A new Harvard University opinion piece study regarding guns and personal safety has liberals cheering. But in the never-ending quest to prove that guns really are evil, instead of condemning the evil actions of a person with a gun, any “data” will do.
The “study”, which was in The Journal of Preventative Medicine, “discovered” the following, as reported by Liberals United:
“The study found that in incidents where a victim used a gun in self-defense, the likelihood of suffering an injury was 10.9 percent. Had the victim taken no action at all, the risk of injury was virtually identical: 11 percent.”
The study goes on to victim-blame in an absolutely asisine tone:
Further data showed that when someone uses a gun in self defense it is commonly part of escalating hostilities where both parties are likely responsible for the event that prompts the hostile outcome.
The problem with this “study” is it assumes that all instances of defensive gun use (DGUs) are reported. This, according to The Truth About Guns, is false.
Even if the DGU is reported to the police, included in the police blotter, and then picked up by this site, there’s one more hurdle to it being accepted. “Each incident is verified by both initial researchers and secondary validation processes” they claim, meaning that only events which meet their specific definition of a defensive gun use are included in the count.
So before anything can be considered defensive gun use, it must be verified, and must meet some specific criteria. There is nothing so black and white as the adrenaline-fueled desire to defend yourself and others against a foe whose goal is to hurt you. Two recent incidents stand out as testaments to the powerful protection a gun can often provide.
Earlier this year, a woman in Kentucky was stalked in the mall, followed out to the parking lot, then chased by her attacker, Jon Ganobick. He pulled out a knife, she pulled out her gun, and shot him in the neck and butt. The coward will have a lot to think about as he sits in jail awaiting trial, and wounded by the act of self defense. In early March, an escaped murder suspect in Mississippi, Rafael McCloud, forced his way into a home. He held all four members of a family hostage, tied up the man and woman, and stabbed the man. The gun-owning husband was able to get free, got his gun, and shot McCloud to death. If guns had not been in the possession of either victim, these stories would most likely have had a tragic ending.
Guns clearly save lives and offer protection for the millions upon millions of responsible gun owners in the United States. That’s an inconvenient truth to elite liberals who would rather that not be the case. And if the study really were credible, then every single liberal politician should remove all guns from his or her posse of bodyguards. For public safety.
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