OF POOLS AND GUNS

“Children die from gunfire. They can only be saved by removing guns from society, and you gun people are all savages and selfish bastards if you won’t give up your guns to save JUST ONE CHILD’S LIFE!”

Sigh.  Yes, that’s the kind of argument we get from the prohibitionists.

Let’s talk.

It is generally accepted that a far greater number of tragic, accidental deaths of children are due to drownings, often in private swimming pools or even hot tubs, than to unintentional gunfire. Let’s explore that.  See: http://www.m1-garand-rifle.com/gun-safety/firearms-versus-swimming-pools.php , and also http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2001/07/27/levittpoolsvsguns/.

If you want to save the children, why not become an activist for banning private ownership of swimming pools and hot tubs?  After all, there is nothing in the Bill of Rights that guarantees the right to own such things, the way there is with firearms.  You could play the Bloomberg Card and change the terminology to fit your narrative. “Oh,” you could say, “we just want to regulate your swimming pool.  We’ll start by demanding twenty-foot-high fencing, nuclear facility grade if you please, around the pool property.  And of course, require 24/7 lifeguards.”  Michael Bloomberg could afford that, just as he can afford his large, heavily armed contingent of round-the-clock bodyguards.  Ordinary folks can’t afford that?  Too bad.  There you go being selfish bastards again, instead of thinking of those poor children!

Of course, all those nice, law-abiding citizens whose hard-earned pools you might want to brick over will say, “But – but – we didn’t install that pool to kill anybody!” Well, guess what, law-abiding gun owners didn’t spend their hard-earned dollars at the gun shop so they could kill people, either, or American sidewalks would be littered with corpses.

“But, pools are beneficial to society. They relax people. And there are all kinds of healthful benefits from swimming, and exercises physically challenged people can do best in pools.” True. And guns are hugely popular in sporting applications, from target shooting to harvesting meat from the hunting field.  And marksmanship is one of the few sports at which some physically challenged people can compete and win on equal ground with the able-bodied. More than once, the handgunner in the wheelchair has been overall top shot in my classes.

And, as statistics show to those who simply open their eyes and minds, guns save a huge number of innocent lives and prevent a great many serious crimes.

All of which is why banning guns, or restricting them to the rich and privileged, makes no more sense than doing the same with hot tubs and swimming pools.

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