Americans are not required to own a firearm, as some colonists were [FN1] where colonies used militias to maintain “peace.” [FN2] [FN3] We should ignore the bullies. We have a right not to own a firearm. A person might own, or possess, a gun for several reasons. [FN4] 1/13

Self-defense is your right, but you also have a right to know if a product you buy will A) do what you buy it to do & B) is more likely to hurt/kill you/those you love. The gun industry knew. A 1993 study found a gun in the home means a nearly three-fold increase in odds 2/13

someone will be killed at home by family member or intimate acquaintance. [FN5] The work was criticized for not using enough statistical controls. A subsequent study found a gun in the home increases odds of suicide (5x), accidental shooting (4x), assault or homicide (7x), 3/13

& more likely to be used in suicide than self-defense (11x). [FN6] The NRA got upset & spent $ on lobbyists & members of Congress to stop peer reviewed studies of gun violence as a health risk, under the CDC. [FN7] Attack came from a researcher who “mangles” the study’s 4/13

conclusion by misleadingly claiming” the numbers are inaccurate. [FN8] The CDC can once again be involved in research as the restrictions have been dropped. Before you buy a firearm, compare its price w/the price of a security system. Something else: how to use a gun? 5/13

Burglars avoid A) where people are home & B) have a security system. They steal things easily fenced. A handgun is so easily fenced it’s almost fungible. But if you want to scare off burglars, you have to make it known that you have it. They wait until you’re not home. 6/13

A gun reduces your security. Lincoln said let the people know the facts and the country will be safe. He was a victim of gun violence. He also was a Republican, but not like the maga crowd. I shall write further on this subject tomorrow. 7/13

Footnotes:
FN1. Massachusetts, 1632, “The Compact with the Charter and General Laws of the Colony of New Plymouth,” 44-45 (1836); Virginia, 1658, Acts of Grand Assembly 1658-1659, Act 25; New York, Duke of York's Laws (1665-1675). 8/13

Footnotes>:
FN2. A “militia” is a “body of citizens armed and trained, esp. by a state, for military service apart from the regular armed forces.” Black’s Law Dictionary, Pocket Ed., 1996, p. 415. 9/13

Footnotes:
FN3. “Peace” varied w/time, place & context. In the South, militias were slave patrols.” Winkler, “Gunfight,” 2011, p. 133. Militias were complicit in the genocide of indigenous people. Brown, “Bury my heart at Wounded Knee,” 2011, pp. 86–87. 10/13

Footnotes:
FN4 Some advocates for guns have fun obfuscating terms, so “firearm. A weapon that expels a projectile (such as a bullet or pellets) by the combustion of gunpowder or other explosive. - Also termed gun.” Black’s Law Dictionary, 10th ed., 2014, p. 751. 11/13

Footnotes:
FN5. Kellermann, et al, identified 444 ppl killed, at home,1987-1992 in Shelby Co GA, King Co WA, Cuyahoga Co OH. They got details fr police, medical examiners & ppl who had been close to the victims. SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, Wenner-Moyer, 10/1/17. 12/13

Footnotes:
FN6. Kellermann, et al, “Injuries and deaths due to firearms in the home,” 45 J. Trauma 263-267 (Aug 1998).
FN7. See “Firearms Research”, Scientific American, updated from 496 Nature 412-415 (2013).
FN8. https://www.gvpedia.org/gun-myths/kellermann-study/ 13/13