Guns Do Not Make You Safer at Home

Posted on December 17, 2012 at 9:29 am by Bob Cesca

A 2009 study completely debunks the notion that gun-owners are safer for having a firearm in their houses during an assault.

In a first-of its-kind study, epidemiologists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found that, on average, guns did not protect those who possessed them from being shot in an assault. The study estimated that people with a gun were 4.5 times more likely to be shot in an assault than those not possessing a gun.

The study was released online this month in the American Journal of Public Health, in advance of print publication in November 2009.

“This study helps resolve the long-standing debate about whether guns are protective or perilous,” notes study author Charles C. Branas, PhD, Associate Professor of Epidemiology. “Will possessing a firearm always safeguard against harm or will it promote a false sense of security?”

Don’t let anyone get away with the self-defense argument. In fact, outcomes are exactly the opposite of what they expect.

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  • http://twitter.com/JimmyAbra Jimmy Abraham

    Remember 2 victims of recent shootings were people who had guns at their disposal and knew how to use them very well.

    One pro-gun sentiment I have seen repeated is that there is a lack of “god” and value of human life with those who do the shooting. One thing I want to note these peoples’ first thought is to shoot the person who is threatening you? Why does that change when the threatening person is someone you know (I am assuming that is the case of the recent victims, they hold off protecting them selves from those they know/care/value)? So, would these same people preach shooting first asking questions later even if it someone they know the same way they seem to want all to be armed? I am guessing “No.” So the value of human life thing/more god is such a BS argument!

  • zirgar

    Merely having a gun does not impart the wisdom on how to use it properly. Unless one practices and trains, ad nauseum, on how to use a gun in a combat/self-defense scenario, having a gun will more than likely make the situation worse, as this study indicates. If you don’t know how to respond in such situations without a gun, having a gun won’t help. And even tons of practice doesn’t ensure safety, as each real life scenario is different and one cannot see all possibilities. Even cops, who do train for such situations don’t always get it right; so you expect someone who gets a gun and simply puts it in the nightstand by the bed without really giving it a second thought, will? Guns make lots of people feel safer, but don’t actually make them safer.

    • http://drangedinaz.wordpress.com/ IrishGrrrl

      Spot on, Zirgar. And let me add….No matter what the studies show us and what people like myself who have been in Law Enforcement say, gun nuts believe that their once a month trip to the range makes them Navy Seals or Army Rangers….they are completely delusional.

      When the Colorado Theater shooting happened I argued with so many loony gun nuts about how hard it would have been to take the shooter down. The guy had body armor and set off a smoke grenade. The theater lighting would have been changing dramatically because the film was playing–so vision would have been for shit. The panicked people, pushing and shoving to get out of the rows or to lay down, the noise, etc. The only cover one would have would be the seats and again, people are panicked trying to get by you. The odds of anyone, even someone with experience in the elite units of our armed forces, taking him out in that theater was very, very low. It wasn’t a f*cking Hollywood movie where the bad guy gets it between the eyes with one bullet…it was reality. So yeah, there is a percentage of crazy people who think they are supermen with a weapon. Furthermore, they expect the average American to own a gun and be able to master it to the degree necessary to handle such a scenario. It’s madness to think that every American should obtain Black Ops level training with a handgun or even that the average person could do something like that, even if they wanted to…that’s why they’re elite! It’s bloody hard to do what they do!!!! It’s hubris to the point of insanity. And you know what they say about Pride…..

      America MUST ignore these delusional idiots in order to make any progress toward more rational and effective gun control. These nuts get no seat at the table, NONE.

    • bphoon

      I really like that you said this. These factors don’t get nearly enough play. Just as simply having a gun and putting it on the nightstand won’t in and of itself make you safer, the presence of a gun in a scenario won’t in and of itself make the situation any less safe. It all boils down to the scenario, what action (or inaction) it demands and how proficient the gun owner is.

      It takes a high level of situational awareness and judgment to decide in a split second whether to even display a weapon. It takes even better judgment and decision making skill to decide in a split second whether to take a shot. My maxim: if there is any question, don’t. Don’t pull the weapon, don’t shoot the weapon. In any event, train, train, train whenever you can make the opportunity to do so.

      I believe the choice to own and/or carry a weapon carries with it a very heavy responsibility to insure one’s skill and proficiency is at as high a level as possible. As one instructor of mine once said, “You’re carrying the power of life and death on your hip; you’d better be damn sure you know what to do with it.”

      • http://drangedinaz.wordpress.com/ IrishGrrrl

        Exactly, thank you.

  • trgahan

    Probably said this before, but my brother-in-law is a ex-Scotland Yard dectective who took on the IRA in London during it’s most volient period….without ever having or needing a gun.

    He told me something that I think goes beyond even law enforcement: “If you need a gun, you’re doing something wrong.”

    I ask gun rights advocates…what about my right to live without the constant threat of the misuse of fire arms? What about my right to not be bullied by some d-bag just because he has a gun and can threaten me with it?

    • http://drangedinaz.wordpress.com/ IrishGrrrl

      Freedom to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness…..Kind of hard to have that when every douche with a tiny penis is running around waving pistols in the air, ain’t it?

      • http://www.politicalruminations.com/ nicole

        This.^^^

  • agrazingmoose

    Yes, but this folks all think that they are the outlier and that they would be the hero in any situation.

    It is impossible to dissuade them from that misplaced belief.