Early in the morning of September 24, my lawyer and friend, Will Hampton, was
shot and killed in his home by a masked intruder. His wife escaped, but the
murderer also shot and killed one of the Hampton’s dogs. I can hardly think of
anything else except Will’s murder and the incredible violation he suffered
being shot as he slept in his own home.
I used to argue against personal armament as a security measure. I thought the
statistics measuring how many people have protected themselves or their family
from assault because they own a gun just don’t compare well with the statistics
on accidental deaths from guns in the home, but Gary Kleck, a criminology
professor at Florida State University, says his research reveals that guns are
used successfully in self defense between 800,000 and 2.55 million times a
year. Yet Arthur Kellerman, director of the Center for Injury Control at Emory
University says guns in homes are 433 times more likely to kill a family member
or friend than an intruder. Now, I don’t know. Do I sleep with a loaded Magnum
under my pillow? Is that safe?
I used to argue that a dog was the best deterrent to burglars and bad guys.
It didn’t even have to be a mean dog, just the presence of a good barker was
supposed to do the trick, at least according to reformed former burglars.
But look what happened to Will’s dog.
I don’t want to get paranoid. I don’t want to believe that the world is more
rotten than it is. I want to believe I’m relatively safe in my home. I want to
arm myself with facts, so I collected a few:
* Americans are among the world’s most gun-owning peoples. In 1993, 29 percent
of U.S. households had handguns, compared with five percent of Canadian and two
percent of Australian.
* In 1990, the American murder rate was more than twice as high as Germany’s
and nine times higher than Japan’s.
* The murder count for 1994 totaled 23,305. Ninety-one percent of the
assailants were males, and 84 percent were 18 years of age or older.
* By circumstance, 28 percent of the murders resulted from arguments and 18
percent from felonious activities such as robbery, arson, etc.
* Firearms were the weapons used in approximately seven of every 10 murders.
* Over 2.7 million burglaries were reported to law enforcement agencies in
1994, 67 percent involving forcible entry.
* Over half (52 percent) of burglaries occurred during the daylight hours.
* Homes on a corner lot are more likely to be burglarized and if a home has
suffered a burglary, the odds of being burglarized again dramatically
increase.
Somehow none of this makes me feel any better.
This article appears in October 4 • 1996 and October 4 • 1996 (Cover).