• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Why is the average firearm owner, an unsafe gun owner?

none of that defines what makes a "safe" gun owner

do this - calculate how many gun owners in the USA, how many guns owned, how many tens of billions of rounds of ammunition, and how man billions of hours of carrying guns does average firearm owners log every year ...

and tell me what % of the time there are accidents ?
 
An interesting implication here is that if you take all the deaths and injuries per year, and multiply that by average life expectancy, you end up with an interesting metric: on average 4% all of people living in the US will either die to a firearm or suffer a non-fatal firearm injury at least once in their lifetime.

That’s rather stunning.
 
I see the OP as a white suburban liberal. Probably lives in a gated community with a security guard. Shops at Whole Foods. Has never had to worry about crime. Has never had to feed her family by hunting for food. The ultimate Karen.

She accuses me of unsafe gun handling because I keep my home defense guns in a safe. A ready access safe with RFID access. She thinks that is equivalent to a bedside drawer.

She also objects to me keeping my home defense guns in Condition 3 (magazine inserted, chamber empty). A home defense firearm is useless without ammo but she thinks I should keep my ammo in a separate room. All the home defense guns are in a safe.

I will admit to having one gun stored in Condition 1 (magazine inserted, round in the chamber, safety on). It is my carry gun and is stored in my big safe. Why do I keep it in Condition 1? Because, the risk of a negligent discharge is higher if I am loading it every morning and clearing it every evening.

Responsible gun owners make risk based decisions based on their own unique circumstance. For someone who has no idea of our circumstances to lecture us is the height of arrogance and white privilege.

But then, gun control comes from a place of privilege.
 

Gambler Fallacy. A coin coming up heads ten times in a row, doesn't mean the odds have increased of flip 11 coming up tails.

Odds don't accumulate in that manner. If you assume they do, your work shows that the best chance of being shot is in the last years of life. Reality tells a different story.

Work your numerical magic for the 2.3 million traffic fatalities and injuries, and you might find everyone is virtually assured of being injured or dying in a traffic accident. If they have somehow made it to 70 years old or so without that unfortunate occurrence, it becomes inevitable.

Is this a phenomenon we can observe in reality?
 

It actually wouldn't matter if they're "safe" or not

There were 586 mass shootings in the USA in 2024. That alone justifies gun control.
 
It actually wouldn't matter if they're "safe" or not

There were 586 mass shootings in the USA in 2024. That alone justifies gun control.
Another lie. There were less than 50 mass shootings in the United States in 2023 per the FBI.

A made up definition from a non-governmental website is complete and utter bullshit.

Oh, and the CDC determined that defensive gun uses number between 500,000 and 3 million per a year, far outweighing any use by criminals. That would be a determination by an actual government organization, not some guy running a website out of his basement.
 
US gun owners are extremely safe. It’s why so few firearms are used in accidental shootings.
 
It’s so funny that you still think you fool anyone when you lie about being an NRA instructor
 
The NRA used to focus on gun safety before they became wackos. I taught gun safety under the NRA Program in the 1970s---believe me, they ain't the same (anymore than the GOP ain't the same today, etc...).........................
The NRA is the gold standard for firearms safety instruction. Always have been. But yiu would know that if you had ever actually been an instructor.

Name one “gun safety” organization that teaches firearms safety. They don’t.
.all gun owners should have to buy special insurance to cover the law suits that SHOULD be allowed when gun owners are irresponsible.....


And btw, you can’t require insurance to exercise a right.
 
Guns don’t need to be locked up to be safe. Gun accidents are extremely rare.
 
Guns don’t need to be locked up to be safe. Gun accidents are extremely rare.
Mine are locked up because they are expensive. Along with jewelry and important documents.
 
Hilariously false. You are far more likely to suffer a fatal or non fatal injury from a motor vehicle accident, by orders of magnitude more, than by firearm.
 
It actually wouldn't matter if they're "safe" or not

There were 586 mass shootings in the USA in 2024. That alone justifies gun control.
There hasn’t been 586 mass shootings this century, so when you repeat this proven lie of a single year having that many, you are showing your complete detachment from reality.
 
Oh, and I forgot to post about her third bullet that guns in the home cause a higher risk.

That is based on the debunked Kellerman study of 1993.

“First, in the 1993 referenced study, Kellermann et al. break rule number one when creating an ethical scientific study: engaging in selection bias. The ‘controlled’ population in this study came from a cherry-picked population of reported burglaries in a single county, thus creating a biased population and variables.

Kellermann’s team also used data where the guns were brought to the victim’s home and not owned by the victim. It seems that Kellermann et al. already had their ‘conclusion’ settled before the “study” even began.”

“Of course, a cherry-picked population encompassed by individuals with criminal records, aggressive behaviors, and homicidal tendencies are going to be more dangerous with a gun in hand than the average responsible, law-abiding gun owner. But in this false reality created by Kellermann et al., the two populations are one and the same.”

 
Mine are locked up because they are expensive. Along with jewelry and important documents.
I agree. I have 99% of mine locked up except for my EDC firearms which remain in my EDC bag I take with me to and from work.
 
While these are simple examples, the thing is that I don't think I've met a single person here on DP that knows and takes into all three of these points.

Raises hand.... those three points all fall under "training" that I have constantly talked about here. (And been taken to task over repeatedly by certain US based gun fans)

When it comes to guns and gun control - there are three opinions.
  • Anti-gun (obvious what that is)
  • American Pro -Gun - (will take issue with almost anything said by someone who is not an American gun-fan - whether that person is pro-gun or not)
  • Rest of World Pro-Gun - especially those who live in countries where you have to demonstrate safe practice and take yearly tests / training.
I usually find on these threads if I don't subscribe to guns, guns and more guns with guns on top and the less training and safety concern taken over gun ownership: then I'm a "commie ant-gun leftist."
 
Back to this old tired lie huh.

Tell me were most of the other NRA instructors from your time also incredibly ignorant on firearms like you.
 
Yeah sorry but made up stories don’t make for a very convincing argument.
 
More made up bs.

But we all know the control zealots have no issue with lying if they think it will further their agenda.
 
We inherited a fairly nice gun safe. It's locked.
 
Made up stories while entertaining are rarely good arguments.
 

Not to mention that lawsuits against irresponsible gun owners ARE allowed. Criminal charges can result from extreme negligence, too.

I would think an NRA safety instructor would have access to such common information.
 
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more…