Ralph III
Member
Hello Everyone.
The University of South Alabama has received a 1.8 million dollar grant to study the effects of gun injuries (homicides/suicides) and is working closely with gun owners in coming up with strategies to curtail such. So this is an opportunity for you to have some input in regards.
The study is called GRIP (Gun-Related Injury Prevention) and can be found HERE. My wife is employed at USA in one of the relevant departments so she brought this to my attention early. I have been in contact with Dr. Mehari and Dr. Smith and I am going to serve on the Gun Owners Advisory board. My correspondence with them has been very enthusiastic and excellent, btw. They are still in the process of assembling the team but we hope to have our first meeting within two weeks.
Anyhow, I would truly appreciate your input in regards to gun violence, accidents and suicides. Your opinions are valued and I will be sharing them where applicable. I would especially appreciate it if you could help me gather some verifiable stats; otherwise point me in the right direction.
In giving a little bit of my background. I've been involved with hunting and shooting for nearly 50 years now. Just like you, I am a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment, for both recreation and self defense purposes. I also think the shooting sports and outdoors is a fantastic hobby for families and the youth to be involved with.
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I will give a brief summary of my stance on homicides and suicides in regards to firearms. I'm hoping to expand upon this by hearing your opinions and in getting even greater insight. This is a general summary. I may be asking specific questions once we begin the process.
1. Reducing gun related homicides:
a) Additional penalties associated with crimes in which a weapon was used: I think this would
deter the common criminal from utilizing a weapon which in turn could help reduce homicides
and shooting in general. The additional and severe penalties would also insure hardened
criminals are incarcerated longer which keeps them off the streets.
b) Legal gun owners: I believe legal gun owners act to deter crimes and stop crimes with the use
of their firearms and in significant numbers. One prominent study on this was conducted under
the Obama Admin. Despite their anti-gun stance their findings are quite telling. This is from pg
26 as found HERE.
It should be noted that the National Crime and Victimization study was obviously an anti-gun and consequently bogus study. It only noted "108,000 annual defensive uses" but their study did not in fact ask respondents about "defensive usage"! Otherwise, they do not include stats in which gun owners prevented a crime by telling a perpetrator that they had a weapon or by brandishing it. Some do not even count cases in which the gun owner fired but missed although such prevented a crime. Many resort to limiting their stats to instances where the gun owner actually fired their weapon and injured the perpetrator. This significantly deflates the stats of how often legal gun owners actually prevent or stop crimes with their weapons. This is obviously purposeful.
The study performed under the Obama Admin by the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council notes the National Crime Victimization Survey discrepancy.
c) Criminal Reformation: I believe Incarceration should include Reformation of a criminal who will
be paroled at some point. This may include increasing their education to teaching them a skill
to instilling a sense of morality. I also think they should be allowed to leave and then return to
the prison in the last year of their sentence, such as with the work release program. I think a
gradual re-introduction into society would be best -vs- simply releasing a criminal back into
society upon completion of his sentence.
d) Favorable laws: Laws should be created both at the Federal and State level that affords
protections to law abiding citizens who used their firearms to prevent or stop a criminal from
killing innocent people.
e) Other security measures: People should utilize home security systems, cameras and lighting
to secure their home. They should also be aware of their surroundings and take precautionary
measures when away from their home. This could act to reduce homicides and other violent
crimes.
f) Education: Their should be educational programs and campaigns to inform people of how
they may better protect themselves. It should include an honest portrayal of the benefits of
legal gun ownership which should include proper training of course. This would also help to
remove the anti-gun sentiment and propaganda that the left promotes.
2. Reducing accidental gun injuries:
a) Education and Training: Gun safety should be taught and stressed at every opportunity to
both adults and children. I really feel the NRA and other gun organizations should put on
free clinics to the public. This would go a long way in both creating enthusiasm and in
curtailing accidental shootings. You cannot just hide guns from children, you must also
remove their curiosity!!!!
b) Safe storage: Guns should be stored safely in households with children. I'm not one to say
you must utilize a gun safe -vs- kept out of reach and hidden. That is a decision you must
make based upon your circumstances. I chose to educate my children which included
completely removing any curiosity. I then kept my pistol hidden and out of reach. My gun
safe is a bio-metric type but I would never trust it for fast access in case of a home
invasion. I do however lock my guns up when other children visit.
3. Reducing suicides with firearms:
I think about 60% of all suicides in America are committed with use of a firearm? Consequently, if you want to prevent suicides by firearms then you have to temporarily remove the firearms. That's the simple answer right. For me it is a little more complicated then that.
It seems to me a lot of studies place emphasis on removing the firearm and less emphasis on treating those suffering suicidal thoughts. I mean if you removed all of the firearms in stopping suicides by firearm, then you may have only stopped suicides by firearm and nothing more.
There are many other countries that don't allow firearms or otherwise they are highly restricted and yet they have higher rates of suicides than America. So even if you removed the firearm who is to say they wouldn't have committed suicide by other means?
A lot of stats say that most attempted suicides fail by other means whereas suicide by firearm is typically fatal. But how do we know that many of these attempted suicides were really just calls for help? Whereas those who chose truly lethal means, whether by firearm or other methods, were truly seeking to commit suicide.
But yes, if you have someone who is suicidal within your household then you must remove or lock away your firearms. I'm not sure how much of a solution this is though versus a temporary prevention? Anyhow, this is a subject which needs greater research so your input would be especially appreciated here.
Note: Many of my stats are a little bit older so if you have some pertinent stats which are a little more current, then please reference those.
Thank you and God Bless,
Ralph
The University of South Alabama has received a 1.8 million dollar grant to study the effects of gun injuries (homicides/suicides) and is working closely with gun owners in coming up with strategies to curtail such. So this is an opportunity for you to have some input in regards.
"While much of the national discussion centers on access to firearms, the approach by Assistant Professor Dr. Krista Mehari and Professor Dr. Phillip Smith will focus on better understanding the perspective of people who possess and own guns to improve public health strategies".
The study is called GRIP (Gun-Related Injury Prevention) and can be found HERE. My wife is employed at USA in one of the relevant departments so she brought this to my attention early. I have been in contact with Dr. Mehari and Dr. Smith and I am going to serve on the Gun Owners Advisory board. My correspondence with them has been very enthusiastic and excellent, btw. They are still in the process of assembling the team but we hope to have our first meeting within two weeks.
Anyhow, I would truly appreciate your input in regards to gun violence, accidents and suicides. Your opinions are valued and I will be sharing them where applicable. I would especially appreciate it if you could help me gather some verifiable stats; otherwise point me in the right direction.
In giving a little bit of my background. I've been involved with hunting and shooting for nearly 50 years now. Just like you, I am a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment, for both recreation and self defense purposes. I also think the shooting sports and outdoors is a fantastic hobby for families and the youth to be involved with.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I will give a brief summary of my stance on homicides and suicides in regards to firearms. I'm hoping to expand upon this by hearing your opinions and in getting even greater insight. This is a general summary. I may be asking specific questions once we begin the process.
1. Reducing gun related homicides:
a) Additional penalties associated with crimes in which a weapon was used: I think this would
deter the common criminal from utilizing a weapon which in turn could help reduce homicides
and shooting in general. The additional and severe penalties would also insure hardened
criminals are incarcerated longer which keeps them off the streets.
b) Legal gun owners: I believe legal gun owners act to deter crimes and stop crimes with the use
of their firearms and in significant numbers. One prominent study on this was conducted under
the Obama Admin. Despite their anti-gun stance their findings are quite telling. This is from pg
26 as found HERE.
Defensive uses of guns by crime victims is a common occurrence, although the exact number remains disputed (Cook and Ludwig, 1996; Kleck, 2001a). Almost all national survey estimates indicate that defensive gun uses by victims are at least as common as offensive uses by criminals, with estimates of annual uses ranging from about 500,000 to more than 3 million per year (Kleck, 2001a), in the context of about 300,000 violent crimes involving firearms in 2008 (BJS, 2010). On the other hand, some scholars point to radically lower estimate of only 108,000 annual defensive uses based on the National Crime Victimization Survey
It should be noted that the National Crime and Victimization study was obviously an anti-gun and consequently bogus study. It only noted "108,000 annual defensive uses" but their study did not in fact ask respondents about "defensive usage"! Otherwise, they do not include stats in which gun owners prevented a crime by telling a perpetrator that they had a weapon or by brandishing it. Some do not even count cases in which the gun owner fired but missed although such prevented a crime. Many resort to limiting their stats to instances where the gun owner actually fired their weapon and injured the perpetrator. This significantly deflates the stats of how often legal gun owners actually prevent or stop crimes with their weapons. This is obviously purposeful.
The study performed under the Obama Admin by the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council notes the National Crime Victimization Survey discrepancy.
"The former estimate of 108,000 is difficult to interpret because respondents were not asked specifically about defensive gun use."
c) Criminal Reformation: I believe Incarceration should include Reformation of a criminal who will
be paroled at some point. This may include increasing their education to teaching them a skill
to instilling a sense of morality. I also think they should be allowed to leave and then return to
the prison in the last year of their sentence, such as with the work release program. I think a
gradual re-introduction into society would be best -vs- simply releasing a criminal back into
society upon completion of his sentence.
d) Favorable laws: Laws should be created both at the Federal and State level that affords
protections to law abiding citizens who used their firearms to prevent or stop a criminal from
killing innocent people.
e) Other security measures: People should utilize home security systems, cameras and lighting
to secure their home. They should also be aware of their surroundings and take precautionary
measures when away from their home. This could act to reduce homicides and other violent
crimes.
f) Education: Their should be educational programs and campaigns to inform people of how
they may better protect themselves. It should include an honest portrayal of the benefits of
legal gun ownership which should include proper training of course. This would also help to
remove the anti-gun sentiment and propaganda that the left promotes.
2. Reducing accidental gun injuries:
a) Education and Training: Gun safety should be taught and stressed at every opportunity to
both adults and children. I really feel the NRA and other gun organizations should put on
free clinics to the public. This would go a long way in both creating enthusiasm and in
curtailing accidental shootings. You cannot just hide guns from children, you must also
remove their curiosity!!!!
b) Safe storage: Guns should be stored safely in households with children. I'm not one to say
you must utilize a gun safe -vs- kept out of reach and hidden. That is a decision you must
make based upon your circumstances. I chose to educate my children which included
completely removing any curiosity. I then kept my pistol hidden and out of reach. My gun
safe is a bio-metric type but I would never trust it for fast access in case of a home
invasion. I do however lock my guns up when other children visit.
3. Reducing suicides with firearms:
I think about 60% of all suicides in America are committed with use of a firearm? Consequently, if you want to prevent suicides by firearms then you have to temporarily remove the firearms. That's the simple answer right. For me it is a little more complicated then that.
It seems to me a lot of studies place emphasis on removing the firearm and less emphasis on treating those suffering suicidal thoughts. I mean if you removed all of the firearms in stopping suicides by firearm, then you may have only stopped suicides by firearm and nothing more.
There are many other countries that don't allow firearms or otherwise they are highly restricted and yet they have higher rates of suicides than America. So even if you removed the firearm who is to say they wouldn't have committed suicide by other means?
A lot of stats say that most attempted suicides fail by other means whereas suicide by firearm is typically fatal. But how do we know that many of these attempted suicides were really just calls for help? Whereas those who chose truly lethal means, whether by firearm or other methods, were truly seeking to commit suicide.
But yes, if you have someone who is suicidal within your household then you must remove or lock away your firearms. I'm not sure how much of a solution this is though versus a temporary prevention? Anyhow, this is a subject which needs greater research so your input would be especially appreciated here.
Note: Many of my stats are a little bit older so if you have some pertinent stats which are a little more current, then please reference those.
Thank you and God Bless,
Ralph
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