Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 30, 1993 TAG: 9306300347
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY VAUGHAN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Well, here are some more statistics, as found in the 1992-1993 edition of The American Almanac:
Among accidental deaths (per 100,000 population), motor vehicle accidents account for 19.2 percent. Falls represent 4.9 percent; drownings, 1.6. percent. And those evil, wicked firearms account for .6 percent of all accidental deaths. Considering that air and space transportation account for .5 percent of accidental deaths, I'll take my chances with a loaded gun in my home.
Will Ms. Terry limit me to driving my car only once a month? Maybe we should have a five-day waiting period before we let people swim. And by all means, pass legislation to repeal the law of gravity.
But what about those evil handguns used in all those horrible crimes? Well, handguns were used in 19.6 percent of all rapes in 1989. Too bad, I suppose that more people have access to knives and other sharp objects since these accounted for 50.2 percent of such assaults. Even the lowly "blunt object" and "`other" categories outnumbered handguns.
In the area of "completed crimes of violence," handguns were the weapon of choice 24.7 percent of the time. Again, however, knives and sharp objects were favored by 26.9 percent.
Another interesting little statistic is this: There were 1,087,970 attempted crimes of violence, compared to 787,900 completed crimes of violence. That means 300,070 attempted crimes were, for some reason, unsuccessful, nipped in the bud, thwarted. This must be due to 911 and mace. After all, people who own guns are just slightly above the Neanderthal mentality, right? Handguns actually being used for such a noble purpose as self-defense? What an archaic notion!
Using firearms, whites commit suicide at a rate of 16.4 percent, compared to 8.2 percent for blacks. Among homicides, whites killed by firearms account for 6.3 percent of such deaths, while blacks are at 47.3 percent.
Seems white folks prefer to kill themselves. Blacks are more likely to be killed by someone else. The only conclusion I can reach, therefore, is that all this fuss about gun control is racially motivated.
That is, for no identifiable reason other than that blacks are the overwhelming victims of firearm mortality, all citizens of this country are expected to see their Second Amendment rights be slowly and methodically chipped away.
The point is this: Mary Sue Terry - or Bill Clinton or anyone else - can't make this world risk-free. People go swimming. Some will drown. People drive cars. Some will get killed. People fall down their own steps, for God's sake! What will you do next - ban steps?
Stop trying to save us from ourselves! Specifically regarding the issue of guns, you aren't dealing with a gun problem. You have a serious "`people problem." Individuals make choices in life, and actions have consequences. Hold the individual, and the individual alone, fully responsible and accountable for his actions.
That people have come to have such low regard for human life is not a reflection of a "`gun-crazy" society. Rather, it is the result of a society that not only allows but encourages the killing of unwanted babies. Blame also a society that refuses to encourage behavior (abstinence) that would absolutely prevent the spread of the AIDS, but instead passes out condoms. Blame a society that embraces "tolerance" and "diversity," but shuns morality, principles and values.
To fully understand the absurdity of all gun-control legislation, consider: The United States maintains the most powerful military force in the world, specifically for the right to defend itself. Why then are some of its leaders fighting so hard to strip the individual citizen of this same right?
\ AUTHOR Randy Vaughan of Vinton is a layout-design technician for a local company.
by CNB