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Is it justified to have guns at home for self-defense?

Channel:
Politics  /  Security  /  Crime


Guns and self defense: is firearms possession a good idea?

Source: Composite by G_marius based on a Marcelo César Augusto's image.

Are guns a good way of protecting your home and family? Do guns increase the risks of someone getting hurt? Join our debate on self-defense and firearms.

Guns and self-defence

Guns and gun control are important policy issues in modern societies. In theory, governments, and in particular the police forces, are in charge of protecting citizens and their homes. However, crime is still a big problem and self-defense may justify ownership of firearms. Thousands of families suffer burglary and other forms of assault in their homes every year. Some people argue that protecting ourselves is part of human nature and, thus, people should have the means to do it. The possession of one or several firearms may help defending our properties and families from thieves and other criminals that try to break in our homes. This is particularly the case in situations where police are ineffective and crime rates are high. Some scholars suggest that regulation allowing law-abiding citizens to carry guns legally in public may reduce crime rates. According to this argument, potential criminals, not knowing who might be carrying a weapon, may be less prone to assault other people (1). 

However most statistics show that having guns home increase the risk of lethal accidents, domestic violence or suicides. The misuse of guns is very common. The Harvard Injury Control Research Center, found that the rate of gun homicide, and the total homicide rate was significantly correlated with levels of gun ownership (2). In the US it was found that there is also correlation between right-to-carry gun laws and higher crime rates. This correlation is particularly significant in the case of aggravated assault rates (3). While in the US firearm ownership is seen as a civilian right, and and a socially acceptable means of self-defense, in most countries the possession of guns is severely restricted. The number of mass shootings seems to be correlated with gun possession. Unfortunately every year the US suffer several extremely serious mass shootings, some of them take place in schools and universities.

Deadliest mass shootings in America

Attack

 Year  

Deaths

Weapons used

Stoneman Douglas High School shooting

 2018

17

Semi-automatic rifle

Las Vegas shooting

 2017

59 (including the perpetrator)

Semi-automatic rifles

Sutherland Springs church shooting

2017

27 (including the perpetrator)

Semi-automatic rifle

Orlando nightclub shooting

 2016

50 (including the perpetrator)

Semi-automatic rifle

San Bernardino attack

 2015

16 (including both perpetrators)

Semi-automatic rifles

Umpqua Community College shooting

 2015

10 (including the perpetrator)

Handguns

Washington Navy Yard shooting

 2013

13 (including the perpetrator)

Shotgun and handgun

Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting

 2012

28 (including the perpetrator)

Semi-automatic rifle and bolt-action rifle

Aurora shooting

 2012

12

Multiple weapons

Binghamton shootings

 2009

14 (including the perpetrator)

Handguns

Fort Hood shooting

 2009

13

Handguns

Geneva County massacre

 2009

11 (including the perpetrator)

Multiple weapons

Virginia Tech shooting

 2007

33 (including the perpetrator)

Handguns

Red Lake shootings

 2005

10 (including the perpetrator)

Multiple weapons

Columbine High School massacre

 1999

15 (including both perpetrators)

Multiple weapons

Atlanta shootings

 1999

10 (including the perpetrator)

Handguns

Luby's shooting

 1991

24 (including the perpetrator)

Handguns

GMAC shootings

 1990

10 (including the perpetrator)

Semi-automatic rifle

Edmond post office shooting

 1986

15 (including the perpetrator)

Handguns

San Ysidro McDonald's massacre

 1984

22 (including the perpetrator)

Multiple weapons

Wilkes-Barre shootings

 1982

13

Semi-automatic rifle

University of Texas tower shooting

 1966

18 (including the perpetrator)

Multiple weapons

Camden shootings

 1949

13

Handgun

And where do you stand? Do you think guns are a good way of protecting your family and properties? Or do guns contribute to generate more risks and violence even when their intended purpose is self-defense? Should guns be banned?

References:

  1. Lott, E. (1998) More Guns, Less Crime. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  2. Hemenway, D.; Miller, M. (2000). "Firearm availability and homicide rates across 26 high-income countries". The Journal of Trauma 49 (6): 985–988.
  3. Parker C.B. "Right-to-carry gun laws linked to increase in violent crime, Stanford research shows".Stanford Report November 14, 2014.

 

 

 

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