Scientists agree: guns make society less safe

[RFayette]

The tagline for the article, "That's a fact" is ridiculous........consensus doesn't determine facts, and this is a far less commanding consensus then on say, evolution or the Earth being older than 6000 years old.

Also, since the thesis was guns make society LESS SAFE, not less safe vs more safe, the "consensuses" are 72-28, 64-36, 73 vs 27, 62 vs 38, and 71 vs 29.  These are hardly unanimous verdicts.  

Furthermore, Freaknoomics did good research on this and found a house with a swimming pool is far more dangerous than one with a gun.  

I do feel like the left tends to grab on to "consensus" as some buzz-word to avoid actually debating issues at times.  

Here's a good source to learn a little bit more about the pro-gun rights side:
http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/gun-control-myths-realities

[RFayette]

What makes scientists qualified to comment on this? Since, you know, Ben Carson isn't qualified to discuss social policy.

Yes, this has nothing to do whatsoever with their area of expertise.

Look, I think it's obvious having a gun in your home makes it easier to commit suicide.  That being said, while the arguments about gun safety have some validity, I believe that more guns = less violent crime, and I have stats to back this up:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB841185795318576500

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Besides, the burden of proof is on those who say more guns = more crime as their goal is to stifle the right to bear arms, and thus the pro-gun control side must demonstrate overwhelming evidence that more gun ownership increases crime.  The simple fact that the liberalization of gun laws has coincided with the plummeting of violent crime rates makes that case very difficult for the anti-gunners.

[RFayette]

As far as suicide goes, it's much easier for suicidal ideation to be followed through on if there's a gun in close proximity. If you get the idea in your head that you're going to kill yourself and it only takes you 2 minutes to go to the closet and get your gun, it's going to be much more likely that you'll follow through than if you have to get your shoes on, get in your car, go to the ATM, get to a vendor, etc.

I actually agree with this.

The "heat of the moment" is far more likely to be acted on if one has a gun in close proximity. 

I fully concede that easy availability of guns can increase the risk of  suicide or accidental violence, though, as economists Levitt and Dubner found in Freakonomics, the safety danger of a loaded gun in a house is far less than that of a swimming pool. 

My premise is that the premise "more guns = more violent crime" is not supported by the data.  That's all.