People AND guns kill people....like Steve McNair | Philly

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Monday, July 6, 2009

People AND guns kill people....like Steve McNair

Instead of keeping family members safe, having a gun in the house endangers them. Accidental shootings and gun-related suicides kill more than one and one-half times the number of people killed by armed criminals. In his research, medical school professor Arthur Kellerman found that people were more than three times more likely to be killed in homes with guns than those without guns. A further study by Kellerman in the late 1990s showed that for every instance in a gun being used in self-defense, there were four accidential shootings, seven assaults or murders, and eleven attempted or completed suicides.

-- From the 2004 book "Gun Control" by Susan Dudley Gold.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)—Steve McNair's 20-year-old girlfriend bought a gun a couple of days before she was found dead alongside the slain former NFL quarterback, her relative said Monday.

Farzin Abdi said police told him about the gun purchase by his aunt Sahel Kazemi, who was raised with him like a sister. Kazemi and McNair were found dead on Saturday in a Nashville condominium leased by the former Titans star.

-- Associated Press, July 6, 2009.

Every time the subjects of guns comes up, we hear so much about how Americans need guns for the freedom to defend themselves and their property. Maybe that's why young Sashel Kazemi decided to go up and buy herself a gun in Tennessee, one of the most pro-firearms states in the country, the other day. We'll never know what her motivation was, since she and her illicit boyfriend Steve McNair are both dead -- dead from the kind of workaday all-American gun crime of passion that is much more prevalent than acts of self-defense. I was reading some comments over on NYTimes.com and readers were saying that a jealous girlfriend could have killed the bulky ex-quarterback with a knife or an ice pick or by poison...get real, people. Yes, people kill people -- but for the person who killed Steve McNair it was a lot easier to do it with a gun.

Of course that doesn't mean that we should ban all guns or confiscate the weapons that people already own legally or restrict hunting or gun sports, but maybe we could talk about ways to make it harder for a 20-year-old girl in a toxic relationship to so easily buy a handgun that's going to be used just a couple of days later. Not that I'm holding my breath -- if the killings of Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy, among so many, didn't loosen the grip of the gun lobby, why would a pro football player?

Posted by Will Bunch @ 9:03 PM Permalink | 40 comments

Comments

Posted 09:29 PM, 07/06/2009

Vandy

Will, you keep talking about changing the laws, but as is almost always the case, you ignore the fact that the gun was NOT obtained or carried legally; perhaps enforcement of existing laws, rather than adding even more layers of complexity, would be in order. "Federal law prohibits anyone under 21 from purchasing a handgun from a licensed dealer. Kazemi did not have a carry permit; Tennessee requires a person to be 21 to have carry permit." - http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090706/NEWS03/90706040

Posted 09:48 PM, 07/06/2009

Fisher

Maybe the society of lose morals, constant conspicuous consumption, and constant desired self gratification remains the problem. “four accidential shootings, seven assaults or murders, and eleven attempted or completed suicides.” Accidental shootings aside, assaults, murders and suicide all speak of the deprived soul. Those who have purchased today’s media hype society of commercialism. Their egos inflated by commercials and lack of candid conversations about reality. They were passed when they fail. Return to real morals of working for accomplishments, helping those in need, and relevance.

Posted 09:51 PM, 07/06/2009

will

You're absolutely right, as far is this case is concerned it does look like a clear violation of the existing law -- if you read my post I used the word "ways" for exactly that reason, because whether it's reforming the laws or just better enforcement, Americans should not have to die in this type of tragedy again and again and again, at a much higher rate than other similar nations.

Posted 10:05 PM, 07/06/2009

Vandy

"if you read my post I used the word "ways" for exactly that reason." Actually, it really appears that you chose to pick on Tennessee's "pro-gun" laws. I did not read any specific example you might have of "ways" of how to better enforce existing laws. This statement, for example--"...20-year-old girl in a toxic relationship to so easily buy a handgun that's going to be used just a couple of days later..."--clearly is meant to imply that she bought this gun legally; you know, at Wal-Mart along with some milk and a Coldplay CD.

Posted 10:11 PM, 07/06/2009

Archimedes

Also, never tell your girlfriend that you are about to get a divorce and marry her unless you have already filed the papers. I personally am on the extreme edge of being against guns that have no recreational purpose except for those used in law enforcement--and I remember when British Bobbies did not even carry guns and, in those days, were generally successful in maintaining order and fighting crime (although young kids did steal their helmets according to the novels of Wodehouse etc.). Hunting, target shooting (I love to shoot clay pigeons), along with low enforcement. As interpreted by the NRA, the 2nd Amendment was one of the great errors of the the Constitution along with how the Founding Fathers handled the slavery issue.

Posted 10:18 PM, 07/06/2009

bill at

"Every time the subjects of guns comes up, we here so much about how Americans need guns for the freedom to defend themselves and their property." I 'here' they have things like spell check on the computer boxes these days. Ah, journalism...

Posted 10:56 PM, 07/06/2009

bill at

"Not that I'm holding my breath..." I don't know, you've tried everything else to convince people the 2nd amendment shouldn't matter. I promise not to stand in your way if you want to hold your breath indefinitely in protest. Maybe the Sloth will join you. Solidarity, sistahs!

Posted 11:28 PM, 07/06/2009

IggleFan68

The 2nd amendment debate is stupid - the wording is clear, people have the right to bear arms (carry guns). If you want it to be different, change the constitution (which seems to be goddawful hard to do). To me, a more successful strategy would be the following: focus on enforcing existing gun laws and sending those people to jail for a LONG time. Work with the gun vendors to change ammunition sizes every 5-10 years to obsolete earlier guns. Ammunition has a shelf life, and I think you can assume most of the animals going around shooting up Philadelphia aren't storing theirs in a hermetically sealed environment. Plus the gun lobbies would love it because they would sell more guns! Make the ammunition more identifiable and traceable so we know who bought what (seems all the focus is on the gun, when it's actually the bullet that does the damage). Have mandatory gun safety classes in health -- you know that class where they show our 10 year old's how to put on condoms? Let's try helping them to save their life if they are ever in a situation with a gun around -- i.e, what to do, how to handle safely, when not to touch, what not to do, etc.

Posted 11:38 PM, 07/06/2009

cwallis

If you look at guns per capita Rural Populations have a lot more guns per capita than suburban or urban populaitons. Why is it that There are a lot mroe gun related deaths per capita in suburban and urban populations? Is it that people in Urban and Suburban areas have no respect for the wepons that they carry. Maybe better education and law enforcement would help in areas like SouthEastern PA

Posted 11:56 PM, 07/06/2009

Talking point sleuth

Objectives. We analyzed urban–rural differences in intentional firearm death. Methods. We analyzed 584629 deaths from 1989 to 1999 assigned to 3141 US counties, using negative binomial regressions and an 11-category urban–rural variable. Results. The most urban counties had 1.03 (95% confidence interval [CI]=0.87, 1.20) times the adjusted firearm death rate of the most rural counties. The most rural counties experienced 1.54 (95% CI=1.29, 1.83) times the adjusted firearm suicide rate of the most urban. The most urban counties experienced 1.90 (95% CI=1.50, 2.40) times the adjusted firearm homicide rate of the most rural. Similar opposing trends were not found for nonfirearm suicide or homicide. Conclusions. Firearm suicide in rural counties is as important a public health problem as firearm homicide in urban counties. Policymakers should become aware that intentional firearm deaths affect all types of communities in the United States. After controlling for various social, demographic, and economic factors, we found that firearm death is as pervasive a public health problem in rural counties as it is in urban counties in the United States. This uniformity was the product of opposing trends between firearm suicide and firearm homicide in rural and urban counties. That is, although firearm mortality rates were similar in urban and rural areas, the rate of firearm suicide in America’s most rural communities closely resembled that of firearm homicide in her largest cities.

Posted 12:25 AM, 07/07/2009

LJL

"I 'here' they have things like spell check on the computer boxes these days."....Figuring out the tubes I see....FYI - A spell check wouldn't catch that since, well, it's spelled correctly. Kind of kills the (attempted) joke....

Posted 06:22 AM, 07/07/2009

Mr. Smith

We shoud outlaw grocery shopping when hungry, since junk food kills so many more peope than guns do. Also, we should outlaw swimming pools, because they are responsible for many more accidental deaths of children than are guns. I'm surprised that Will Bunch isn't blaming George Bush for McNair's murder. After all, Bush was so confrontational with the Iranians, this murder is obviously fallout from Bush's Axis of Evil speech.

Posted 07:27 AM, 07/07/2009

AngryWhiteMale

What's an "illicit" boyfriend, Will?

Posted 07:33 AM, 07/07/2009

jmc

The right for individuals to possess guns is gauranteed by the Constitution (so important, it's the 2nd Amendment), and it was upheld by the Supreme Court recently. If you don't like it, there is an amendment process to the Constitution, I suggest getting to work.

Posted 09:24 AM, 07/07/2009

bill at

"FYI - A spell check wouldn't catch that since, well, it's spelled correctly. Kind of kills the (attempted) joke...." Fair point. I should have just stuck to the fact that our 'journalist' bunch is a dope for not knowing how to correctly use the words. Appreciate the feedback.

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About Will Bunch

Will's book: Learn about it here and purchase it here.

Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.

E-mail Will by clicking here.

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