A Weapon Alone Doesn’t Necessarily Provide Safety

Does a gun at home make you safer?

Gun control advocates say no.

A study published two years ago in the New England Journal of Medicine found that homicides are more likely to occur in households where guns are kept than in households without them and concluded that a gun, rather than providing protection against an intruder, appears to increase the risk that a family member or friend will kill another.

“Women who have a gun in the house have a greater chance of being killed by their spouse or an acquaintance than by a stranger,” said Dr. Arthur L. Kellermann, co-author of the study and director of the Center for Injury Control at Atlanta’s Emory University.

Kellermann also said that “guns and domestic violence are a recipe for disaster.”

But gun owners believe that guns protect those who are skilled in using them.

“Just having a gun doesn’t make you safe,” said Judy Cotter, co-owner of Hilldale Sales in Simi Valley. “It’s how well you use it. If you can’t hit what you aim at, what good is it?”

The expression “God created men equal; Colt made them different,” is especially relevant for women, Cotter says.

“In a physical confrontation, women don’t feel equal to men who invade their home,” she said. “They feel necessary to use to a tool to survive in a difficult situation.”

Cotter herself has been in that situation. About four years ago, a man with a shovel confronted her at home, but she was able to scare him off with her gun. The prospect of shooting him filled her with dread, but she would have used deadly force to defend herself.

Cotter said that “it felt awful” that she would have killed him, “but he was threatening to crush my skull.”

“Believe me,” she said, “there is no glory in taking a human life, only ugliness.”