Why I really (not kidding) favor gun control

When I say I favor gun control, I refer exactly to the kind of gun control the left and the right wants. The gun control as favored by Damnocrats and Reboobicans. I mean the kind of gun control that says citizens cannot have certain guns, or any gun for that matter.

I. Am. Not. Kidding.

I am also being fair. I ask you to do the same. As you read this, if you find fault with my logic and my attempt to be fair across the board, please point that out.

Here is the rock bottom, Lowest Common Denominator, flat point, be-all end-all, starting point and real crux of the matter. Either you are serious about stopping people from killing other people regardless of the ways, means and method or you have a different motive. You either want the violence to stop OR you have a different agenda and don't really care about people harming other people against their will.

If you've ever seen Penn & Teller's show Bullshit, then go ahead and assume I've chased this rabbit down the hole exactly they do and proven this point exactly as they do.

Preventing harm and death is the metric. Period. Everything is must follow.

BAN 'EM

Want a total gun ban? I'm down with that. Again, not kidding. 

Gimme yer restrictions list. I'll work with you to make it happen.

Bring it on. I'll sign the papers. I'll lobby any and every elected official in the nation to make this happen,

I continue to be as serious as a heart attack,

Let's make this happen.

BE FAIR

At the same time, I insist, require, demand and absolutely must have a ban of equity and proportion for any device that causes harm to a human being without that human's permission. What someone does to him or herself, none of your business, none of my business.

Band guns, yes. But put a proportional ban on everything else that brings harm to a human.

This is all about being fair. 

DEATHS

Let's talk about death.

Do you believe in body autonomy? As in your body, you decide. Wanna tat? Get as many as you like. Like to smoke? Fire 'em up. Fat? Have another pie. Exercise, eat right, drink in moderation and etc? Mo' power to ya. Do you have the right to bungee jump? Take the Polar Plunge? Race vehicles?

If you believe you have the right to decide what to do with yourself, good. We're on the same page. If you believe government or anyone else has the right to tell you what to do with your body, then good as well. Just don't expect me to agree with you. Further, I will resist you and your efforts with as much force or more as you bring against me.

Body autonomy. It either is or it ain't. And this is splodey heads No. 1.

The CDC lists the top 10 causes of death. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm  No. 10 on the list is suicide. Under the rules here, suicide is removed as a reason to ban or restrict anything. Your life is yours to do with as you wish. I do not have the right to force you to continue to live against your will. You do not have the right to force me to live against my will. Splodey head No. 2.

VIOLENT CRIME

For purposes of this blog, I say violent crime is murder and assault. Any crime in which a person is harmed. I am leaving out DUI-caused injuries and deaths. That should be included, but I already discussed why we should regulate guns the same exact way we regulate vehicles. http://porkbrainsandmilkgravy.blogspot.com/2017/11/guns-regulated-like-vehicles-yes-please.html

The FBI specifically says using its report has to be done carefully:
Figures used in this Report were submitted voluntarily by law enforcement agencies throughout the country. Individuals using these tabulations are cautioned against drawing conclusions by making direct comparisons between cities. Comparisons lead to simplistic and/or incomplete analyses that often create misleading perceptions adversely affecting communities and their residents. Valid assessments are possible only with careful study and analysis of the range of unique conditions affecting each local law enforcement jurisdiction. It is important to remember that crime is a social problem and, therefore, a concern of the entire community. In addition, the efforts of law enforcement are limited to factors within its control. The data user is, therefore, cautioned against comparing statistical data of individual agencies. Further information on this topic can be obtained in Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics: Their Proper Use.

https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2016/crime-in-the-u.s.-2016/tables/expanded-homicide-data-table-4.xls

This is the most recent complete report on the FBI website as of this posting. Well, this is what we have to work with. Mooooving on.

GUNS

Firearms accounted for 11,004 murders in 2016. 

Handguns account for the sizable majority of murders, 7,105. It is here we slam headlong into the first immovable object and splodey head No. 3. For sake of space, I'm leaving out the splodey head count from now on. It's gonna soar.

Stare Decisis. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/stare_decisis.asp S. Decisis means the point of law is settled. Move on, nothing to see here. It's over, done and that's it so shuddup already. 

"Hang on. You just said–—"

I sure did. I am also using the logic of the gun grabbers, the left and the right here. If abortion is a settled issue, let it go. If other things the Supreme Court has decided are over and done, let it go. You cannot bring it up any more. Across the board. It's either settled or not, all of it. You cannot pick and chose which bear to poke and which sleeping dogs to leave snoozing. It's all or nothing.

Handguns, as decided in two cases by the Supreme Court, are legal. Citizens are allowed to possess same.

Aaight, so we say it can be debated again. Let's debate. Handgun ownership is back on the table as a right to be weighed. Handgun violence MUST be compared to other devices used to inflict unwanted violence on other human beings. We'll get back to this in a few paragraphs. Abortion rights also back on the table, BTW.

So what about the guns?

Rifles, a category that includes the misnamed "assault rifles" accounted for a measly 374 deaths. Well, measly unless someone who was killed by a rifle is important to you.

Shotgun? 202. Other guns, 186.

Knives accounted for 1,604 murders. Blunt objects (hammers are part of this subset as are clubs, sticks, poles, etc), 472. Personal weapons defined as your body and shoving someone, 656. The others are very low except for the "Other weapons or weapons not stated" at 903.

I could, but will not monkey wrench nor sand the gears by bringing up stolen and illegally obtained guns. Gun control folks get a free pass on that one.

DEATH BY OTHER MEANS

People don't need a weapon to kill someone.

I know I said I was leaving this one out. I changed my mind. Sue someone. "In 2016, 10,497 people died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for 28% of all traffic-related deaths in the United States." https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/impaired_driving/impaired-drv_factsheet.html Now some of these were the driver and certainly some of these were single-vehicle crashes in which only the driver was killed. 

Howsomever, in 2016, 34,439 people were killed overall in vehicle crashes. That is about three times the number of gun deaths. Again. some of these were single-vehicle and only the driver died. https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812580

Far more telling is "[t]here were 37,461 traffic fatalities in the United States in 2016, of which 23,714 (63%) were occupants of passenger vehicles." https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812494 Ooo. People not driving were killed at more than double the number of people murdered with firearms.

BUT THE CHILLUN

This argument has been overused. "Think of the children." Please, do. Think of the inner-city kids and the minorities, not just the majority-ethnic kids who die in multi-death shootings. If you are not addressing the deaths of the inner-city kids who die in much higher proportions than other kids and who die in enormously greater proportions from shooters with handguns instead of rifles, I must ask why you are not speaking to this much greater problem.

"Gotta start somewhere." "Baby steps," you say.

No. The reality is you have a different agenda and do not care about the inner city kids. No? When was the last time you blew up in outrage over the near-constant shootings in Chicago?

If this situation was a patient in a trauma surgery wound, focusing on school shootings is putting stitches in an arm wound while a femoral artery is gushing. The operation was a success, but the patient died.

What are the leading causes of death in kids?

"With preventable deaths at an all-time high, NSC calls on parents to use National Safety Month to assess the greatest threats to young children’s safety." https://www.nsc.org/in-the-newsroom/top-five-ways-children-are-dying-accidentally

The top PREVENTABLE deaths for children are:

Suffocation

Car wrecks

Drowning

Fire

Choking

The CDC breaks it out even more. https://www.cdc.gov/safechild/child_injury_data.html Again, a major cause of chillun's death, wrecks. MedPage Today adds cancer and firearms as the top leading causes of deaths for kids. ADDS. As in includes these in the already listed category. As in here are 2 more things and we are not taking away from the other stuff listed. https://www.medpagetoday.com/pediatrics/generalpediatrics/77034

In 2016, 1,033 kids under 13 were killed by vehicles. https://www.iihs.org/topics/fatality-statistics/detail/children

"In 2016, there were 2,082 teen drivers of passenger vehicles involved in fatal motor vehicle traffic crashes." https://www.nhtsa.gov/road-safety/teen-driving

3,100, or thereabout, kids were killed in 2016 because of vehicles. https://www.nhtsa.gov/road-safety/teen-driving

Teens are muchly over-represented in vehicle fatalities and gun deaths.

I do words, not math. You'll have to crunch the numbers in this report. https://www.childtrends.org/indicators/motor-vehicle-deaths

"Nearly 1,300 children die … [from] gunshot wounds each year. Boys, older children, and minorities are disproportionately affected." https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/140/1/e20163486 That figure is in dispute.  "3,128 children and teens died from guns in the United States in 2016, one every 2 hours and 48 minutes." https://gracechapelministries.org/facts-about-gun-violence/ One outfit here is science-based with verified research. T'other has a clear agenda and no proof to back up its statement. Pick whichever you like. Then, go to the media bias chart and find the media outlets you trust to tell the truth. https://www.adfontesmedia.com/?v=402f03a963ba When you choose your outlets on the media chart, get back to me.

When it comes to children's deaths, by gun and by vehicle are tied. If you use the higher number. Good enough.

I add some of these deaths by gun are suicides. In the US, depending on the state, a 17 YOA is an adult. In all states, as best I know, an 18 YOA is an adult. I know some 16 YOAs who are more mature than some at 22 YOA. That in mind, suicides are removed from the equation. Now, gun deaths for kids is below the vehicle deaths for kids. You disagree? "In 2016, nearly 60 percent of all firearm deaths were suicides, according to the CDC. In that same year, more than 1,100 young people between the ages of 10 and 19 died by suicide by firearm." https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/01/teen-suicide-guns-in-america-mass-shootings-data/581335/ Body autonomy and all that. BTW, if you say kids are not capable of making that kinda decision, then they are also not capable of making life-altering decisions either.

Death by gun for kids is 2/3s that of death by vehicle for kids.

If you are serious about keeping kids from dying at the hands of another, here's your information. Use it. Or, don't. How you use this information, in any way, shape or form, tells the truth about what you really believe and what you really want.

I already know.

ANOTHER POINT

Here's another point to ponder. You are more likely to be injured in a wreck than with a gun. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/injury.htm When you roll those numbers, remember to remove suicides. That makes the vehicle injuries really outpace firearms injuries.

The US has an estimated 393 million guns in private hands. An estimated 263.6 million vehicles are on the road. There are more than 100 million more guns out there than vehicles.

With that in mind, your chances of suffering from a vehicle are MUCH greater than your chances of suffering from a firearm.

You may bring up the fact that vehicles are used far more often every day than firearms. Granted. Doesn't change the metric in the slightest. The bottom line - stop people from killing and harming other people. Period. Frequency of use without harm and death is irrelevant.

We're interested in stopping the damage, period.

NOW WHAT

Now what indeed?

You have before you the stark reality.

Vehicles account for three times the number of deaths as guns. Drop vehicle deaths to eliminate the driver and the number of vehicle deaths is still twice the number of murders committed with guns. Drop suicides and — we've already discussed that.

You want to ban guns? Then first ban vehicles, which are proven twice as deadly as vehicles.

That sounds ridiculous? I'm just tryna piece together logic and reason and a way to reduce human-inflicted death on other humans.

Make a vehicle twice as hard to get as a gun. 

I'm good either way. I just want parity here. I just want to be fair.

Run that right down the line. Before you slap any restriction on gun ownership, compare the gun violence to violence done with anything else.

If you want to break this down by specific item, equally good. In that case, a knife should three times harder to buy than a rifle, based JUST on the number of murders committed with each. Some people only want certain categories of guns banned or restricted. Cool. Run that right down the line with everything else.

A vehicle should be ... damfino many times harder to get than a rifle. I do words, not math.

MAKE YOUR ARGUMENT

If you disagree with me, make your argument however you choose. Whatever manner you choose.
When you piece your argument together, every time you mention gun or a synonym, swap it for the other things you mention like vehicle, fork, rock, tree, etc. Every time you mention one of those other things, mark it out and put gun in the same place. Whatever causes death and harm, switch the terminology.

Again, the metric is harm and death. The rest is semantics.

Does the argument still hold up logically? Does it make sense? Are your points still based on reason and fact?

If not, go back and edit.

ONE LAST THING

Is all this stupid? Not my call. I'm just applying reason and logic.

If you find fault with my logic, tell me. If you find fault with my reasoning, tell me. I will, I promise, correct it and replace this blog with the corrected one. I'll even send you a copy of the revised version. 

If you have an emotion-based argument in either direction, you are welcome to tell me that as well. Don't expect a reply or any changes to the above.