Tim Lambert (deltoidblog AT gmail.com) is a computer scientist at the University of New South Wales.
HerrGlock writes:
Oh hell, now I'm going to have to dig up that study. There's a study done that shows long guns are more likely to have an accidental/negligent shooting than are handguns. Something along the lines of 4 to 1.
Try 1 to 4. Handguns are four times as likely to be involved in an accidental shooting as long guns. Handguns comprise about 1/3 of the US gun stock and are involved in 2/3 of the accidental woundings (NEISS).
Peter H. Proctor writes:
Er, According to Kleck ( Point Blank, table 2, ) 90% or more of firearms kept loaded at any one time are handguns.
Er, there is no table 2 in "Point Blank". Nor does Kleck make this claim anywhere in "Point Blank". Nor is true. You can estimate the percentage of firearms kept loaded all the time from a survey of firearm storage practices (JAMA 92). 80% of those who said that they kept a gun loaded all or some of the time said they owned a handgun. From this we can conclude that AT MOST 80% of the guns kept loaded are handguns. It would only be 80% if every person who owns a handgun NEVER keeps a long gun loaded.
Presumably, you cannot get shot by an unloaded gun, so handgun "exposure' ( in the sense we toxicologists use it) is very high relative to long guns, even though there are more long guns.
You CAN get shot with an "unloaded" gun. In fact guns that are, in fact, loaded but are believed to be unloaded are particularly likely to be involved in accidents. Surveys measure whether people believe the gun to be unloaded, not whether it really is unloaded.
Your measure of "exposure" is wrong. If hunting rifles were never stored loaded, do you think that this would magically stop all hunting accidents from occurring?
The far greater handgun involvement in accidents may indeed be partly caused by the greater likelihood for a handgun being kept loaded. This still doesn't change the fact that a handgun is four times as likely to be involved in a gun accident.
Yet handguns are involved in less than 14% of accidental gun fatalities.
ABSOLUTELY FALSE. You really should not rely on Kates for this stuff. He has deliberately misled you. Handguns are involved in about half of accidental gun fatalities.
A very interesting review of all of this is: Kates et al Guns and Public Health. Tennessee Law Review, vol 62, #3, p513 (1995).
A fiercely partisan pro-gun piece that manages to misstate or get wrong just about every relevant fact on this issue. See here for the discussion I had with Kates on this.
