Kevin over at Misfires and Light Strikes recently took the time to put household safety into perspective. Since it was so well written, and is fairly short here is the complete piece:
Look around the room you’re in right now: Chances are, there’s either a smoke detector or a fire alarm or a fire extinguisher within 10 feet of you. Such precautions are good and necessary because losing everything in a fire just sucks. Our society recognizes this, and in fact mandates the installation of sprinklers and smoke alarms to protect our health and safety.
But what are the odds of a fire compared to a violent crime? The answers may surprise you.
According to the CDC, in 2009, someone died in a fire every 175 minutes, and someone was injured every 31 minutes.
A scary thought indeed, which is why all those smoke detectors make sense.
But if that makes you nervous, the chances of you being a victim of a violent crime should freak you right out.
- A burglary is committed once every 10 seconds
- Violent crimes happen once every 20 seconds
- One of out five homes will experience a break-in
So why is protecting one’s family and property with a smoke detector something that the government encourages (and even mandates) yet protecting one’s family and property by means of a firearm something that the government discourages (and even bans) ?