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this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2024
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According to a quick Google search, 3 in 10 American adults say that they currently own a firearm; that's around 82,000,000 gun owners in the US. Last time I checked, there were around 45,000 annual gun deaths in the US, of which just under 2/3 were suicide. That leaves somewhere around 18,000 deaths that are homicides of some form (which also includes legal self-defense). So it's far, far less than 1/1000 gun owners that are going to shoot someone (other than intentionally shooting themselves, and IMO that's a different issue entirely).
But, sure, if in your opinion that only correct number of gun deaths is 0, then yes, removing guns and collectively forgetting how to make them is the only solution. Just like if your opinion is that the only correct number of traffic deaths is zero, then the only reasonable solution is the completely elimination of all means of transportation other than feet.
You've done your division twice there, it seems. The ~45000 is the number after you take away the suicides.. So pretty much 1/2000, so I guess I was pretty close.
Of course the only correct number of gun deaths among civilians is 0, do you disagree with that? As for your comparison to vehicular deaths, let's remember the context here. The question is whether or not I feel safer in a place that doesn't allow guns or one that does. So you should really be asking if I think it's better to walk on the sidewalk or in the road shared with cars. Of course I might still get hit by a car on the sidewalk, but where would you feel safer?
I absolutely do disagree, yes. If my life or safety is being threatened by someone, then I absolutely have the right to use any level of force necessary to defend myself, up to and including lethal force.
BTW, the way that you state that question is a form of manipulation. It's a common tactic used in high-pressure sales.
Ok, I don't agree, it should be up to and including the amount of force necessary to incapacitate whoever is threatening your life. Stun gun and handcuffs yes, handgun no.
Btw the way you drew a false comparison between my argument and road safety is called false equivalence and is an informal fallacy, while we're discussing each other's debating techniques rather than addressing the points made.
First: Stun guns are ineffective. I've used one on myself; it tickles. The basic principle of a stun gun is pain compliance, and if the person you're using it on has a high pain threshold, they're utterly ineffective A taser has, at best, two shots. Thick clothing, bad contact, or simply missing means you're SOL. It's pretty easy to find video of cops trying to taze someone, and failing. Pepper spray works--depending on the brand--but it very dependent on things like wind speed and direction, and how old your canister is. ...And you're pretty likely to end up pepper spraying yourself if you don't practice with inert canisters.
Guns just work. Period.
And no, it's not a false equivalence. Cars have utility value, as do firearms. Cars can be used legally, and they can be used illegally, as can firearms. There are millions of cars that are used legally and safely every day, much like firearms. It's not a precise parallel, but it's sufficiently close for the purposes of this argument.
Guns also mostly end up harming the owner, but with a side effect of death, unlike the stun gun. Immediate Google results shows stun guns to be about 90% effective, which I'll take over your anecdote.
It's a false equivalence in this context which you keep ignoring. The question is about a place that explicitly doesn't allow guns. Again, to make the equivalence work you have to compare me walking on a road that doesn't allow cars to me walking on one that does, and obviously I feel safer on the one that doesn't, even if someone can break the rules and bring a car.
Google is 100% wrong. A Taser--not a stun gun--shoots barbed darts that are connected to the handset by thin wires. When you have good contact--that is, they aren't stuck in clothing instead of piercing the skin, and they're far enough apart--they're going to create strong muscle spasms, like a whole-body TENS unit. (Which, BTW, isn't that painful either, IMO, but you do lose a degree of voluntary movement. ) A stun gun works only when it's on contact with bare skin, and only works through pain-compliance. E.g., it "hurts", and the idea is that a person will want the pain to stop. Except that they don't really hurt.
This is a Taser.
This is a stun gun.
Ask any person that actually does serious self-defense training for high-risk situations, and they're going to say the same thing; you can not rely on a stun gun. A Taser will work, but you have exactly two shots, and getting both darts to make solid contact can be very iffy. Oh, and they only work as long as you keep your finger on the trigger; as soon as you let it go, the assailant is back in business. Tasers work in law enforcement because they usually work in teams and groups rather than singly.