People have a right to know if a product can kill them. Tobacco companies knew, from their own research, for years before the Surgeon General’s 1964 report, that mainstream smoke kills, yet TV ads had doctors saying cigs prevent colds. 1/7

Cigs prevent colds, but only if you count death as an event that stops colds. If you think buying a gun protects your home, you have a right to know if that gun is more likely to prevent - or cause - harm to you and your loved ones. We have that info, right? Not since the 1990s. 2/7

In 1993, 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. 3/7

Conclusion: gun in the home is associated w/a nearly threefold increase in odds someone will be killed at home by a family member or intimate acquaintance. The work was criticized for not using enough statistical controls. So they did other studies. 4/7

Gun in the home = nearly 5x increase in odds of suicide, “guns at home were 4x more likely to cause an accidental shooting, seven times more likely to be used in assault or homicide, and 11 times more likely to be used in a suicide than they were to be used for self-defense.” 5/7

The NRA got upset & in 1996 put a clamp (via $ spent on lobbyists & members of Congress) on CDC studies of gun violence. Lincoln said let the people know the facts and the country will be safe. He was a victim of gun violence. 6/7

On Tuesday, December 28 at 7 p.m. on Civil Discourse Now on Facebook we shall discuss guns and violence from a consumer’s perspective. You can deter burglars by having a rabid dog in your home. But then the dog’s more likely to bite you. You live there. 7/7