June 9, Benefits of Guns

 

Name one objective benefit we get from owning guns.

The cost is 40,000 mothers, fathers, daughters, sons.

That is the price paid every year.  What do we get for that?

It must be some huge benefit, for that’s an awful stat.

 

The Constitution says we can; is that a benefit?

No, that is just permission; so, what do we do with it?

Some say they feel protected but statistics show they’re not.

In households holding guns, they are more likely to get shot. (1)

 

We know guns are effective for committing suicide.

But suicidal young men may commit mass homicide.

You use your guns for shooting wild hogs, varmints, and raccoons?  (2)

But does that balance all the accidental deaths and wounds? (3)

 

You say that guns will help you to resist the government.

The problem is: the government has better armament.

You say good guys with guns will stop a bad guy with a gun.

Uvalde’s “score” was: “bad guy:” 21, and “good guys:” 1.

 

Mankind evolved as hunters; and we murdered our own kind.

And guns are tools for hunting; also some have been designed

To slaughter enemies in war; they’re not for ducks and deer.

And, when they’re used on school kids, all that’s left: a bloody smear.

 

What’s our objective benefit for what we have been billed?

Our European allies have far fewer being killed.

They’re just as free and democratic; perhaps they’re even more.

The difference is gun safety laws, a fact we can’t ignore.

 

• See Hepburn, Lisa, and Hemenway, David, Firearm Availability and Homicide…,Aggressive and Violent Behavior, a Review Journal, 2004: 9: 417-440.
• See the remarks of Senator Bill Cassidy, R, Louisiana, Senator John Thune, R, South Dakota and Rep. Ken Buck, R, Colorado.
• The average accidental gun death toll in this century is 492 people per year. Look it up.  The death rates due to guns for feral pigs, prairie dogs, and raccoons are not closely monitored.