Accurate data can debunk absurd claims

STUDENTS, DO stand up for the 2nd Amendment! But also, stand up for accurate data. The claim that “Every year an estimated 1.5 million Americans use a firearm to defend themselves” is an absurd figure. There are around 6 million burglaries each year and we know from several surveys done by the Harvard Gun Study group of both victims and offenders, that around 1 percent to 2 percent of violent crimes involve the victim defending with a firearm.

The study also has found: 1. Most purported self-defense gun uses are gun uses in escalating arguments, and are both socially undesirable and illegal. 2. Firearms are used far more often to intimidate than in self-defense. 3. Guns in the home are used more often to intimidate intimates than to thwart crime. 4. Adolescents are far more likely to be threatened with a gun than to use one in self-defense. 5. Few criminals are shot by decent lawabiding citizens. 6. Self-defense gun use is rare and not more effective at preventing injury than other protective actions. 7. Simply having a gun in a house increases the risk that someone in that house will die of suicide by nearly fourfold.

Anyone can Google Hemenway Harvard Gun Study

One final thought: When automobiles are used to murder people, they are used for a task they were not designed for. When AK-47s are used to kill, they are functioning as designed, and quite efficiently. ANTHONY VIGIL Albuquerque