The Case for a Defensive Firearm

Why an Adequate Defense is Necessary for Today’s World

The number of people convicted for crimes has steadily increased for the last 20 years.

With less room for prisoners, more violent offenders are being paroled or put on probation.

Property crime, which includes non-violent crime, has steadily decreased over the last 40 years. However, the rate is still over 10% of all households.

Theft rates too have decreased steadily, but are still at 10% of all households in the United States. That’s 1 out of every 10 households.

In 2006, almost 400,000 crimes in the United States were committed with firearms.

Approximately 7% of all violent crimes involve firearms. (This does not include theft, burglary, or robberies where firearms could not be proven to be present.)

In the United States during 1997, there were 15,289 murders. Of these, 10,369 were committed with firearms.

In the United States during 1997, there were approximately 7,927,000 violent crimes. Of these, 691,000 were committed with firearms.

As of 1992, for every 14 violent crimes (murder, rape, etc…) committed in the United States, one person is sentenced to prison.

Mine:◦ Insert family

members or neighbors here

Yours◦ Insert family

members or neighbors here

Why a Defensive Firearm Makes Good Sense

There’s an inverse correlation between the increase in handgun supply and decrease in property crime. The more burglars who believe you might have a gun, the less likely you are to be robbed.

  Households With a Gun Adults Owning a Gun

Percentage 49% 31%

Total number 47,600,000 59,100,000

Americans use firearms to defend themselves from criminals at least 764,000 times a year. This figure is the lowest among a group of 9 nationwide surveys done by organizations including Gallup and the Los Angeles Times.

In 1982, a survey of imprisoned criminals found that 34% of them had been "scared off, shot at, wounded or captured by an armed victim.“

Guns prevent an estimated 2.5 million crimes a year, or 6,849 per day.

Every year, people in the United States use a gun to defend themselves against criminals an estimated 2,500,000 times- more than 6,500 people a day, or once every 13 seconds.

Of the 250,000,000 annual self-defense cases using guns, more than 7.7% are by women defending themselves against sexual abuse.

Right-to-carry laws require law enforcement agencies to issue handgun permits to all qualified applicants. Qualifications include criteria such as age, a clean criminal record, and completing a firearm safety course.

Florida adopted a right-to-carry law in 1987. At the time the law was passed, critics predicted increases in violence.

  Florida U.S.

homicide rate

-36% -0.4%

firearm homicide rate

-37% +15%

handgun homicide rate

-41% +24%

Florida adopted a right-to-carry law in 1987. Between 1987 and 1996, these changes occurred:

221,443 concealed carry licenses were issued in Florida between October of 1987 and April of 1994. During that time, Florida recorded 18 crimes committed by licensees with firearms

There are No Firearm Accidents, Only Negligence

Motor Vehicles 43,900

Falls 12,600Poisonings 10,600Drownings 4,500

Fires 4,100Choking 2,800Firearm 1,400 (1.5% of fatal accidents)

(includes adults)

In 1996 there were only 21 accidental gun deaths for children under age 15. About twice as many children under 10 die from drowning in bathtubs.

Twice as many children are killed playing football in school than are murdered by guns. In a recent three year period, twice as many football players died from hits to the head, heat stroke, etc. (45), as compared with students who were murdered by firearms (22) during that same time period.

More children will die in a car, drown in a pool, or choke on food than they will by firearms. As seen by the chart on the previous page, children are at a 2,000 percent greater risk from the car in their driveway, than they are by the gun in their parents' closet. Children are almost 7 times more likely to drown than to be shot, and they are 130 percent more likely to die from choking on their dinner.

Accidental gun deaths among children have declined by over 50% in 25 years, even though the population (and the gun stock) has continued to increase.

“Safety measures are suggested for preventing accidental shootings, such as keeping guns locked up”

Gunvault Mini Deluxe Safe Outside is constructed of 16-gauge

steel. Precise fittings are virtually impossible

to pry open with hand tools. Built-in computer blocks access after

repeated invalid keypad entries. Tamper indicator alerts you to invalid

entry attempts. "Learn buttons" make it easy to

program over 12 million user-selectable access codes.

Took Firefighters 45 minutes to break open with axes, picks, burning, and bludgeoning.

Three-part Safety, Unrivaled Quality, and a Home Defense Strategy

Trigger Safety:◦ As the first of the three GLOCK “Safe Action”

safety features, the trigger safety prevents inadvertent firing by lateral forces on the trigger. Releasing the trigger will automatically reactivate the safety.

Firing Pin Safety:◦ The GLOCK firing pin safety is a solid hardened

steel pin which, in the secured state, blocks the firing pin channel, rendering the igniting of a chambered cartridge by the firing pin impossible. The firing pin safety is only pushed upward to release the firing pin for firing when the trigger is pulled and the safety is pushed up through the backward movement of the trigger bar. Releasing the trigger will automatically reactivate the firing pin safety.

Drop Safety:◦ In the line of duty it may happen that a loaded

pistol is dropped on the floor. Contrary to conventional pistols, the GLOCK drop safety prevents unintentional firing of a shot through hard impact. When the trigger is pulled, the trigger bar is guided in a precision safety ramp. The trigger bar is deflected from this ramp only in the moment the shot is triggered.

The “Safe Action” system is a partly tensioned firing pin lock, which is moved further back by the trigger bar when the trigger is pulled.When the trigger is pulled, 3 safety features are automatically deactivated one after another. When doing so, the trigger bar is deflected downward by the connector and the firing pin is released under full load. When the trigger is released, all three safety features re-engage and the GLOCK pistol is automatically secured again.

Glock 27 (personal defense) .40 caliber: high power,

high recoilGlock 26 (home defense) 9mm: good power,

medium recoil

Safety courses and gun training◦ Increases safety and

proficiency◦ Increases confidence

in handling a firearm safely

◦ Prepares us in the opportunity we have to use them

A Personal Home Defense Strategy◦ A “passcode” in case

one of us believes an intruder is present but one of us is not home. Call: “[insert]” Response: “[insert]”

◦ A plan to get the children to safety, and have a cell phone present.

Right now we do not have any home defense strategy, and cannot have one against a violent intruder.

We do not have any personal defense strategy when we (or I) travel at night or into bad areas.

Having the means, ability, and training to protect our family and our property is integral to ensuring our safety, both against an intruder and against negligence and accidents. I want to ensure our safety by preparing us to the greatest extent against all of these failures of protection.