2aguy
Diamond Member
- Jul 19, 2014
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Yes....looking at the CDC death numbers for 2013.....and guns are no where near the top of killers....
Running the Gun Violence Numbers - The Truth About Guns
But alright. Let’s take a look at untimely deaths caused by something other than disease.
Accidents claimed 130,557 lives in 2013, which accounted for 5% of all deaths. Those are all accidents, whether they were auto accidents, drownings, slipping in the shower, or, yes, getting accidentally shot.
Breaking it down, poisoning deaths killed 48,545 people, 1.8% of the total death toll. Drug overdose killed 43,982 people (1.6%), though the CDC notes that 35,663 (1.3%) were unintentional. The rest were suicides. Motor vehicle deaths killed 33,804 (1.3%).
And finally, ranking dead last (pun intended) are firearms fatalities. In 2013, a bullet from a gun killed 33,364 people, accounting for 1.2% of all deaths in the US.
But it breaks down even further. The CDC keeps track of suicide deaths by type, and in 2013, 21,175 people chose to end their lives with a firearm, leaving 12,189 non-suicide firearms deaths, which account for .4% of the total death toll. And that .4% makes up all non-suicide gun deaths, including murder as well as justified self defense use.
At this point, an anti-gunner would say, “But if you took the guns away, they wouldn’t commit suicide!”
Which leads to South Korea. South Korea has some of the most restrictive gun laws on the planet. The only firearms allowed to the citizenry are rifles and shotguns for hunting. They must be registered and when not being used, all firearms must be stored at the local police station. Civilian gun ownership in South Korea is effectively nonexistent. Yet South Korea has a national suicide rate of 28.5 per 100,00, over twice the rate of the United States, where the suicide rate is 12.6 per 100,000. The moral: those who want to kill themselves find a way, gun or no gun.
Running the Gun Violence Numbers - The Truth About Guns
But alright. Let’s take a look at untimely deaths caused by something other than disease.
Accidents claimed 130,557 lives in 2013, which accounted for 5% of all deaths. Those are all accidents, whether they were auto accidents, drownings, slipping in the shower, or, yes, getting accidentally shot.
Breaking it down, poisoning deaths killed 48,545 people, 1.8% of the total death toll. Drug overdose killed 43,982 people (1.6%), though the CDC notes that 35,663 (1.3%) were unintentional. The rest were suicides. Motor vehicle deaths killed 33,804 (1.3%).
And finally, ranking dead last (pun intended) are firearms fatalities. In 2013, a bullet from a gun killed 33,364 people, accounting for 1.2% of all deaths in the US.
But it breaks down even further. The CDC keeps track of suicide deaths by type, and in 2013, 21,175 people chose to end their lives with a firearm, leaving 12,189 non-suicide firearms deaths, which account for .4% of the total death toll. And that .4% makes up all non-suicide gun deaths, including murder as well as justified self defense use.
At this point, an anti-gunner would say, “But if you took the guns away, they wouldn’t commit suicide!”
Which leads to South Korea. South Korea has some of the most restrictive gun laws on the planet. The only firearms allowed to the citizenry are rifles and shotguns for hunting. They must be registered and when not being used, all firearms must be stored at the local police station. Civilian gun ownership in South Korea is effectively nonexistent. Yet South Korea has a national suicide rate of 28.5 per 100,00, over twice the rate of the United States, where the suicide rate is 12.6 per 100,000. The moral: those who want to kill themselves find a way, gun or no gun.
