Friday, December 05, 2008

Bad headline of the day

Easy-to-Use 'Palm Pistol' Aimed at Elderly, Disabled

The headline makes it appear that the Palm Pistols are a danger to the elderly and disabled, which is patently false. They were designed to allow the elderly and disabled to have the same capacity for self-defense as those with greater arm and hand strength. The Palm Pistols are aimed at those who would prey on the elderly and disabled.

Why not just announce a bold new wheelchair design with a headline reading "Wheels to roll over disabled"? Or a new public safety measure to protect the elderly with "City plans to target elderly"?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree with helping the elderly and disabled defend themselves... but why make it a medical device that can be covered by medicare? So that doctors can prescribe a device to kill, and so that taxpayers can pay for it??? Doesn't seem quite right.

JosephineMO7 said...

Well Anon. I guess one line of though would be that it would be used in the sense that one takes the headline. On themselves.

I love the idea though. I would definitely buy one for my grandma.

Christina Dunigan said...

Actually, anon, you seldom need to do more than have a likelihood of being armed to protect yoursef. States with concealed carry laws find that violent crimes fall dramatically. And even if a criminal does attempt a crime, often simply brandishing the firearm is enough to send him running. The NRA has stats, but it's really only a tiny percentage of cases in which the person with the firearm actually has to shoot at anybody to be effective. It's a major, major deterrant.

I used to gas up at a gas station where the gas jockeys carried large amounts of cash -- and packed heat. Each of them carried a sidearm under his jacket. When other gas stations were getting knocked over, that one was never targeted. I always felt very safe there.

It's a matter of prevention. If word gets out in a state that a lot of seniors and disabled folks have gotten concealed carry permits for these guns, they'll be less likely to be the targets --- even if they themselves don't pack heat.

Kathy said...

Granny,

I agree -- my dad used to tell the story of one locale that *required* women to own a firearm. The rape rate dropped to zero. :-)