Here’s The Real Data On AR-15 Safety

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Rational people, people who are as concerned about facts as with their feelings (as opposed to those who ignore facts in favor of their feelings) generally like statistics. They may be motivated by a feeling (like compassion or anger, for example), but they also like information that they can think through so that they work to figure out a way to solve the problem that has them upset which will actually work. They prefer this instead of doing something that makes them feel good without actually making a difference.

When you take rational thinking to the issue of gun violence, you want to know what is causing the violence. Maybe (as anti-gunners say) it’s that evil people get access to “assault rifles” that is the real issue, that if evil people couldn’t get at assault rifles, then everyone would be safer. Rational people, on the other hand, want to see the data and want to know the facts before jumping to that kind of knee-jerk conclusion.

So, what do the facts say about AR-15s, for example? Fortunately, Greg Curtner gives us the details. He writes,

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In any given year, for every person murdered with a rifle, there are 15 murdered with handguns, 1.7 with hands or fists, and 1.2 with blunt instruments. In fact, homicides with any sort of rifle represent a mere 3.2 percent of all homicides on average over the past decade.

Given that the FBI statistics pertain to all rifles, the homicide frequency of “assault-style” rifles like the AR-15 is necessarily lesser still, as such firearms compose a fraction of all the rifles used in crime.

With an average of 13,657 homicides per year during the 2007-2017 timeframe, about one-tenth of one percent of homicides were produced by mass shootings involving AR-15s.

According to a New York Times analysis, since 2007, at least “173 people have been killed in mass shootings in the United States involving AR-15s.”

That’s 173 over a span of a decade, with an average of 17 homicides per year. To put this in perspective, consider that at this rate it would take almost one-hundred years of mass shootings with AR-15s to produce the same number of homicide victims that knives and sharp objects produce in one year.

With an average of 13,657 homicides per year during the 2007-2017 timeframe, about one-tenth of one percent of homicides were produced by mass shootings involving AR-15s.

Think about that statistic for a moment: “one-tenth of one percent of homicides were produced by mass shootings involving AR-15s.

While all murders are horrible, don’t you think that anti-gunners would be more effective if they spent their time looking at what the other causes of the other 99.9% (literally that percentage) of murders with guns?

I would.

Which makes you think that anti-gunners haven’t done their research and that this is simply an emotional issues without any rational thought into how to reduce those murder statistics or that they are simply preying on the fears of an ignorant, uninformed, and emotionally-driven portion of the populace.

I’ll leave it to you to come to a conclusion as to which is the answer.

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14 COMMENTS

  1. The anti gunners are the lying. cheating, progressive politicians looking to make it safer for them in their attempt to have an all controlling socialist/communist government.

  2. In Cuba, Venezuela, North Corea, etc, etc, the people is outgunned by the government. You don’t have to be a neurosurgeon to understand that the purpose of disarming the people is to control them. Here in US we have the DemocRats and their socialist agenda trying by any mean to disarm the people. Our forefathers had a vision for freedom and that’s why the 2nd amendment was developed and implemented. Freedom isn’t free, lots of blood was the price of ours.

  3. Teacher your Sons & Daughters to comply within the Law in order to always be able to own and know on how to use it, if when ever the need comes to protect your self from being robbed from your Liberty and Freedom, its one way to keep America as American as possible because USA is the only Nation left in the World that still has Liberty and Freedom which the UN doesn’t agree with it.

  4. The anti-gunners know that the real purpose of the 2nd Amendment and the AR15 is to defend against government tyranny. And since these people are also against America, then one can assume the reason they are against guns, is that they want the government to become socialists/communists. They think that if they can get the government to ban these guns, people will automatically turn them in, which will not be the case. Then the government can do whatever it wants to the people. They don’t think the people will rebel, but all freedom loving people knows what happens when the government takes their citizens gun, death soon follows.

    • A friend sent me some memes about gun laws and the best one IMO is, “Yes, with guns we may have an occasional tragedy but without them there will be genocides.

  5. The biggest reason of why most gun grabbers want to ban the A R 15 is because it gives them the appearance to trying to accomplish something even they know that it is infringing in the right to own a A R 15.. You often hear their stupid term ” well it looks dangerous” and they get upset when you tell them that they look stupid with their mouth hanging open when you tell them that their dangerous looking weapon is a single shot 22, air rifle or a B B gun..

  6. Since the 1990s, the anti-gun crowd has been targeting “assault weapons” by which they mean “military looking” rifles like the AR-15, or the AK-47, for banning. The reason is quite simple and has nothing to do with the “lethality” of these rifle styles. The reason, which was viable in the 1990s, was that they were easily targeted “low hanging fruit.” Back then, relatively few people owned this more modern rifle style, thus, they expected little public outcry about banning them. In addition, they were not yet much used for hunting, and anyone who wanted one could fairly easily be branded as a “right-wing nut” or military “wannabe.” So, like bump-stocks today, they appeared to be easy targets for increased gun control, and for exactly the same reasons. They have not yet changed their rhetoric, partly because they haven’t caught on yet, and partly because are so invested in it. However, over the last 2 decades the situation with AR-15 style rifles has changed dramatically. Today the AR-15 has become the most popular rifle in our nation’s history, is now very widely owned and liked by ordinary citizens, is available in many calibers and configurations, and consequently, is used widely for both hunting and competition. As a result, trying to ban them today has resulted in a great deal of blowback and widespread resistance. Because of this new resistance, the statistics showing how rarely they are used to commit crimes, and how little they contribute to America’s “gun deaths,” are suddenly more relevant and can carry more weight in arguments. The failure of the anti-gun groups to recognize these changes leaves them in opposition to most modern gun owners, a position they have generally avoided before. In the past they carefully avoided seeking a ban on things like shotguns and hunting rifles because of their popularity. Back then, most gun owners said they owned guns mostly for hunting. Today most of us say we own guns for self or home defense – and the guns we want for that purpose are modern AR and AK style rifles and semiautomatic pistols.

  7. You all need to find out about George soros. He’s has supported the left with millions of dollars to get judges in office as well as the politicians. He’s the guy who pretty much bought out Europe and installed people to make decisions on immigration. Now Europe is probably the rape capital of the world.
    When your mind thinks about what’s going on, instantly stop it and go on You Tube and study.

    • What you forgot to mention is that during world war ll georgie soros first of all not his real name?? He was the subject of not only an Army intelligence investigation,but an OSS investigation.It disclosed that he worked for the natzi’s(specifically the gestapo) he was confiscating property of deported Jewish people,How did georgie get his money ???

  8. I agree with the article, however, the numbers in the way presented show handguns in a very bad light unless you do additional research. Even though handguns are used in shootings much more often than an AR-15, guns still rank low on the tool used for homicide. That additional research shows guns overall as a minority of the tool used. Sharp objects, blunt objects, hands and fists and motor vehicles are by far the largest categories of tools used in homicide. The anti gun movement is not about preventing homicide, but is about controlling the people. And when confronted with the evidence, many people who have been duped by the anti gunners realize the truth and flip sides. Calm and rational presentations of data allows people to change their own minds.

  9. I grew up in the State of Indiana. I used to bring my guns to school with me in order to go hunting after school was over. Admittedly, I am 81 years old; but, there is no way in hell that I am going to allow my guns to be taken from me. I saw the moniker above of “Molon Labe”, and I believe that exactly. If you want my guns, come and TRY to take them.

  10. I loved shooting my guns, but I had to sell them to pay my unconstitutional income and property taxes.
    A receipt, Mr. Agent? No, I sold them for less than I paid for them; so, since there was no profit, there was no need for a receipt.
    No, Mr. Agent, they weren’t from another state.
    Yes, Mr. Agent, they had a valid driver’s license for this state.
    Yes, Mr. Agent, they met the legal age requirement to own a firearm.
    ‘Bye, Mr. Agent.

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