The Truth about Guns in America

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Initially I took that at face value. But later I started to run the numbers myself, and could not come up with that number - even though I calculated and recalculated several times.

Here are the number I come up with -

11,100 problem guns (0.0037% out of 300 Million Guns)

15,700 problem gun owners (0.0157% out of 100 Million Owners)


That's still a lot, and I will happily support any legislation that deals with them, but so far, none of it does.

Apologies. I withdraw 370,000 in reference to your post(s).

From your first post:
- **99.9963% of Gun NEVER murder anyone EVER**

300,000,000 Guns - the most conservative estimate.

11,000 Gun Homicides (FBI 2017, latest data).

(11,000 / 300,000,000) x 100 = 0.0036666666... = 0.0037%


If we use larger numbers for the number of guns, the percentage comes out smaller -

11,000 / 400,000,000 x 100 = 0.00275%


- **99.9843% of Gun Owners NEVER murder anyone EVER**

70,000,000 estimated Gun Owners. (estimates between 70 Million and 120 million)

11,000 Gun Homicides (FBI 2017).

11,000/70,000,000 x 100 = 0.0157%
Your arithmetic is right except for the "EVER" statements. "So far" would be more suitable.

Your figures are small because you're comparing data taken over a wildly differing periods of time. Gun-related homicides from one year set against an accumulated number over multiple years.

If you wanted to estimate how many guns/gun owners are involved homicide, then compare the accumulated number of guns to the accumulated number of gun-related homicides.

The FBI have the data (1995-2017 completed, prelim for 2018). I looked back 15 years as I need to get food.

2003 9,659
2004 9,385
2005 10,158
2006 10,225
2007 10,086
2008 9,528
2009 9,199
2010 8,874
2011 8,653
2012 8,855
2013 8,454
2014 8,312
2015 9,778
2016 11,138
2017 10,982
TOTAL 143,286

Quite a lot of "problem gun owners".
 
Guns don't kill, Steve. People kill.

I hear this argument a lot and thinks it’s a strange one trying to avoid the real reason that guns are dangerous.

It’s like saying my car didn’t take me to work this morning, I did.
Your kids school bus didn’t take them to school today, the kid did.
My cooker didn’t bake that cake, my wife did.

They are all just silly statements that mean nothing.
 
I hear this argument a lot and thinks it’s a strange one trying to avoid the real reason that guns are dangerous.

It’s like saying my car didn’t take me to work this morning, I did.
Your kids school bus didn’t take them to school today, the kid did.
My cooker didn’t bake that cake, my wife did.

They are all just silly statements that mean nothing.
Sorry. It wasn't meant to be a pro gun statement or argument.

I was a weapons engineer in a former life. I know (knew) the processes involved regarding small arms. It was, quite rightly, very regimented and controlled.

This control is not enforced or even exists (to the best of my knowledge) in the US.
 
I don't quite follow guns don't kill, never have. Directly obviously they do not unless there is an action on them to do so.

But they are a great enabler for death, as is their design. They allow people to become very detached from the act. All you have to do is move a small lever a fraction and that is a life ended from a distance, pull the trigger, another death, pull trigger again...... They are very much doing what they are designed for, chucking a bit of lead through a soft body. And you do not need a lot of training or be an expert.
 
Sorry. It wasn't meant to be a pro gun statement or argument.

I was a weapons engineer in a former life. I know (knew) the processes involved regarding small arms. It was, quite rightly, very regimented and controlled.

This control is not enforced or even exists (to the best of my knowledge) in the US.
I knew you didn’t mean it as a pro-gun argument. I just quoted you because you said it.

I too have a background in firearms (mainly shot G36, Glock, shotguns, AK47, baton rounds plus others) so also have an idea about what is required to sensibly own, upkeep and use a gun. I have not fired one in anger and have not touched one in 5 years.
 
I'm a licensed carry for years and not once did I think of grabbing my gun in anger. Never did I think of it as a means of ending an argument or getting even or even to let them know what I think of them.

It is only as a last resort in defense (self or others) and a heavy responsibility to bear. We have a saying here,

"Every bullet has a lawyer on it!"
 
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