Your Risk Profile

Joe Mamma, a blogger who went silent on the internet last year, sent me a link to this article.  Written by Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, it attempts to explain the dissonance in the gun control debates today.  Adams posits that your stance on gun control is based in your personal risk profile. (Bear with me), and that influence likely carries over to your political leanings.

For example, if you live in the inner city, you're likely to understand poverty and crime from a unique perspective. You are also more likely to be a Democrat.  If you are lucky enough to be fairly affluent and live in one of the afore-referenced mega-cities, (I'm thinking places like Chicago, Los Angeles, or Louisiana's own Mogadishu-on-the-River New Orleans)) you're more likely to be a Democrat.  So, your risk profile is such that if you run into a gun-toting, opportunistic entrepreneur, he's also likely to be a Democrat.  Under those circumstances, it's easy to understand your aversion to guns.

I'd note, simply from the record, that the last two Aloha-Snackbar Mohametans that shot up large crowds were also Democrats, shooting into crowds of likewise Democrats.  I use these two data points simply for reference, without attempting to draw any statistically valid conclusion.

On the other hand, if you live in fly-over country, you're more likely to own guns and use them for sport shooting, or hunting, or recreation, or any number of safe, law abiding, constitutionally based activities.  As a matter of culture, we teach our kids to handle guns safely, to shoot safely, and to respect other folks safety and property.  Our guns don't hurt anybody, unless a Democrat comes through the window of our home.

Adams sums it up concisely:

So it seems to me that gun control can’t be solved because Democrats are using guns to kill each other – and want it to stop – whereas Republicans are using guns to defend against Democrats. Psychologically, those are different risk profiles. And you can’t reconcile those interests, except on the margins. For example, both sides might agree that rocket launchers are a step too far. But Democrats are unlikely to talk Republicans out of gun ownership because it comes off as “Put down your gun so I can shoot you.”

Thankfully, we have the Constitution on our side, as we've discussed before in these pages.  And, while it's easy to understand why Democrats are trying to abrogate my rights, it's also easy to understand why I intend to fight them tooth and nail.  We have different risk profiles and view the argument from singular perspectives.  It's an interesting argument.

I know why I intend to keep my guns, and the Democrats had better consider that I don't intend to surrender a single one of them.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have guns to clean and ammo to load.