Mark Small

3 questions about guns: (1) Can a person have too many guns? (2) Are there people who should not be allowed to have guns? (3) Are there types of guns that people should not be allowed to own? 2/15

(1) If someone owns so many guns they fall out her or his windows and the bed of the family pickup truck, we should reasonably infer that is too many guns for that person. The harm is that a kid or a “bad guy” who needs a gun could grab one of the weapons. 3/15

Another measure of “too many” guns is a number of guns greater than the uses to which the person’s guns are put. If “self defense” is the purpose, a gun for each room in one’s dwelling might not be the proper measure. 4/15

Self-defense includes the notion of home security. Statistics and epidemiological studies that are peer-reviewed might be nice, but Federal law (Dickey and Tiahrt amendments), as a practical matter, precludes such studies. 5/15

Those amendments prohibit CDC from conducting, or others from using results of, research into gun violence as a health problem. CDC funding provides more than money. Standards are imposed and overall the work is > coordinated. 6/15

From cases I have handled in the practice of criminal law, I know burglars (a) try to break into houses when NO ONE is at home, thus guns do not deter, but (b) they love handguns to steal because they are quite easily fenced. 7/15

(2) Only the most obtuse gun “advocate” would say everyone should be able to own a gun. Categories of people who shouldn’t could include people who have said they want to emulate Charles Whitman (1966 sniper at University of Texas). 8/15

Other categories might include convicted felons (even though they have served their sentence), people with histories of perpetrating domestic violence, and other people with patterns of behavior that make guns in their hands problematic. 9/15