Among young people ages 14 to 24 who received care in a hospital emergency department for assault-related injuries, 23% said they owned a firearm in the past six months. And only 17% of those reporting firearm possession obtained it legally... [More]Since "ownership," that is, an exclusive right conferred by a lawful claim or title, IS a legal term, "possession" hardly qualifies. If you stole my property, or bought it from someone who did, it is not yours.
"Authorized Journalist" Michelle Healy and her USA Today (an "ethical" Gannett newspaper!) know that.
But I guess it helps everything sound more urgent and hysterical than a headline screaming "Nearly 4% of youths injured in assaults own a firearm." Plus it helps tar the entire concept of gun ownership among those who don't know better, that is, anyone who relies on that paper for information to shape their opinions.
That and employing Pavlovian stimuli like telling readers "22% reported ownership of highly lethal automatic/semiautomatic weapons," as if the former is even a statistically significant factor, and without defining comparative lethality criteria...
As far as "ownership" vs. "possession" is concerned, perhaps we should review "A Toddler's Rules of Possession":
ReplyDeletehttp://parents.berkeley.edu/jokes/toddlerrules.html
You are right. A thief doesn't "own" what he possesses, which is why "government" owns nothing. No buildings, no roads, no guns, nothing. Everything it's employees possess was either stolen or bought with stolen or counterfeited money. So for "laws" to say- for example- that a person can't carry a gun on "federal property" is a lie. There is no such thing. Not that you won't be kidnapped, caged, or murdered for doing it.
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