Quote of the Day: Magical Thinking

Again Joan Peterson of the Brady Campaign, Joyce Foundation, and the Million Mom March is the best thing in the world to push people who actually have Common Sense away from gun control.

I know why the homicide rate is so high in the U.S.- guns. That is widely recognized in other countries. People I know who have lived abroad tell me that citizens in other countries are mystified by our gun culture here. Suicide is lower than other countries but guns are responsible for the majority of the suicides.

Man, Joan, if you could back that up with facts to show it wasn’t wild speculation you’d have a hell of an argument, and I’d probably join your side again!

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0 Responses to Quote of the Day: Magical Thinking

  1. Bob S. says:

    She was close but fails to realize there are two (John Edwards had it almost right) “gun cultures” in America.

    There is the Predatory gun culture that uses violence as a way of life, willing to employ violence at the first sign of resistance or set back.

    Then there is the Protectionary gun culture that uses violence as a last resort to protect their way of life.

    What is sad is she knows the laws she proposes won’t affect the predators but still tries to sell them as a control method.

    I really don’t understand the mind set needed to say “let’s make it impossible for the protectionary culture to exist so that the predatory culture will have a harder time getting guns”.

  2. People I know who have lived abroad tell me that citizens in other countries are mystified by our gun culture here.

    My reply to that: “IOW, said citizens subjects of other countries are just as judgmental and bigoted as you are, apparently.”

    • Weerd Beard says:

      I also imagine the people from other countries who she consorts with or chooses to consult are just as biased as the “Studies” she cites.

      I know lots of foreign nationals and ex-pats who feel the need or desire for personal protection. Even a few who illegally acquired weapons for protection.

      I also know lots of Americans who feel safe enough to not bother with avenues of protection (and actually Joan is one of those Americans…hmmm)

      So yeah again honestly and consistency aren’t an issue for her. Its all about the magic and the narrative.

  3. alan says:

    Back what up with facts? There’s no statement there, just a nonsensical ramble.

  4. Bubblehead Les says:

    Pulling out my Almanac for 2009, according to the National Safety Council (I believe a Fed Agency), there were 29,625 Firearm deaths in the year 2004 (only year printed). Of that, 16.756 were suicide. The rest were Homicide, Accident, Police Shootings, etc.
    However, in 2006, HHS ranked the Leading causes of Death, and “Intentional Self-Harm” (PC for Suicide) was a total of 32,185, and was #11 on the list. Homicide ( including Bricks, Knives, Guns, etc) was #15 at 18,029. So, as a percentage, about 50% of the suicides used a gun. Total Deaths in the U.S. was 2,425,901. So doing the Math: 16756/2,2,425,901=00.69% of all deaths were caused by Firearm Suicide. One could increase that rate if one added the FireArm Homicide stats (11,672) thus pushing the total up to around 1%. Some of the higher rates of death were Diabetes(3%), Influenza and pneumonia(2.3%), and Blood Poisoning (1.4%).

    Of course, I do not know what other Nations report as their Death Rates ,and how they break it down, but it seems, here in the U.S., one stands a better chance of dying from stepping on a Rusty Nail than by being on the receiving end of a Bullet.

    Of course, Ms. Peterson also needs to realize that anyone who chooses to commit Suicide can jump off a bridge, swallow pills, drive into a Highway Bridge pillar, turn on the Gas oven, run the car in a closed Garage,open a vein, etc.

    It’s not the tool, it’s the Mental State as far as Suicides go, Ms. Peterson. Why don’t you get your Head straightened out, or better yet, learn to do 4th Grade Math.

  5. Linoge says:

    Impressively, she let my comment through, which is even more surprising given that it shoots down her theory that murders are caused by guns, and her theory that banning guns will reduce suicides (in Australia, the opposite actually happened, though I claim no causality there, just that it defeats the “banning guns will cause a reduction in suicides” argument).

    Of course, my name was not attached to the comment in question, which may be why it skirted through.

    I continue to be amazed by her Appeal to Popularity logical fallacies… I am working on a post concerning that right now, and no, you may not steal the idea :P.

  6. TJP says:

    From the Disarmer’s Dictionary:

    gunculture; n.
    A label with which we identify those who deserve imprisonment for disagreeing with our plans for them.

    If I had the money, I’d offer a $100,000 reward for any disarmer who could complete a sentence without a bunch of codewords raining down on it like little social engineering turds.

    gundeath
    guncrime
    gunviolence
    gunban
    guntrafficking
    gunculture

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