>How many time, do you read on the news that some boy took the house gun to school and kill some fellow students and teachers? ?Now think of how many instances you didn't hear from. Accidents when kids or even adults do some shooting and accidently huirt themselves and others. Take for example dick cheney and Greg lemond. And how many other people are killed every day accros the continent of america by a gun that was supposed to 'defend the home'
>
>I think there is a link somewhere on the UT, I'm sure tracy could pull up, showing the gun related incidents as reported by the FBI. That was as hard rock is it would get.
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>Walter, this answer is not sufficient. You stated that accidental deaths from gun ownership exceeded the # of incidents where a gun foiled an attempt at robbery or worse.
>
>This "you read it in the papers all the time" type reply just does not cut it, and raises serious questions about the credibility of your claim.
>Trying to get someone else to do your work (e.g "tracy could pull it up)...well, everyone can draw their own conclusion from that.
>
>
>I stated before that I acknowledge accidental deaths and injuries occur from gun ownership. Not only are these sad, they are unacceptable. I also said that I support rules about who should be able to own a weapon. (Amazingly, the laws in the state of Pennsylvania are looser than I had remembered).
>
>What you failed to cite (here, I'll even do your work for you) is the large issue of minors stealing guns from homes that don't use a lock box or other means. This is why so many big-city schools had to implement procedures to screen kids every day. What's needed is an accountable system - NOT laws that make it illegal for adults to own guns.

Lets start at this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence_in_the_United_States
Qoute: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated 52,447 deliberate and 23,237 accidental non-fatal gunshot injuries in the United States during 2000.[4]

Also: The majority of gun-related deaths in the United States are suicides,[5] with firearms used in 16,907 suicides in the United States during 2004.[6]

Self defence:

Between 1987 and 1990, David McDowall found that guns were used in defense during a crime incident 64,615 times annually.[59] This equates to two times out of 1,000 incidents (0.2%) that occurred in this time frame.[59] For violent crimes (assault, robbery, and rape), guns were used 0.83% of the time in self-defense.[59] Of the times that guns were used in self-defense, 71% of the crimes were committed by strangers, with the rest of the incidents evenly divided between offenders that were acquaintances or persons well-known to the victim.[59] Of all incidents where a gun was used for self-defense, victims shot at the offender 28% of the time.[59] In 20% of the self-defense incidents, the guns were used by police officers.[59] During this same time period, 1987 and 1990, there were 46,319 gun homicides,[60] and the National Crime Victimization Survey estimates that 2,628,532 nonfatal crimes involving guns occurred.[59]

It seems that guns are pretty useless in general to self defence and simply is not the prime usage for it.

From: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00046149.htm
The rate for firearm-related deaths among children in the United States (1.66) was 2.7-fold greater than that in the country with the next highest rate (Finland, 0.62)

And

Of all firearm-related deaths, 55% were reported as homicides; 20%, as suicides; 22%, as unintentional; and 3%, as intention undetermined.

Kevin, 22% unintentional.... , 22%.




You might debunk the figures or conclusion for reasons of wishfull thinking. But those fact won't lie and will hit your society again and again. The conclusion is that compared to other western countries, the US is a violent place to live in.