Garen Wintemute
(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

It was bad enough that millions of people lined up outside gun stores beginning in March when national emergency was declared. Sales continued at a brisk pace as news dribbled out of cities and states opening their jails and police departments hobbled by an infected workforce. According to a survey of gun stores, 40% of all of those guns were sold to first-time buyers, people who shrugged off the horror stories and fearmongering of the gun control community in favor of obtaining the means for personal and home defense.

All of that was discouraging for our friends in the Civilian Disarmament Industrial Complex.

And the the riots started. Cites were trashed and burned by Antifa-fueled mobs, some spilling into residential areas. That triggered a new surge in gun buying that may very well exceed the earlier one. May set a new record with 1.7 million guns sold, and the violence and rioting didn’t start until the last few days of the month.

Now, with the help of their sympathetic and compliant friends in the media, the gun control industry is trying to rally. Yesterday, the Washington Post tried to sell the story that we can’t expect cops’ behavior to improve unless we also enact more gun control laws. At the same time, the Everygreen State New York Times ran an op-ed from our favorite California gun control grifter, Dr. Garen Wintemute (along with a couple of pals) who says he’s worried about the safety of all of those new guy buyers.

People buy and keep firearms for many reasons. When it comes to handguns, surveys consistently show self-protection at the top of the lists. Despite colorful anecdotes of armed defense of home and hearth, there has not been a credible study demonstrating the security benefits of private gun ownership for individuals or communities. On the other hand, evidence that guns may be misused and do serious harm — to owners and their family members, including children — is substantial and growing. It’s a lopsided balance sheet that should give pause to people who own guns or are considering buying their first gun.

– Studdert, Miller and Wintemute in Coronavirus Could Make America’s Gun Problem Even Deadlier

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

120 COMMENTS

  1. “All Those New Coronavirus Gun Buyers Are a Ticking Time Bomb!”

    For the future of further infringement of We The People by the Marxist Left in pushing for civilian disarmament.

    • Without some safety training and self defense training, a lot of them are time bombs. You simply can NOT assume your first-time gun buyer neighbor will know how to safely handle or store a gun. Local gun ranges, shooting clubs and folks who know their neighbor bought their first gun need to offer help in these areas. Gun safety at least.

      • They are no more a time bomb than those who buy many other dangerous things without having safety training – ATVs, horses, motorcycles, skateboards, trampolines, chainsaws, boats/jetskis …. all of which kill tens of thousands and injure hundreds of thousands annually! Safety training is a personal responsibility and making sure the person you’re with is “safe” is your personal responsibility.

        • You’re right. Years ago, I was sick after New Year. While waiting in my family care physician’s waiting room, I saw two men with gauze covering from their forearm to the tip of their fingers. They had both received table saws as presents, violated safety rules, and injured themselves. The difference is that if a newbie makes a mistakes with a gun, it’s going to makes news, at least locally, and it’s going to reflect badly on PoTG.
          Closing ranges and safety classes exacerbates the dangers. Most new owners aren’t idiots and know guns need to be handled with care, and most will read the manual and maybe watch youtube for tips. The problem is they don’t get corrective feedback, don’t get questions answered, and can’t practice marksmanship or safe manipulation.

      • If one knows of a new gun owner, then why don’t we experienced gun owners invite them out to the local gun range and help school them up. I’ve happily helped out new gun owners in the past to teach them how to safely handle and shoot their new weapon. You’ll make new friends in the process…

        • “You’ll make new friends in the process.”
          Who wants new friends? I have all I need, and I’m pulling back from those, separating the friends from acquaintances. The older I get the more I want to hunker down with family and a very few ride or dies. Screw everybody else.

      • Ticking timebombs are those that seek to deny people their Constitutional rights, which is against the law. These wanna be Stalinists are so unhappy with the failures they have suffered their entire life that they must seek happiness by ruining others lives.

        So AC why are you so miserable and fearful? Didn;t you have enough parential support or are you just afraid to cross the street?

  2. Let’s see if he thinks the same way if the rioters and looters are coming down his block.

  3. Lol, “not been a credible study.” As far as outright lies go, that one is brilliant in its absurdity. It can both be easily disproven, but also never can be. See, only experts and scientists on the left are credible, the ones that don’t follow that line are shills for the Republicans.

  4. –there has not been a credible study demonstrating the security benefits of private gun ownership for individuals or communities.—

    Yeah, I direct your attention to CDC Report On Gun Control June 2013 – “Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence.”

    Guns are used for self-defense often and effectively.

    “Studies that directly assessed the effect of actual defensive uses of guns (i.e., incidents in which a gun was ‘used’ by the crime victim in the sense of attacking or threatening an offender) have found consistently lower injury rates among gun-using crime victims compared with victims who used other self-protective strategies.”

    • I direct their attention to the nightly news where neighborhoods surrounding riotous areas use firearms to keep looters out and prevent their $hit from getting burnt down.
      The gun control argument is permanently won, with video footage. All they have is desparate pleas to stop being so independent.

    • But it’s not “credible” because the CDC is just a shill for the gun lobby. /sarc

      • You laugh now, but give it time, and we’ll be seeing demanding mommies saying it unironically

        • Maybe it’ll be next on the “defund” list. I’d be OK with that, having zero desire to outlive myself, and even less desire to subsidize others’ choice to do so.

    • Studies, how about studying and accepting the fact that good guys with guns save lives and protect property on a regular basis. Plenty of examples to study e.g. the recent shooting at the Church of Christ in Texas…..

  5. There are far more guns now in the United States than there are people, many of them amongst new owners and yet nothing bad is happening, this runs counter to his hopes and dreams. He truly is one of those people who believe that the trigger pulls the finger rather than the other way around.

    • “ …and yet nothing bad is happening,“

      Well, some might point out the several dozen mass shootings we’ve had in the past few years.

      • As terrible those events are, they are statistical aberrations. Even taking those events into count, there is still an ongoing decline in the murder rate.

        The same death toll as an average mass shooting event happens every week, and often on the weekends, in Chicago but there seems to be a lack of political will and capability to do anything about it. Hint: the shooters are not rural Republicans. Another hint: Chicago is a Democrat stronghold for many decades.

      • Look at the big picture- what is the percentage of guns that are used criminally compared to the total number of guns in citizens’ hands? Hint: you might be able to see that percentage if you use a scanning electron microscope.

        THAT is the real counter to gun control proponents- yet I rarely ever hear it being advanced to refute their outrageously fraudulent claims. Why?… I dunno.

  7. Come on now. The guy’s a Doctor, you know he has a PHD. He spent years to earn that degree and now that he has it he can flaunt it as it shows his opinions are worth more than non PHD holders. You know he expects you to bow at his feet because he is so much smarter than you. But in real life that means he tends to be obsessively focused on whatever he is interested in. In this case gun safety. And much like the little kid who knows there is a monster under the bed or in the closet he invents any little thing he can to keep daddy ( substitute laws to take guns from people he considers beneath him ) in the room with him.

    • I don’t think he has a Phd. He is an Md. He is an ER physician, and sees the carnage that guns inflict, he said, and that it was he became a gun control advocate. Paid by the State of California to do this “research” I might add. The State happily gives him $1.5 million per year because he produces all the evidence they need to support their gun ban laws.

    • PHD = Piled High and Deep
      We have this abberation in our thinking that high levels of education equates to high levels of intelligence. While someone who attains that lofty title of “Doctor of (insert discipline) has to have a certain level of intelligence, it doesn’t automatically bequeath them all seeing knowledge of a subject. It simply means they completed the necessary course work, research, and peer acceptance of their thesis by the governing board of the university granting the degree. One thing that really shines forth among the highly educated is the varying lack of common sense they exhibit frequently. Some have a lot, some have a little, and too many have none at all.
      I take the initials at the end of a name as what they are, just initials. Until that person can demonstrate their superior thinking, that their logic is infallible, they’re just another voice in the crowd.

      • But when it comes to your healthcare, I imagine you insist on seeing someone with at least an advanced medical degree of some sort, am I right?

        • I don’t go to doctors. Bunch of F’ing idiots. Useless dolts who’s parents paid their way through school. It ain’t like the TV shows “minor”.

        • True. I tutored pre-meds in basic algebra (bone-head math) in the late 80’s. Some of the most lazy, wastes of oxygen ever. The idea that some of these might have made it through med school frightens me.

  8. The Gun Control bunch a subsidy bank rolled by little men with Napoleon complexes usually Democrats who are also Commie Pinko’s, Democrats have been trying too destroy our country from with in by creating a Nanny state (we will do for you from Cradle too grave, Food, Money, Housing Medical ETC;) they are trying too make people dependent upon them; no more do it your self, no more free thinking. Sorry My Daddy raised me too do for myself, nothing was handed too me as I had to work for it, I could walk into Sears in Seattle and buy a Rifle over the counter at age 14, no questions asked; then had the balls to put it in a gun case and ride the transit home. I did not receive any weapon training until the service, From FDR to Obama on the Democrat Side, they have been undermining the Constitution ever since passing any law too hinder peoples freedoms, but especially firearms as it potentially can cancel their BS! now after funding the riots they are afraid of all the pissed off people coming for them; Ballot Box first , Insurrection if that doesn’t work! then you have Author’s that talk out their ass and prove you can’t cure stupid!

  9. I think people know what they are doing when they buy a handgun or long gun. We don’t need paternalistic advice on the matter.

    I bet he and his buddies have guns too.

      • @Southern Cross
        Nope, we want to teach free thought. For us it’s “If all else fails – read the instructions!”
        /sarc sort of…

        • Sure- deliberately ignoring the instructions on the proper operation of a dangerous mechanical device is always a sign of high intelligence. Yet, this is exactly what I’ve witnessed for my entire life- a trait almost exclusively exhibited by the male of the species.

  10. He needs to qualify that with “All Those New Coronavirus DEMOCRAT Gun Buyers Are a Ticking Time Bomb!” since a large majority of wacked out cop killers and mass shooters have been leftists

    • The average is 7 out 10 mass shooters were either registered Democrats or had strong sympathies with the Democrat party.

  11. Last week, I was #900 something in the background check queue. It took a day and a half before I got the call to cross one more item off of my “list of wants”.
    Yesterday I dropped by, just because.
    They said OSP was backlogged over 2,000. That’s probably 2-3 days of wait time.
    Sales are still going strong.
    Now back to my search of a few different brands of .45-70 ammo…. oh, and my watchlist on gunbroker.
    (Don’t use guns dot com. Very ignorant, inept, and quite illiterate folks there.)

    • I’ve never gotten a good ‘vibe’ from guns.com.

      Tom, has your new dream gun arrived?

      • That place gave me a hincky feeling from moment one, ended up going with Target Sports my last order. Which was like moments before the Covid rush hit, but unfortunately it wasn’t able to ship before the run. Gotta give ’em props, they reserved my place in line & merch tho.

        Only took an extra 3 1/2 weeks to be delivered. *grumbles*

    • So Tom, curiosity kills. What’s on your short list? And secondly, did you ever acquire that Vepr you were speaking of?

      • Haha. Good memory. Yes, I got the Vepr. The thing looks brand new.

        Short list, 1st. Gen S&W 29 or 629 5 inch.
        H&K P7.
        STI 2011.
        An AR pistol type in 10mm

        Guns dot com. Advertised a 5” 629. Looked used, but not bad. Wrote and called to confirm barrel length. They confirmed both ways that it was a 5”. Bought it.
        On arrival, the matching factory box says 6”. Unwrap the gun, 6”.
        Didn’t even do the paperwork, just sent it back.

        Oh well. First world problems, eh?

        • Sorry to hear about the 29/629, I knew you were really looking forward to that 5″ find. STI eh? Love to have that one myself, but to wrapped up in other projects and that “situation” for the foreseeable future.

          When that legal carp gets finished with I’ll be working up my Vepr project again. The real reason I remember everyone who wants, or owns a Vepr 12, truth be known. :p Having said that, I’ve an internal debate in that I have some operations & question’s I need to engage someone about with that one. The only thing left I can do at this point myself, is swapping the original folder for an aftermarket hinge & stock, for a bit less LoP.

          All else that can be done, has been done.

          Everything else needs a more directly experienced eye, a class 2 SOT, and tooling beyond my repertoire. Dissident is all that I know of, specialist-wise, outside of one other who tends to take sabbatical’s quite frequently due to burn out. Quandary is, no one person/business offers exactly all of which I require. That & risks of sending one of the few non-welded folder’s in the country via multiple carrier’s. On multiple trips… Well, that really isn’t my idea of a relaxing waiting game.

          I could talk ears off about that one, it’s my favored child. You have any questions or need recommendations about the 12’s, just ask. I likely know, or can point you in the right direction of the knowledge you seek.

    • @Tom You might need to move to a free state like Texas, walk in, pick out pistol you want, drop your LTC/CCW and money/credit card on the counter and spend 2 minutes filling out 4473 and leave with your new pistol. No waiting to pass a FBI background check if you have a LTC/CCW. I think that’s true for many states if you have a carry permit. Not sure about Oregon.

        • @Leigh. You have my sympathies. Texas is waiting if you would like to join us and enjoy your freedom.

        • There is no waiting period for handgun purchases in Florida with a valid CWP. You must complete a Form 4473 and a NICS background check.

          In almost 30 years of holding a FL CWP I have never waited more than 10 minutes to complete a handgun purchase in Florida- including two during the current COVID pan(ic)demic.

        • @MB

          Sorry, can’t take you up on that one. Mississippi has less firearm restrictions law than Texas. <– Where I'm headed when I can un-ass this sh!thole of a state.

    • Re. 45-70, don’t I recall you have a Marlin SBL Trapper in stainless, as do I? I’ve tried quite a few, found that the Hornady LeveRevolution is the most consistently accurate and the Buffalo Bore 500 gr. hits the hardest. And they ALL kick like a pissed off mule. I bought about 500 rounds when I first acquired the rifle, and still have most of it. It’s not a plinker, but it drops a buck like nobody’s business inside 50 yards. It’s a, uh, special purpose gun.

  12. I have yet to hear of a single bad gun event that has happened as a result of these people buying up new firearms. We hear it is going to be the Wild West. Then, nothing happens.

    • Oh, the beads which would have to be clutched if they knew that I had a .22 when I was 12, in 1958, with no one to instruct me between then and 1969! I had to teach MYSELF, the horror!

    • However, I have heard of bad events taking place due to liberals letting criminals out of prison early.
      One guy was involved in an ARMED car jacking just hours after getting his early release.

  14. We’re a “ticking time bomb?” I’m glad they see it that way. Maybe they’ll leave us the hell alone.

  15. Anti-gunners for years have been saying call the police on 911 instead of owning a gun. Now after the riots people know that that does not always work. People can have the wool pulled over their eyes for only so long before they start to realized that the emperor has no clothes. This gentleman is the current emperor and he is losing power so he needs to make up something.

    • “Anti-gunners for years have been saying call the police on 911 instead of owning a gun.”

      I had this conversation with a relative a couple of months ago. She couldn’t grasp the concept that police may not save her. I’d like to hear her opinion on that now.

      • Prolly hasn’t changed a bit. Mental disconnects that hard almost always require that an incident happen to them, directly. Even then, most have serious difficulty in reconciling the fact v. fiction in their heads. Paradigm shifts that severe tend to make most try to forget, rather than figuring out a proactive solution.

        • That’s been my experience with family as well. Very Anti-Gun until something happens, either to them or another close friend/family. Then I start getting phone calls asking for advice on what they should buy. That’s what happens when you’re the family gun but I suppose.

      • Tell her that during the last looting surge in Chicago, 911 received 65,000 calls. Where does she think she’d end up in a queue like that?

        • And with an emergency phone system that probably couldn’t handle 10% of those calls. How many people died waiting for the call to be answered?

  16. My high school biology and health education is far superior than any doctors schooling, who says attending church service is wrong during a pandemic. But shopping at a big box store or wal mart is ok? Or its not safe to protest to demand your state open back up. But it is safe to protest police brutality???

    I didn’t learn that germs could tell the difference? But I guess they teach that in medical school.

  17. Recently I acquired a one and done weapon for evaluation. Test my theory for first time buyers. On line order from importer and processed at distance small pawn shop with FFL. These one gun and done questions imply full duplex versatility. That means not only home defense, but hunting capability to the fullest extent. The answer is a 12 gauge Bullpup shotgun. Why? A shotgun has robust ammunition choices, non-lethal, Slug, buck shot, bird shot, flares, etc. You can hunt deer, anarchists, birds, or quad rotor drones equally well. It is not long range, with 000 buck you have effective lethal range of about 125 yards. Whether urban, suburban, or around the house environment that is sufficient. A magazine fed Bullpup will have suppressive firepower that exceeds that of a sub-machinegun like an HK MP5A3. Two sick magazines in a sub-machinegun will put out sixty 9mm 115gr bullets at 800 rpm. The Bullpup will put out eighty 9.14mm 71gr bucks at 300 rpm. Do the math. The Bullpup has greater suppressive capability. Why Bullpup? It’s 28″ long with an 18.5” barrel that supports both indoor and outdoor maneuverability using appropriate ammunition. Precision aiming is not necessary, neither is forming a good cheek weld. Add a simple dual band Green and IR laser designator and you are good to go day or night. Ammunition is affordable. Shotgun cost is similar to a rifle or pistol. Further as a long gun there are fewer acquisition delays or complications. Only drawback is recoil, so add a muzzle break and make it family friendly. Total cost with ammunition and accessories will be around $850. This solution is for most folks who have not previously invested in self-defense, one and done, or to get away with one gun and a messenger bag full of ammo and magazines. Testing it, so far it works as advertised day or night. PS for these ranges a low cost Ghost Hunter NVG kit suffices.

    • “…Only drawback is recoil, so add a muzzle break and make it family friendly. ..”

      So what bullpup and more importantly what muzzle break?

      I had heard that bullpup 12ga were rough on recoil.

      • still working evaluation, no reliable results. Although recoil isn’t bad without one but it is still a 12ga

        • If it can be accommodated, I highly recommend any of the GK series brakes. Molot’s designers got their sh!t wired tight, they’re under production contract with CustomGuns.ru & a couple of others. Particularly the GK-02, and preferably the GK-03 ++. Both are neck & neck, ultimately the 02 is slightly better with upper echelon power levels, though not so much you’d notice. the 03 ++ is better at everything else, including weight & physical size.

          Pricey though. Be advised.

      • This is going to, by necessity, take a minute to explain.

        Myth mostly. A few bull pup’s can be, and the cause is reduced weight. I have a pup shotgun that a fair few have said the same of. My opinion, it’s recoil was far less than my 870 put into the shoulder with the same rounds, and about the same as most semi-auto shotguns for the most part. Further, pulling the butt spacer stack actually made perceived recoil less still by placing the bore axis more directly in line with the shoulder, more linear delivery. Snow shoe effect really, she’s got a fat ass, and distributes the load over a much wider surface area, making perceived recoil less, while actually being the same impulse force.

        Probably should stop here & make some clarifications. Inertia dictates per given weight, as stated above, the resulting rearward impulse will be the same. I should advise, that the mass moment of inertia (angular acceleration), resultant in muzzle flip, will be higher on a pup as it will have a reduced moment of inertia. This is (obvious, I know) because a traditional arm will bias a larger percentage of it’s weight forward in the weapon, increasing it’s moment of inertia. Whereas a bull pups bulk of mass is rearward positioned, lowering it. Most can’t distinguish the two from one another in real time, and therefore state greater overall recoil. Which is factually incorrect, it’s muzzle climb alone that is increased due to the center of gravity difference.

        That difference in CGY btw, is a positive factor when bringing the weapon to bear. Much, much faster & accurate in rotational movement, with less propensity to overshoot the object in question. Like everything, is a sliding scale of compromises in the physics department, each coming with it’s own particular downsides. Whether it bothers or is an advantage, is up to you to decide.

      • No one wants their muzzle to break or the brakes on their car to break – though if you add a brake or replace you brakes it could make your gun or car easier to sell but certainly not easier to sale… unless your trying to sell your muzzle braked gun or freshly braked car.

        Oh, and some of the most narrow minded, pinheaded people I’ve dealt with over the years have had graduate degrees – being a persistent regurgitater doesn’t really prove that you’re all that educated or intelligent…

  18. Actually, as the gun owning population increases, violent crime in the US continues to decrease. I would argue we could get violent crime down to a negligible level if we made sure that every non-prohibit person in the US owned a firearm.

    • Or, better yet, lower the barriers that end life as we know it for current owners even if they prevail: Recognize self-defense as the essential right it is, rather than a wrong excusable because of emotional state. Write murder laws whose elements exclude it rather than allowing it as an “affirmative defense”. Raise the bar to even arrest a homeowner for homicide, to require probable cause that the deceased was a resident or present on legitimate business (USPS, etc.). Federally prohibit “included offenses” convictions and civil lawsuits for shootings ruled defensive.

    • And cancel the idea of prohibited persons. If a guy is dangerous he won’t obey that law, either. Thus, cancel NICS and save the money, and toss ATF while we’re at it, freedom rings again!

  19. If the protesters had content of character they would have disbanded and ceased to provided cover for looters and arsonists. Either the protesters were in on the game or they were being used for cover. End result is the public was with protesters in the beginning but not in the end.
    On the other hand the media wants everyone to believe America is onboard with looting and arson and cop bashing. And if you are not onboard you are a racist. History defines what a racist is and history shows clearly who the racists are and history says the democRat Party is clearly liable for Monetary Reparations.

  21. I think we should try to talk with directly with Wintemute. “Ack ack ack ack.”

  22. There’re only a ticking time bomb for the leftists who are intent on disrupting our 242 year old experiment on freedom and government by the people.

    • Shoot, even She-Ra could take him…

      Margaret Thatcher had more balls than any male Democrat politician alive today.

      I’m ashamed to even be the same species as those guys…

  24. This guy looks like Woodhouse, Archers heroin addicted valet.
    I would bet his 11s are up too.

  25. And here’s the kind of useless data this knucklehead uses to INFRINGE upon our rights: “At a press conference to announce the study’s results, multiple real guns like those involved in the accidental deaths were placed next to toy lookalikes; few of the reporters in attendance could tell them apart” So he asks reporters to distinguish between real and toy guns, and because they don’t know, he thinks this makes some valid point about firearms being a danger?!?!? The study I am referring to: “In 1987, he published a study on accidental gun deaths among children in California”. I wonder if they could distinguish between some candy on the market and deadly drugs? Or some cleaning products and drinks marketed to children? Or Tide pods! It’s all about EDUCATION . . . EDUCATION . . . EDUCATION . . . apparently Mr PHD still needs more . . .

    • Obviously, he could make a fortune selling toy guns as real, don’t you think? If he believed the bullshit coming out of his mouth he would be trying exactly that.

  26. “My” biggest concern is, how many of these new owners are antifa types or BLM, either bought legally or through straw purchases. Makes ya wonder, dont it?

    • OK with me, that is their right. You’ll never get the guns out of the hands of crazies, if there’s a problem you have to remove the (cold, dead) hands of the crazies from the guns.

    • Clearly, Donald Trump and William Barr are intentionally concealing the antifa involvement because their sympathies lie with antifa:

      “An NPR review of court documents for 51 individuals who are facing federal charges related to the demonstrations found no alleged connections to the anti-fascist movement.

      The lack of alleged links seemingly contradicts comments by Attorney General William Barr and President Trump singling out of anti-fascists for inciting violence during the protests.

      Out of the 51 cases brought to the department so far, 20 involve allegations relating to arson, typically of government property or buildings, 16 involve allegations relating to illegal possession of a firearm, usually by a felon, and eight involve allegedly inciting a riot or civil disorder, according to NPR.

      The only mention of an extremist group in court documents is in a case against three Nevada men who allegedly belong to the right-wing “Boogaloo” movement, which aims to incite a civil war. These three were charged with plotting violence in the demonstrations in Las Vegas.”

  28. I used to go to the Violence Policy Center web page every now and then to skim over their pearl clutching publications. They have some solid suggestions and while I’m not going to pay for this Weasel’s book I would review it fro TTAG and pass along any helpful hints I found.

  29. Thank you, Dan.
    This is why Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership exists. (www.DRGO.us)
    We can’t explain why the likes of Wintemute are so enamored of gun control that they will repeatedly, blatantly lie. But they have to be called out every time.

  31. At the risk of raining on their parade, might I respectfully suggest that these anti gun/anti self protection, the police are there to protect you types do a bit of research into court decisions and case histories involving alleged police duty. They will then discover that the forces of law and order labor under no such obligation, their duty being “to protect society”, whatever that might mean. That the police owe no particular duty to the individual. Check the record of court rulings, they are available to anyone interested.

  32. Without some common sense and respect for physics, danger, and health nearly anything is potentially hazardous.

    As for ticking time bombs? I don’t think that phrase means what he thinks it means.

  33. Our biggest threat is the media. Liberal news networks and news papers. I was a subscriber to the Houston Chronicle. No more. Instead of defunding police lets defund NPR. Quit buying liberal left wing papers, their using your money against you.

  34. Credible Story? Earlier this week my Lil’ Sister let me know the were later night sirens screaming past he house not far from Columbia Mo. It seems that two home intruders decided to look for some goodies. Both got precious metal, well semi precious, it was lead. One took it to the grave with him and one left it behind at the hospital. there are dozens of stories about home owners protecting them selves all over the United States every week. Maybe this bugger eating moron should just check the local news paper. (At least he’s cheap to feed.)

  35. On the one hand he has a point. OTOH his point against the noobs undercuts his other point.

    The simple fact is that you can’t really nail down a rate for any of this stuff because, like other recent events, we don’t really have a good grasp on the overall denominator and we don’t really know the numerator in most cases either.

    If you have 50 reported gun accidents how many were there total, and out of how many owners? Hoe many were stolen? How many were criminals? How many are assaults masquerading as accidents? What percentage were “trained” (however you define that)? What percentage were noobs (however you define that)? What percentage were “familiar” with the platform in question (however you define “familiar”)?

    Questions about the dataset abound here.

    If the number of reported accidents jumps to 100 why did this happen? More accidents? Better reporting? A much larger ownership pool? A small increase in the ownership pool consisting of very irresponsible people? Did being “untrained” play into this or did 50 people just decide this was the year to shuffleboard their mortal coil? What percentage were drunk or on drugs? How many are really accidents?

    There’s really no way to know these things, we’re guessing and then we’re going to take two (or more) guesses and stick them in a division problem to determine a rate because… guessing is both precise and accurate?

    From a statistics point of view, particularly since this involves human behavior, and therefore involves a percentage of lies that range in reason and severity, this is all “Alarm bells are ringing, Willie” type of guesswork.

  36. THE WRATH OF THE AWAKENED SAXON
    by Rudyard Kipling

    It was not part of their blood,
    It came to them very late,
    With long arrears to make good,
    When the Saxon began to hate.

    They were not easily moved,
    They were icy — willing to wait
    Till every count should be proved,
    Ere the Saxon began to hate.

    Their voices were even and low.
    Their eyes were level and straight.
    There was neither sign nor show
    When the Saxon began to hate.

    It was not preached to the crowd.
    It was not taught by the state.
    No man spoke it aloud
    When the Saxon began to hate.

    It was not suddently bred.
    It will not swiftly abate.
    Through the chilled years ahead,
    When Time shall count from the date
    That the Saxon began to hate.

  37. “Despite colorful anecdotes of armed defense of home and hearth, there has not been a credible study demonstrating the security benefits of private gun ownership for individuals or communities.”

    This clown is getting millions from the state of California to study violence prevention. Maybe he could actually study benefits of gun ownership that Kleck, Lott, CDC, and others have shown. If there are “issues” with those studies, he could do one with the “proper” protocol to dispute them. Of course, he won’t because it would agree with them and be counter to the antigun propaganda he’s pushing that keeps the libs shoving money at him..

  38. What a sweet gig Wintenmute has; he can make whatever outrageous hand-wringing claim he wants, and his wealthy sycophantic anti-2A Californian cheerleaders will praise his name. No one in the mainstream media will ever fact check him, either for the basis of his claims, or for their eventual vindication or refutation. He’s basically an op-wd writer, masquerading as a ‘researcher’. It’s basically the same job as being a paid yes-man for an educated-but-nonetheless-full-of-opinions Hollywood A-lister. As long as you keep your nose shoved far enough up their ass, your doing your job; it’s no surprise that being in such a position invariably means that you’re full of shit.

  39. Meh most of them just have them. They will never see light of day. Ive even had people pay me to “go shoot it and make sure it works”.
    Give 1/2 of them a year and they will start selling them

  41. These thousands of new gun owners will not be voting to confiscate guns.
    They will not be voting in magazine limits, or safe storage laws.
    They bought guns for self defense and defense against a tyrannical mob.
    Gun control is dead for a generation

  42. From 1981 to 2004, only about 1.5% of ALL accidental deaths were firearm related. Drowning and falling down stairs were ahead.

    Also, South Korea and Japan have very strict gun control laws, and both have higher suicide rates than we do.

    Great Britain’s murder rate went UP after they banned handguns, and only went down again when more police officers started carrying handguns.

    The study that NYT cites is severely flawed, as it only includes justifiable homicides, not the times that ysing a gun stopped the threat.

    The majority of criminals are snowflakes, and usually flee when their intended victim presents a firearm. If you shoot a fleeing criminal and he dies, you just committed a murder, because he was no longer a threat when you shot him.

    When a criminal is shot, only 1 out of 7 gunshot wounds from a handgun are fatal. Criminals are usually arrested at a local hospital, after receiving treatment for gunshot wounds. It is a defensive gun use, because using a gun stopped the threat, but it is not presented in the flawed “study” that the NYT mentions.

    It is also important to note that Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety ran a “no more names” campaign a few years ago, where they announced names of victims of “gun violence”. One of the names they included was Tamerlin Tsarnaev, the Boston Bomber, who was killed in a shootout with the police. They were thus caught redhanded, trying to intentionally inflate numbers to advance their cause (and draw attention away from Bloomberg’s 17 armed bodyguards in his security detail, whom he hired on a permanent basis after his final term as the nanny/anti-sugar daddy/stop-and-frisk mayor of NYC).

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