“Contrary to what many gun advocates argue, the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) data reveals that having a gun provides no statistically significant benefit to a would-be victim during a criminal confrontation.”

The above quote comes from an article written for The Trace by Evan Defilippis and Devin Hughes. The two writers cite recent research that they say provides the latest evidence debunking the myth of defensive gun use. This may or may not be true, but I do hope it is because, if nothing else, it takes the self-defense argument—a gun-nut favorite—off the table.

Accordingly, if the self-defense argument falls by the way side, it would become much easier to confirm my suspicion that people who insist on owning guns for “self-defense,” and who refuse to even consider other less deadly or non-lethal forms of self-protection, are secretly/unconsciously fixated on vindictive punishment, and are indeed the actual dangerous ones which we should all be worried about (coincidentally—but not surprisingly—these people also often tend to be white men).

It’s my naive belief that most morally upstanding citizens would never want to kill anyone. Period. If people can begin to understand that owning guns doesn’t guarantee their safety, and in fact only puts them and their loved ones at increased risk, then it would most likely be that the only ones left owning guns that employed traditional “live” ammunition would be those who feel they could, or must, retributively end someones life who intended to do them and/or their family harm.

I mean, regardless of what this data may or may not say about any statistical benefit of having a gun during a criminal confrontation, there does still exist many non-lethal forms of self-defense, including non-lethal ammunition for traditional firearms, which are in many cases just as effective (if not more so) at stopping attackers. Personally, if someone who owns a gun for “self-defense” purposes doesn’t use non-lethal ammunition, and attempts to argue that they need the “stopping power” of lethal ammunition, I might seriously question their vengeful spirit.

Tags:gun reformgunsself-defense