Monday, February 17, 2020

Getting Real with Statistics

In line with my last post, yes, let's get real.
Let's break down our American situation concerning firearms and lets put ideas where they belong.

It isn't easy being in the middle, neither side is willing to listen to the other or even the middle. Our Capitalist lives demand that we pay attention to money rather than the humans around us. Our attitude as a whole seems to be that, "another dead person is one less trying to take my money... or my opportunities." This type of subliminal thought is predominant in America, until of course it was your daughter that killed herself, or your husband that was caught inside the store in the hail of bullets.

But those twists of fate only happen to other people.

In 2019 suicide by gun totaled  24,090.
Gun death from all other means totaled 15,336.
Gun injury from all means totaled 29,646
Total 39,426 killed  -  29,646 injured
Actual total of all is  69,072.            *GunViolenceArchive

There are a few ways to look at these numbers. The first way is to see the injury number, the injured count also. We never see or are told of the injury number. That injury number includes people that are now permanently crippled and are a weight on the US economy. That number also includes some that have a scar and mental issues now because of their incident. That number also includes police officer "lawful," shootings, failed suicides, all forms of accidents and failed murders. All still fall in the category of total aggressed incidents. These injured people were inches from death and that counts too, they were also shot with a gun.
It counts because for every person that is killed or injured come another ten people that know and love them that are now soured on firearms. As that number rises the gun fervor will get worse, the injured can still think and talk.

The far left towards the middle claims the total number of gun deaths as their talking point without separating the number by means. The Far right to the middle negates the suicide number and gives very little weight to the remaining considering it very low in the grand scheme of 320 million Americans. The middle separates these numbers but realizes it is all death by gun and then tries to pick this number apart by reason.

The reasons for ALL gun violence in America is either mental anguish or incompetence.

Shot by a stolen gun? - incompetence of the original owner
Shot by a meth addict?  - mental anguish
Shot accidentally?  - incompetence
Shot in a drive-by? - mental anguish and incompetence of thought of the shooter
Shot by your lover?  - mental anguish

And on, and on, and on. All means of American domestic gun violence can be boiled down to its root, which is primarily one of these two things. But then we could actually say that as a whole, Apathy is the culprit. We don't care unless it affects our families and friends, so it will continue. And because of this apathy the number will continue to rise until it knocks on your door or rings your phone.

To me, the most urgent number that should be addressed by the pro-gun crowd is the huge number of friends and family that have had a loved one shot and / or killed. The murder by gun number for 2019 was actually a small sliver of our populous. 15,000 last year. Considering that this is out of 320 million people, it is a number easy to dismiss with a paranoid American mindset. But that number is the basis for at least 150,000 more people to dislike guns and the people that use them. The Suicide number of 24,090 brings with it another 240,000 people and the injury number of 29,646, urges another 290,000 people soured on firearms.
Standing on the Second Amendment isn't going to work forever when over a half million or better are freaked out every year by our American right to bear.

We need to address why people kill themselves, why people shoot others purposefully and we need to address our own incompetence as gun owners.

Guns have a place and a reason. In the right human hands for the right reason.
Our reasoning is the Second Amendment, our reason is fear.

The right human, is a trained and respectful one.

LL/ Mac/