Who can refute this libelous firearm-related statement the fastest?

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Durandal

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I read Slate habitually, and I take the good articles with the bad. I usually like Emily Yoffe's "Dear Prudence" section but today she reprinted something that had me flipping my keyboard in disgust.

http://www.slate.com/id/2221790/pagenum/3

My husband and I own two handguns and three shotguns, no ammo is in the house and all have gun locks. We have taken a safety course (mandated in our state) to get our license, and it was taught by a career soldier and sharpshooter who said anyone who doesn't treat his or her guns this way, if there is any chance anyone but the gun owner him or herself can get to them, is a fool. If the father-in-law places his "convenience" in having guns easily accessible above the life of his grandchild, forget visiting him. (And the gun course instructor also told us that 99 percent of the time, people who have guns for "self defense" end up shooting themselves or loved ones or having intruders take the gun away from them. People seem to think it is easy to wake up in the middle of the night and whip out your gun and accurately shoot an intruder. Nonsense—even police shoot the wrong people because of adrenaline, fear, confusion and they are trained and ready for it.)
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My first impression upon reading that first sentence was "What the flippin' hell do you have five firearms for in that case, are you running a museum?!".

The statements of the gun instructor similarly had me scratching my head in disbelief. I can't recall the statistic but I do seem to recall that the amount of "accidental discharges of a firearm" were much lower than 99%.

Similarly, the final statement "Nonsense—even police shoot the wrong people because of adrenaline, fear, confusion and they are trained and ready for it.". Really? Every time? How do they keep it out of the news so well?! Why haven't we done something about this already and disarmed them?!

Emily Yoffe's only reply was "Hear hear for responsible gun ownership." I'd like to think I'm a responsible fellow, but no ammunition, plus gunlocks in my opinion is not "responsible gun ownership". It's a very expensive paperweight. (Presumably this lovely couple would wield said shotguns like clubs and pistol-whip with their handguns if the situation ever called for that?)
 
First it's not libelous - no one's reputation was sullied, except maybe the author's. It's just not true.

The 99% quote is of course ridiculous.
 
I know this is going to come as a shock, but sometimes people will post things on the internet that are untrue. In this case, claiming that an instructor told them to keep all guns locked up or that 99% of the time people will shoot themselves, or even that they attended a safety class or own guns.
 
First it's not libelous - no one's reputation was sullied, except maybe the author's. It's just not true.
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Good to know, I'll cancel the civil suit I had pending.

I know this is going to come as a shock, but sometimes people will post things on the internet that are untrue.
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And sometimes it's just hyperbole. It was easy for me to scream "BULL****" at the computer, but for some reason this one annoyed me so much I had to post it.
 
And the gun course instructor also told us that 99 percent of the time, people who have guns for "self defense" end up shooting themselves or loved ones or having intruders take the gun away from them.
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Either he's a complete moron, or I'm in the 99th percentile of gun owners. I'll accept both to be true.
 
99% eh? I'd say 99% of people I know who own guns haven't shot themselves. I only know one person who has (shot himself in the foot, literally) , and I'll bet he won't do that again. Among the people I know who own guns, noone has had an intruder take the gun away from them and use it against them, either.

As far as the statement about shooting in the middle of the night, I shoot accurately when I'm awake. I CAN wake up easily in the middle of the night. Occasionally it happens, usually to something making a noise that I'm not used to hearing in the middle of the night. This morning I woke up (wide awake, not groggy) at 6:00 on the dot even though the alarm did not go off (set incorrectly). What the author of this piece needs to realize is that not everybody is as clumsy, overparanoid, and as heavy of a sleeper as she is.
 
Hmmm... 99% of 100,000,000 fireams would be... 99,000,000 accidental gun deaths... just a wee bit higher than the 30,000 total gun deaths, much less the actual 700ish.
 
If there is a 99% chance that a person can take a gun away from its owner and use it against them, I don't need guns. When I am confronted by an assailant, I will simply disarm him and shoot him.
 
What makes you think Prudie (or whoever is ghostwriting the column these days) didn't write that letter herself just to push her agenda?
 
99 people out of a group of 100 strategically selected people who have guns for home defense have shot themselves or a loved one on accident.

That means 99% of people who have guns for home defense do more damage than good!!!

By that logic, 99% of guns* are used to commit crimes.





*"99%" refers to guns whose serial numbers were connected to drive-by shootings.
 
Don't allow yourself to be put on the defensive with made up crap like the 99% fairy dust.

When you see a number like that ask the proponent to show you their data that backs up the 99% figure. Unless they do with a reputable peer reviewed study, it means nothing.
 
If there is a 99% chance that a person can take a gun away from its owner and use it against them, I don't need guns. When I am confronted by an assailant, I will simply disarm him and shoot him.
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HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA sorry, that was great :)
 
I had a bleeding heart tell me, after finding out I carried a pistol, that "some big bad guy is just gonna take it from you and use it against you" to which I replied "well, if it's so easy to take a gun from someone who's attempting to shoot you I'll just take it back from him, maybe he'll take it from me again but I'll just take it back once more ... we can just sit there passing it back and forth until the cops show up or he gives up trying to shoot me in disgust."

I got the idea for that argument from right here on THR (Thanks gang!)

He just looked at me like I was stupid and left the room and, handily, the conversation.

Honestly, if I'm intent on shooting you there may well be a universe in which you might wrestle the gun away from me but (you know this old saw) you're gonna have to BEAT me to death with it because I will just have expended all available ammo in it try desperately to perforate you.

ETA: Is it just me or do all of the bliss-ninny "they're gonna take it from you" crowd only watch the gangster movies where all handguns are used against the intended taget at less than arms length. Am I the only one that remebers that the WHOLE POINT of a gun is to propel a projectile FARTHER than you would normally be able to throw it? I was trained that distance was a primary objective in a firefight but, that's obviously a flawed strategy since they never do that in the movies.
 
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The only thing I can possibly agree with on this article is that if you have small children in the house or visiting you should secure your weapons out of the reach of the little monkeys. Young kids are quick, sneaky, trouble magnets. I have one that roams around Casa 2RCo and all guns are secured when she's around. The easiest way to do this and still keep one available for defense is to carry concealed.
 
hk if there in that close its knife distance anyway lol

im with you on the fact that guns are meant for ranged attacks/defenses
 
"...99 percent of the time, people who have guns for "self defense" end up shooting themselves or loved ones or having intruders take the gun away from them..." Document the stats.
"...a career soldier and sharpshooter..." That doesn't make a good CCW instructor.
 
I had a bleeding heart tell me, after finding out I carried a pistol, that "some big bad guy is just gonna take it from you and use it against you"
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My respons would be, "Let's try an experiment. You take a gun away from me. But first write out a suicide note explaining what happened."
 
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