JAMA; How Much Did It Cost To Figure This One Out?

I don’t know about you…but the latest release from the Journal of American Medical Association has me wondering if these people just pulled their heads out of the sand, or if the obvious is really that elusive for some folks.

Consider this…a recent finding as reported in JAMA by a team led by Dr. David Grossman suggests that guns kept locked, unloaded and with ammunition locked away in a separate location are two-thirds less likely to be used by a youth for suicide or an accidental shooting…as opposed to guns not stored safely.   REALLY!   Imagine that!   Guns stored securely and properly save lives.   Who would have imagined that?

The study details the numbers to prove the premise, but the upshot of the whole study basically concludes that programs and policies that encourage households to keep guns locked and unloaded “deserve further attention as one avenue toward the prevention of firearm injuries” in our nation’s youth.

Okay, I’m being a little sarcastic here…but nothing from this study is really earth-shaking news.   This from a publication with a well established reputation of having an anti-gun bias.   We expect well thought out, potentially life-changing news reported when this journal goes to press.   Instead, it seems bent on crusading against guns even when it is so hard up it has to report the obvious just to continue to hammer on the issue.

Ask any responsible gun owner and they will tell you exactly what the good doctors had to prove for themselves.   I suppose it is always nice to have solid evidence to back up what you believe, but in this case it should be insulting to the researchers to even report on these findings.

Look, we all know that keeping guns safe and away from kids is important.   We also know that education is a critical component for proper gun ownership and handling…no matter if the person is a youth or an adult, alike.   I don’t think society needs to read in JAMA a treatise on how guns need to be stored safely.   Granted, we all should be encouraging every gun owner to practice these safe handling measures.   It just seems to me that the pages of JAMA would be better allocated toward dealing with a rare form of cancer or explaining why drugs are a growing threat in our society.   No, instead, this anti-gun publication will take every shot it gets at giving all gun owners a black eye.

© 2005 Jim Braaten. All Rights Reserved.   No Reproduction without Prior Permission.