On Wed, 05 Feb 2003 10:24:50 -0500, "William Dickens" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said: > >I would bet any money that the true fraction of people who > use firearms in self-defense (brandishment or otherwise) is a whole heck > of a lot lower (an order of magnitude or more) than what is suggested by > Kleck's survey. - - Bill Dickens
Bill, I would take that bet, and not based on a survey, but simply anecdotal evidence from the 6 people I personally know and can think of who have (brandished or otherwise) used a gun in either self defense or protection of personal property. These are people in three areas of the country; south Florida, Atlanta area and east Tennessee. Two of them discharged their weapons. One of them (in south Florida) actually caught thieves in his boat in his back yard and held them at bay until the police came. One, in Tennessee, was a single mom living in a rural setting, who heard someone breaking into her car. She stepped out on the porch and fired her (deceased husbands) shotgun over the head of the criminal and scared him away. Funny thing about her is she was a liberal gun control advocate. When her husband died, she never imagined using his shotgun in such a fashion. Who knows the impact on crime of simply having an NRA sticker on the front window of a home, or a sign that says, "This home protected by Smith and Wesson." No way to know (even with a survey) the number of times owning or giving the perception of owning a fire arm has provided disincentive to a would be criminal. Fred Childress Economist Bureau of Labor Statistics 2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE. Washington, DC 20212
