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Jonathan Joss, ‘King of the Hill’ Voice Actor, Is Fatally Shot by Neighbor, Police Say
(www.nytimes.com)
this post was submitted on 02 Jun 2025
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The problem with this approach is that for most people, most of the time, having a gun raises the risk for yourself and your household by more than it lowers it.
That article is only relevant to people who have thoughts of suicidal ideation, and doesn't say anything about "most people". Here's an article which shows a more full picture: https://www.kqed.org/science/1916209/does-gun-ownership-really-make-you-safer-research-says-no
Now whilst your claim is correct, as the KQED article confirms, there's also more to it. When choosing to own a firearm or not to own a firearm, you probably shouldn't just count yourself as "most people" and leave it at that. Instead, it could be better to judge each source of safety or harm and figure out if they're relevant to you.
For example, if you're someone who doesn't stand out at all, but is known to be reckless and has thoughts of suicidal ideation, then you shouldn't be anywhere near a firearm. But, if you; are known to be a level-headed person, have experience safely handling dangerous machinery, understand how to avoid and de-escalate situations, are willing to go through and keep up with firearms training, have never had thoughts of suicidal ideation and are openly part of a minority group that is currently being hunted by a violent cult, then owning a firearm becomes a much more reasonable decision.
Of course, most people will fall somewhere between these two extremes.
Its not just about suicide. People kill family members, have a kid who becomes depressed, etc. Its not just the gun owner who is at increased risk. You're much more likely to do something dumb like shoot an "intruder" who is actually your spouse getting a midnight snack than somebody who is out to get you.
There is something to be said for communal mutual defense, but its simply not worthwhile for most people to keep a gun and ammo at home for self defense on pure safety grounds.
That's what I just said.