WWTBAM Bored

As of April 30, more than 1 million residents across the state were active handgun license holders.

Of the 652 people in Borden County, 108, or more than 16 percent of the county's population, have a handgun license.

My zip code comes in at #14

14. Houston, Texas
ZIP Code: 77095

Number of CHL holders: 3,059

The other two zip codes of my school district (Cypress-Fairbanks ISD) which really defines my residential area of Cypress, TX. 77095 is an un-incorporated area that the Post Office calls "Houston", but we are not part of Houston, TX.

8. Cypress, Texas
ZIP Code: 77433

Number of CHL holders: 3,517

2. Cypress, Texas
ZIP Code: 77429

Number of CHL holders: 4,589

And yet, we have very little gun violence. And all that we have is by folks that don't have licenses.

And then there is this from earlier this week:

Homeowner shoots, kills man during car break-in

This was about 7 miles from my house. And is in our school district. Zip Code 77070, but didn't make the top 40. Perhaps the thief took this into account in his selection of targets. The odds did not play to his favor. Only 2200 CHL holders in 77070 (population about 50,000) and he picks one.

BackInTex wrote:
My zip code comes in at #14

14. Houston, Texas
ZIP Code: 77095

Number of CHL holders: 3,059

If you ever move, it will drop completely out of the rankings.

silverscreenselect wrote:

BackInTex wrote:
My zip code comes in at #14

14. Houston, Texas
ZIP Code: 77095

Number of CHL holders: 3,059

If you ever move, it will drop completely out of the rankings.

I doubt that many people would follow me. I'm rather humble and don't have much interaction with my fan club.

I have a very nice FN 5.9 but have never carried it here in the Tucson area. It's pretty impossible to wear enough clothes to do so. For home defense (which I really don't need in my gated community) I have a Mossberg 590.

BackInTex wrote:As of April 30, more than 1 million residents across the state were active handgun license holders.

It seems odd that guns are such a big deal if more than 96% of the people in Texas don't have them. The 4% who do must own a lot of them.

TheConfessor wrote:

BackInTex wrote:As of April 30, more than 1 million residents across the state were active handgun license holders.

It seems odd that guns are such a big deal if more than 96% of the people in Texas don't have them. The 4% who do must own a lot of them.

That's 1,000,000 gun owners who have Concealed Handgun Licenses. Not everyone who owns guns have CHL (including me, for now, just never got around to it but plan to, one day, soon).

Polls vary between 35% and 45% ownership (households, not individuals) in Texas.

One poll showed of those households with guns: 19% had only a single gun, while 44% had 2 to 5 and 22% had more than five with the balance of folks refusing to answer the "how many?" question.

The "big deal" does seem odd though that such a small % of gun incidents involve legally carried weapons.

BackInTex wrote:

TheConfessor wrote:

BackInTex wrote:As of April 30, more than 1 million residents across the state were active handgun license holders.

It seems odd that guns are such a big deal if more than 96% of the people in Texas don't have them. The 4% who do must own a lot of them.

That's 1,000,000 gun owners who have Concealed Handgun Licenses. Not everyone who owns guns have CHL (including me, for now, just never got around to it but plan to, one day, soon).

Polls vary between 35% and 45% ownership (households, not individuals) in Texas.

One poll showed of those households with guns: 19% had only a single gun, while 44% had 2 to 5 and 22% had more than five with the balance of folks refusing to answer the "how many?" question.

The "big deal" does seem odd though that such a small % of gun incidents involve legally carried weapons.

This was about 7 miles from my house. And is in our school district. Zip Code 77070, but didn't make the top 40. Perhaps the thief took this into account in his selection of targets. The odds did not play to his favor. Only 2200 CHL holders in 77070 (population about 50,000) and he picks one.

So you really don't know if the guy who killed someone for breaking into his truck had a CHL or not, and legally, it probably doesn't matter. I hope the truck is okay.

TheConfessor wrote: So you really don't know if the guy who killed someone for breaking into his truck had a CHL or not, and legally, it probably doesn't matter. I hope the truck is okay.

No I do not. He didn't need one in this case, though, if it played out like he said.

The truck was impounded, but other than that I'm sure its O.K. Your concern for the thief is noted.

Here's a story here in Georgia about a law abiding citizen with a gun. Our police also have a concern for gun owner' rights and won't prosecute someone just because there's a little mishap. So, he's still got his gun to protect himself and his family. And now that his family's a bit smaller, they'll be that much easier to protect.

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/crime-law/ ... din/nrLxQ/

Of course, sometimes here in Georgia, the police do take a dim view if a child accidentally shoots herself, as in this case in which the father was charged with manslaughter. I wonder what's different about the two cases?

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nationa ... -1.2449924

And in case anyone's keeping score, we're up to 23 young children who have shot either themselves or someone else since the beginning of the year.

silverscreenselect wrote:And in case anyone's keeping score, we're up to 23 young children who have shot either themselves or someone else since the beginning of the year.

23? Wow!

If this is an average year, we should have 138 people struck by lightning with 14 of those fatally.

BackInTex wrote:

silverscreenselect wrote:And in case anyone's keeping score, we're up to 23 young children who have shot either themselves or someone else since the beginning of the year.

23? Wow!

If this is an average year, we should have 138 people struck by lightning with 14 of those fatally.

I'm sure that will be a great comfort to 23 sets of parents.

silverscreenselect wrote:

BackInTex wrote:

silverscreenselect wrote:And in case anyone's keeping score, we're up to 23 young children who have shot either themselves or someone else since the beginning of the year.

23? Wow!

If this is an average year, we should have 138 people struck by lightning with 14 of those fatally.

I'm sure that will be a great comfort to 23 sets of parents.

No. They (or some of them are, you didn't say how many of the 23 incidents resulting in an actual death) are morning because of their own stupidity, ineptitude and poor choices. Not the choices of over 50,000,000 gun owners.

Those 23 are mourning like the other 7 or so families dealing with the death of a child (70 families dealing with injuries) from a swing set accident. No statistics on the number of swing sets in the US, but I doubt its even close to 37% of homes have one, making gun ownership much safer than swing set ownership. Next up, trampolines.

O.K. Not trampolines, but TVs.

Link

From 2011 to 2013, an average of 11,000 children under age 18 were treated in emergency rooms for injuries involving TVs or injuries involving both televisions and furniture, according to a new report from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. From 2000 to 2013, 279 people were actually killed by falling TVs and furniture.

"This is just one of those things that we need to educate people about, because it's so preventable," Marietta S. Robinson, commissioner of the Consumer Product Safety agency, said in an interview.

TVs in homes: 116 million
Guns in home: 300 million

On average a toddler in the US shoots someone about once a week
On average a child under 18 is treated in an emergency room for TV related injury 70.5 times a week with someone dying every other week.

Having a TV in the home is much more dangerous for children than guns.

BackInTex wrote: Not the choices of over 50,000,000 gun owners.

No, there's a lot more than 23 people with children who have made poor choices about guns. That's only the ones who have paid the consequences in the first 4 1/2 months of 2016.

The number of people who make poor choices about smoking and drug use are much greater than the number of lung cancer and overdose deaths as well.

BackInTex wrote:
On average a child under 18 is treated in an emergency room for TV related injury 70.5 times a week with someone dying every other week.

Having a TV in the home is much more dangerous for children than guns.

And of course that's a faulty argument. There's a risk/reward analysis that's involved. The risks of owning a gun, as shown by nearly every reputable study, far outweigh the tangible rewards, other than stoking the ego of John Wayne wannabes, of doing so.

Although I may have to revise my thinking in the case of George Zimmerman. If he does indeed reap a bonanza for selling his gun, then he'll demonstrate a substantial tangible reward factor for gunning down an unarmed teenager heading home at night.

silverscreenselect wrote:And of course that's a faulty argument. There's a risk/reward analysis that's involved. The risks of owning a gun, as shown by nearly every reputable study, far outweigh the tangible rewards, other than stoking the ego of John Wayne wannabes, of doing so.

What is the reward to a TV? Being fat and lazy. Spending money on stuff you don't need. Wasting time watching other peoples' live their lives?

silverscreenselect wrote:Although I may have to revise my thinking in the case of George Zimmerman. If he does indeed reap a bonanza for selling his gun, then he'll demonstrate a substantial tangible reward factor for gunning down an unarmed teenager heading home at night.

He already received a substantial tangible reward. He lived.

BackInTex wrote: He already received a substantial tangible reward. He lived.

How much of a "reward" that is for society is debatable. As is whether his life was ever actually in jeopardy.

BackInTex wrote:

silverscreenselect wrote:And of course that's a faulty argument. There's a risk/reward analysis that's involved. The risks of owning a gun, as shown by nearly every reputable study, far outweigh the tangible rewards, other than stoking the ego of John Wayne wannabes, of doing so.

What is the reward to a TV? Being fat and lazy. Spending money on stuff you don't need. Wasting time watching other peoples' live their lives?

Actually, this study calls into question the line of studies showing the deleterious effects of watching television.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic ... our-brain/

TheConfessor wrote:

BackInTex wrote:As of April 30, more than 1 million residents across the state were active handgun license holders.

It seems odd that guns are such a big deal if more than 96% of the people in Texas don't have them. The 4% who do must own a lot of them.

Yes, the Banditos and Cossacks.

Here's a unique way to shoot oneself:
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2016/05/16 ... -ceremony/