responsible gun owners (the “Adoption” category) really have no reason to (a) stockpile guns at all and (b) choose assault rifles for their arsenal. Can you imagine drying to hunt a deer with a machine gun. Preposterous! So let’s focus on the two problematic categories (“Angst” and “Atrocity”). They both are likely growing over time (total gunshot homicide rate rose from about 25 in a million in 2014 to 67 in a million in 2021. This increase correlates well with the increase in assault rifle production shown above. But guess what? The likelihood of dying by gunshot homicide is still vastly lower than most other causes of death. For comparison, in 2021, the death rate from natural disasters (flood, wildfire, lightning) was about 3 per million, and in 2019, the death rate for ALL causes combined was 8,697 per million. To me, it seems that obsessive worrying about being killed by a gunshot, while tragic, is fundamentally immature and silly. And I would venture to say that 70 percent of Americans — the “Avoidance” category above — agree with me. Yes, dying by gunshot violence is somewhat more likely than dying in a natural disaster, but it is far less likely than dying because of a health issue (heart disease, cancer, etc.) As a side note, I believe that the “Angst” category includes the vile criminals, who shoot cheerleaders and older brothers that happen to enter the wrong driveway or knock on the wrong door. These people are not using their guns for rightfully defending themselves. They are reckless manslaughterers, not too far removed from the atrocious criminals who pre-meditate their mass murder rampages. Upon this base of information, let us ask two related questions. Why are so many cowardly Americans (the “Angst category) stockpiling guns because they live in dread of some super-unlikely attack by their neighbors? Why is the number of vile Americans (the “Atrocity category) who condemn their neighbors to death for having different skin colors, religions, and political persuasions, increasing so rapidly? I blame a depraved con game Republicans are playing on their voters. Red district voters die from gun violence at a higher rate than blue state voters, because there are more guns per capita in red states. die from gun violence at a higher rate than blue state voters, because there are more guns per capita in red states. Red voters are more irrationally scared about violent crime than blue voters (even the likelihood of any one individual being the victim of gunshot homicide is minuscule) because politicians ramp up fear with their rhetoric. are more irrationally scared about violent crime than blue voters (even the likelihood of any one individual being the victim of gunshot homicide is minuscule) because politicians ramp up fear with their rhetoric. Red voters are more fearful of strangers (and more likely to shoot them) than blue voters because their news sources and their politicians fill them with falsehoods (and irrational fear) about crime. are more fearful of strangers (and more likely to shoot them) than blue voters because their news sources and their politicians fill them with falsehoods (and irrational fear) about crime. Red politicians falsely tell their constituents that blue politicians want to take away their reasonable guns, because they want them to be defenseless when their neighbor enters their property to attack them. falsely tell their constituents that blue politicians want to take away their reasonable guns, because they want them to be defenseless when their neighbor enters their property to attack them. Red politicians favor “stand your ground” laws because they make blue politicians look weak and blue voters look cowardly. favor “stand your ground” laws because they make blue politicians look weak and blue voters look cowardly. Red politicians favor a divided America, because they know they will lose electoral power if red voters begin to respect and accept blue voters. Basically, it comes down to leaders on the right being willing to ignore facts and promote falsehoods in order to keep their constituents as fearful as possible. Red politicians aren’t so much beholden to the NRA as they are coldly calculating the decrease in voter support if the stop pandering to their fears. Only by realizing their fears are a direct outcome of listening to lying politicians and pundits, will our fellow “Angst” Americans be able to overcome their irrational fears. And that will take a lot of personal courage and a lot of help from loved ones and concerned friends. Just ask anyone who has been able to face other types of fears and overcome the accompanying paralysis in order to live a normal life again. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/2/2166982/-Murderer-or-Defender-a-tale-of-two-guns Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/