Determine the relative frequency with which guns in the home are used to injure or kill in self-defense, compared with the number of times these weapons are involved in an unintentional injury, suicide attempt, or criminal assault or homicide.

METHODS:

We reviewed the police, medical examiner, emergency medical service, emergency department, and hospital records of all fatal and nonfatal shootings in three U.S. cities: Memphis, Tennessee; Seattle, Washington; and Galveston, Texas.

RESULTS:

During the study interval (12 months in Memphis, 18 months in Seattle, and Galveston) 626 shootings occurred in or around a residence. This total included 54 unintentional shootings, 118 attempted or completed suicides, and 438 assaults/homicides. Thirteen shootings were legally justifiable or an act of self-defense, including three that involved law enforcement officers acting in the line of duty. For every time a gun in the home was used in a self-defense or legally justifiable shooting, there were four unintentional shootings, seven criminal assaults or homicides, and 11 attempted or completed suicides.

CONCLUSIONS:

Guns kept in homes are more likely to be involved in a fatal or nonfatal accidental shooting, criminal assault, or suicide attempt than to be used to injure or kill in self-defense.

And also…

Harvard University Study Reveals Astonishing Link Between Firearms, Crime and Gun Control

No, a Harvard University study did not prove that areas with higher rates of gun ownership have lower crime rates.

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Prepare some poems for your Thankfulness Day

November 15, 2019 Shannon McMaster Leave a comment

Poets.org, the web site of The Academy of American Poets, has some suggestions for words you might consider adding to your Thanksgiving Day traditions.

https://poets.org/academy-american-poets-recommends-special-list-poems-share-thanksgiving

“Perhaps the World Ends Here,” by current U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo starts things out.

The world begins at a kitchen
table. No matter what, we
must eat to live.

The gifts of earth are brought
and prepared, set on the
table. So it has been since
creation, and it will go on.

It is easy, reading her words, to imagine Native American wisdom traditions from the people of her Mvskoke/Creek Nation coursing through this poem. And no doubt that is there.

But there is more. She is the U.S. Poet Laureate. She speaks for herself, she describes the world she experiences. And she shares that with all of us, and illuminates the America we all share.

This poem grows from her life, her experience, which enfolds–and is enfolded by–her people. That is true of each of us when we set down our words. Her poem gives each of us a space to sit and reflect. Traditions are made of decisions, lives are made of moments, cultures are made of families, and communities are made of commonplace commonalities.

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I forgot anyway

November 15, 2019 Shannon McMaster Leave a comment

So I never forget… https://t.co/9mueke5uvs

— Shannon McMaster (@shannonmcmaster) January 21, 2019

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What the voting? (2016 edition, ctd.)

November 6, 2019 Shannon McMaster Leave a comment

First: Mitch McConnell is a dink. Or, as wisely pointed out to me: “ a product of not age, but poorly formed character.”

As for 2016: there are a lot of ways to slice the data, any one of which could have made the difference. I’d rather blame people who look like me for getting sucked into the false “both parties are the same!” nonsense than young people. Also, as it turns out so-called environmentalists, across all demographics, are worse at turning out to vote than people who don’t self-identify as such!

Check it: https://www.environmentalvoter.org/news/why-dont-environmentalists-vote

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