2aguy
Diamond Member
- Jul 19, 2014
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This article defines the gun debate, and clarifies the actual position Pro-2nd Amendment advocates should take.....then it gives a list of gun research showing that guns are the best method for self defense...saving lives....
How to Spot Misleading Statistics in the Gun Control Debate
Regardless of whether Lottās research stands up to scrutiny, I want to suggest that itās mistaken to think about the gun ownership debate chiefly in terms of crime prevention. On the contrary, whether there exists a right to own guns depends chiefly on whether guns are reasonable means of resisting crime.
Although prevention is more socially desirable (it is better that a crime not happen in the first place), any deterrent benefits that guns may have would owe to their resistance benefits, so the latter is more fundamental. Guns are valued for self-defense primarily because of their ability to dispense lethal force, which means that resistanceānot preventionāis primary. Prevention is an added benefit, but it is secondary.
None of this is to say that Lottās research is wrong. Rather, the point Iām making is that prevention and resistance are two very different things, and the latter is what the gun debate is fundamentally about.
To illustrate the difference, letās suppose that I encounter a mugger while taking a walk. I brandish my firearm to the mugger, who is undeterred and rushes me with a knife. I then shoot the mugger, stopping the crime. In that situation, my gun has failed to prevent a crime, but it was successful at resisting a crime. The gun was an effective and reasonable means of self-defense even though it failed to deter the would-be mugger.
This is a very crucial point that must be carefully appreciated. Even if guns don't prevent crime by reducing the overall crime rate, it wouldnāt mean that guns are not a reasonable means of resisting crime. As far as gun rights are concerned, the single most important issue is simply the question of whether guns do a good job when deployed against a criminal assailant. Deterrence is not the key issue at stake.
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The point here is this: even if studies showing that gun ownership or right-to-carry laws increase crime are right, theyāre irrelevant. It doesnāt follow that guns are not effective when used in self-defense. Since the merits of gun ownership center around their resistance benefits, it is misleading to attack that by focusing on their lack of preventative benefits. The failure of a gun to prevent crime doesnāt imply its failure at resisting crime.
How to Spot Misleading Statistics in the Gun Control Debate
Regardless of whether Lottās research stands up to scrutiny, I want to suggest that itās mistaken to think about the gun ownership debate chiefly in terms of crime prevention. On the contrary, whether there exists a right to own guns depends chiefly on whether guns are reasonable means of resisting crime.
Although prevention is more socially desirable (it is better that a crime not happen in the first place), any deterrent benefits that guns may have would owe to their resistance benefits, so the latter is more fundamental. Guns are valued for self-defense primarily because of their ability to dispense lethal force, which means that resistanceānot preventionāis primary. Prevention is an added benefit, but it is secondary.
None of this is to say that Lottās research is wrong. Rather, the point Iām making is that prevention and resistance are two very different things, and the latter is what the gun debate is fundamentally about.
To illustrate the difference, letās suppose that I encounter a mugger while taking a walk. I brandish my firearm to the mugger, who is undeterred and rushes me with a knife. I then shoot the mugger, stopping the crime. In that situation, my gun has failed to prevent a crime, but it was successful at resisting a crime. The gun was an effective and reasonable means of self-defense even though it failed to deter the would-be mugger.
This is a very crucial point that must be carefully appreciated. Even if guns don't prevent crime by reducing the overall crime rate, it wouldnāt mean that guns are not a reasonable means of resisting crime. As far as gun rights are concerned, the single most important issue is simply the question of whether guns do a good job when deployed against a criminal assailant. Deterrence is not the key issue at stake.
---------
The point here is this: even if studies showing that gun ownership or right-to-carry laws increase crime are right, theyāre irrelevant. It doesnāt follow that guns are not effective when used in self-defense. Since the merits of gun ownership center around their resistance benefits, it is misleading to attack that by focusing on their lack of preventative benefits. The failure of a gun to prevent crime doesnāt imply its failure at resisting crime.