I would venture to say that possessing a pencil would increase your chances of being poked accidentally, eventhough that is a remote scenario for people who handle their pencils safely.

Agreed, the problem is that with guns you don't get poked accidentally, you get shot dead. That is why when calculating deaths due to guns you need to include accidents, misguided attempts at self defence, burglars who only shot you because you pulled a gun first, your child finding the weapon and thinking it is a toy, and the burglar shooting you with your own weapon. In all of those scenarios you are equally dead, it makes no difference how you got there.

If you are going to be pro-gun then be that way based on your constitutional rights, your fear of an unjust government, or your need to protect yourself from aliens for all I care, but there is no point in pretending the statistics are in your favor.

-Mike