>>>>http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=gun-science-proves-arming-untrained-citizens-bad-idea
>>>>
>>>>Of course, any kind of science or common sense will be rejected by the extremist right wingers.
>>>
>>>"Pistol owners' fantasy of blowing away home-invading bad guys or street toughs holding up liquor stores is a myth debunked by the data showing that a gun is 22 times more likely to be used in a criminal assault, an accidental death or injury, a suicide attempt or a homicide than it is for self-defense."
>>>
>>>Indeed...
>>
>>And yet I've had multiple handguns in my house for over 20 years and no one has been accidently (or on purpose) injured or killed and no one has tried (or succeeded) in committing suicide.
>
>C'mon, Dorris, you know about conditional probability. Both that statistic and your experience can be accurate. Depends what the odds are of a gun being used for self-defense in the first place.
>
>Tamar

Yeah, actually, I do. I also try to make sure I'm not in the position to have to use my gun for self-defense. As I told ADT, who kept calling trying to get me to re-up the security system on the house when we bought it, "Between me, my husband, our 4 dogs, the .40 and the .45" I think we're ok, thanks.

And yeah, statistics have 'proven' that my house is less likely to get broken into not because I have the guns, but because I have the dogs.