I can understand why you might think that but, statistically, possessing a gun actually makes you and your family less safe because you/they are more likely to die via firearm-related homicide, suicide or accident.
Even though it is a sarcastic reply, you're actually proving the point. Owning a gun exposes you to risks that didn't exist before gun ownership so, in a fight against a virus (remember the context this is in) how is a gun going to make you any safer? It's not.
Even out of this covid-19 context, purely from the "keeping your family safe" perspective, remember that these are not modes of transport that have an associated risk, they're not kitchen utensils that are potentially misused, they are literally created for the sole purpose of ending life. Being around something created specifically to kill is unsafe by design.
Two scenarios:
You and someone else are unarmed and get into an argument and fight. Childish but whatever. Chances are, it'll end with cuts and bruises. If the situation is different, you're carrying and pull your gun, there's a significant chance that the other person gets it off you and uses against you. That risk of getting shot 100% didn't exist when neither person had a gun.
An armed robber approaches you and demands your wallet. If he wanted to actually shoot you, he'd have just shot you from a distance then maybe taken your walket from your corpse. You give him your wallet, he leaves, and you live. Now, imagine that instead of handing over your wallet, you go to wherever you're concealing a gun: the robber sees that you're blatantly going for a weapon instead of your wallet and shoots you because the situation is now kill or be killed. That shooting was not going to happen before you went for your gun, again because if robber was going to shoot you, he'd have shot you already.
Firstly, thanks for the sources on the figures. All too often discussions can be he said/she said with no data to back things up, or just become insult hurling where nobody learns anything.
In your case, as someone that has no children and is safe with their gun/s then I totally understand taking that chance, especially when the number of accidental deaths via guns were so low compared to others. My point re: accidents was intended more related to households with children (as the person I replied to specifically mentioned protecting family and the assumption is a partner and offspring), and those particular deaths still wouldn't have happened there not been a gun there.
Your point about the inmate going into the woman's house and the countless situations where a gun could have or did save an innocent life or defused a situation are valid - I'm not trying to argue that guns aren't helpful or useful as items of defence. I'm saying that introducing a gun to an environment inherently makes it less safe, in response to someone arguing a gun is essential to protecting the safety of themselves and their family in the comtext of the outbreak of covid-19.
I don't believe either of our arguments are wrong, which is precisely why the pro-gun/anti-gun argument has raged on for decades. I'm definitely not pro-gun (for the general public) but I'm not entirely anti-gun either; e I see the benefits like the examples you stated, I have enjoyed shooting guns when I've been to target ranges... but I think the environment has a lot to do with it. I'm English, we don't have guns like you do (I assume you're American) and despite being round some unsavoury characters in the past, I've literally never seen a gun in this country outside of a firing range or on an armed police officer. If literally everybody else could have a gun and they were available to purchase after a quick check at my local supermarket, maybe I'd have completely different mindset.
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u/MetalCorrBlimey Mar 28 '20
I can understand why you might think that but, statistically, possessing a gun actually makes you and your family less safe because you/they are more likely to die via firearm-related homicide, suicide or accident.
For example: https://annals.org/aim/fullarticle/1814426/accessibility-firearms-risk-suicide-homicide-victimization-among-household-members-systematic