Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Hsieh Forbes Column: Any Study Of 'Gun Violence' Should Include How Guns Save Lives

My latest Forbes column is now out: "Any Study Of 'Gun Violence' Should Include How Guns Save Lives".

I discuss three key principles that should be included in any kind of "gun violence" research, including:
  • Firearms save lives as well take lives. 
  • The value of firearms in the hands of law-abiding citizens should be measured in terms of lives saved or crimes prevented, not criminals killed.
  • The right to self-defense does not depend on statistics and numbers.
Legal use of firearms in self-defense happens a lot more often than most people realize.

Any public health research that studies only the negative effects of criminal misuse of guns while ignoring the positive lawful uses misses a critically important part of the picture.