Although I happen to agree with David Rich’s lament (Aurora Tragedy, Aug. 9, 2012) about media over emphasis of firearm events, his statistics need clarifying. Wikipedia.org relates these 2007 data: 31,224 firearm deaths of which 17,352 were suicides and 12,632 were homicides. In 2005, of the 10,100 homicides, 75 percent were by handguns, 4 percent rifles and 5 percent shotguns. (This doesn’t add up to 100 percent, so what other types of firearms remains a mystery.) Of note though is data from Philadelphia showing that 93 percent of shooting victims had a criminal record.
Preliminary 2010 CDC.gov data lists 11,015 firearm related deadly assaults. Accordingly, if you don’t have a criminal record, and using the Philadelphia percentage, the number of shooting victims in the U.S. is not 86 per day (31224/365) but closer to 2 per day (11,015/ 365 x .07).
So Mr. Rich is correct that worrying about getting involved in a mass shooting is needless hand-wringing. It would be far more productive for the media to obsess over more likely things such as health issues (2.47 million deaths per year) or motor vehicle accidents (35,000 deaths per year).
William Zipperer
Mesa
VofReason posted at 1:00 pm on Wed, Aug 15, 2012.
Here is a statistic, you are 100% more likely to live if a nut pulls out a gun and starts shooting and you kill him with your gun first.
Arizona Willie posted at 3:07 pm on Wed, Aug 15, 2012.
Here's a statistic ... you are more than 50% likely to die returning fire, if someone has their gun out and started shooting already. Especially if they are shooting at you.
People who claim that if someone was armed during the Colorado shooting there would have been fewer casualties are nuts.
The theater was dark, the movies was still running, the shooter had used gas grenades and was dressed in full body armor. Going up against him with a handgun would have been suicidal and futile. People were running everywhere. If someone started trying to shoot that guy they would likely have hit someone just trying to escape.
What would a persons liability be if they shot an innocent person?
Abstract01 posted at 8:16 pm on Wed, Aug 15, 2012.
Here's a statistic: You are 100% likely to die if the gun is pointed at you, and you are not armed.
I thought long and hard about what could have been done in that theater. Half of my possible scenarios were rendered less possible (not impossible) when I learned that the terrorist wore body armor. But armor doesn't cover everything.
My first question was: What could I use for defense if I did not have a gun or a knife?
My first (and best) weapon is keeping my head, and assessing the threat and possibilities.
The best way to stay calm is to accept that the impossible can (and did) happen. After that, like in any battle, the adaptable plan will have the best chance of success. You definitely must put your own self at risk if you are to improve the situation.
Monday morning quarter-backing does nobody any good, and spouting negative comments only alienates your potential allies.
Dale Whiting posted at 7:29 am on Thu, Aug 16, 2012.
Bill,
Of course you are right. But where drunk drivers kill themselves and others on a nightly basis, one or two at a time, the deaths of scores of people all at once naturally attract our attention, you know, like the 2001 World Trade Center/Pentagon incidents. And there is a set of incidents that attracted way too much attention! Our propensity for retrobution showed its ugly head.
Arizona Willie posted at 7:41 am on Thu, Aug 16, 2012.
Abstract01-- first of all handguns are notoriously inaccurate beyond 15 - 20 feet. If one is a ' certified expert ' perhaps their accuracy gets a bit better -- but not much.
Unless you were standing BEHIND the shooter a person would have had little chance of hitting the shooter in a vulnerable spot.
There are times when a handgun is a great choice.
That theater shooting would not have been one of them.
IF the shooter hadn't been wearing full body armor it might have been a little better situation -- but the odds of hitting an innocent person would still have been too high unless you were standing immediately in front of the shooter.
Unfortunately, so many many people have this grandiose dream wherein they see themselves as the hero in a Shootout At The OK Corral scenario.
Sadly, reality is nothing like that.
Cerulean posted at 5:13 pm on Thu, Aug 16, 2012.
Ha, today I read that a guy shot himself in the behind with his own gun while he was watching a movie at the theater.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-aurora-theater-guns-20120816,0,5392367.story
The first line reads “An armed society is a pain in the . . . .”
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