FACT: While handguns account for only one-third of all firearms owned in the United States, they account for more than two-thirds of all firearm-related deaths each year. A gun in the home is 4 times more likely to be involved in an unintentional shooting, 7 times more likely to be used to commit a criminal assault or homicide, and 11 times more likely to be used to attempt or commit suicide than to be used in self-defense.
-A Kellerman, et al. Journal of Trauma, August 1998; Kellerman AL, Lee RK, Mercy JA, et al. "The Epidemiological Basis for the Prevention of Firearm Injuries." Annu.Rev Public Health. 1991; 12:17-40.)

You aren't protecting yourself with your guns, you're just being selfish.

FACT: A gun in the home increases the risk of homicide of a household member by 3 times and the risk of suicide by 5 times compared to homes where no gun is present.
-Kellerman AL, Rivara FP, Somes G, et al. "Suicide in the Home in Relation to Gun Ownership." NEJM. 1992; 327(7):467-472


FACT: Comparison of U.S. gun homicides to other industrialized countries:
In 1998 (the most recent year for which this data has been compiled), handguns murdered:

* 373 people in Germany
* 151 people in Canada
* 57 people in Australia
* 19 people in Japan
* 54 people in England and Wales, and
* 11,789 people in the United States

that's ridiculous
BongSmokityDuo Reviewed by BongSmokityDuo on . Guns Just wondering if anyone here in the UK owns a gun, not an airgun or anything, a handgun. Handguns were banned in 1997 after the Dunblane massacre, when Thomas Hamilton opened fire at a primary school leaving 16 children and their teacher dead. I have not seen one since (apart from in the US), Just wondering if anyone still owned one. The ban is so strict, the UK Olypmic Pistol team must practice in another country. The ban was pointless IMO because firearm use in crime has not Rating: 5