19 Facts You Need to Know About Guns
1. 5 children were killed every day in gun related accidents and suicides committed with a firearm, from 1994-1998.
An average of 5 children were killed every day in gun related accidents and suicides committed with a firearm, from 1994-1998.
2. 40% of American households with children have guns.
3. 22 million children live in homes with at least one firearm.
34% of children in the United States (representing more than 22 million children in 11 million homes) live in homes with at least one firearm. In 69 percent of homes with firearms and children, more than one firearm is present.
4. A gun in the home is 22 times more likely to be used in an unintentional shooting, than to be used to injure or kill in self-defense.
A gun in the home is 22 times more likely to be used in an unintentional shooting, a criminal assault or homicide, or an attempted or completed suicide than to be used to injure or kill in self-defense.
5. In 1997, gunshot wounds were the second leading cause of injury death for men and women 10-24 years of age.
In 1997, gunshot wounds were the second leading cause of injury death for men and women 10-24 years of age -- second only to motor vehicle crashes -- while the firearm injury death rate among males 15-24 years of age was 42% higher than the motor vehicle traffic injury death rate.
6. In the U.S, children under 15 commit suicide with guns at a rate of eleven times the rate of other countries combined.
For children under the age of 15, the rate of suicide in the United States is twice the rate of other counties. For suicides involving firearms, the rate was almost eleven times the rate of other countries combined.
7. Guns in the home are the primary source for firearms that teenagers use to kill themselves in the United States.
Studies show that guns in the home are the primary source for firearms that teenagers use to kill themselves.
8. 85% of Americans want mandatory handgun registration.
85% of Americans endorse the mandatory registration of handguns and 72% also want mandatory registration of longguns (rifles and shotguns).
9. 85% of Americans want a background check and 5-day waiting period before a handgun is purchased.
85% of Americans want a background check and 5-day waiting period before a handgun is purchased.
10. 95% of Americans think that US made handguns should meet the same safety standards as imported guns.
95% of Americans favor having handguns manufactured in the United States meet the same safety and quality standards that imported guns must meet.
11. 51% of the guns used in crimes by juveniles and people 18 to 24 were acquired by "straw purchasers," people who buy several guns legally through licensed dealers, then sell them to criminals, violent offenders, and kids.
51% of the guns used in crimes by juveniles and people 18 to 24 were acquired by "straw purchasers," people who buy several guns legally through licensed dealers, then sell them to criminals, violent offenders, and kids.
12. More Americans were killed by guns than by war in the 20th Century.
More Americans were killed with guns in the 18-year period between 1979 and 1997 (651,697), than were killed in battle in all wars since 1775 (650,858). And while a sharp drop in gun homicides has contributed to a decline in overall gun deaths since 1993, the 90's will likely exceed the death toll of the 1980s (327,173) and end up being the deadliest decade of the century. By the end of the 1990s, an estimated 350,000 Americans will have been killed in non-military-related firearm incidents during the decade.
13. A classroom is emptied every two days in America by gunfire
In 1998, 3,792 American children and teens (19 and under) died by gunfire in murders, suicides and unintentional shootings. That's more than 10 young people a day.
14. Toy guns and teddy bears have more federal manufacturing regulations than real guns.
15. Every day 79 people are killed by firearms in America.
In 1999 a total of 28,874 persons died from firearm injuries in the United States, down nearly 6 percent from the 30,625 deaths in 1998.
16. 88% of the US population and 80% of US gun owners support childproofing all new handguns.
17. Kids in America are 12 times more likely to be killed by a gun than kids in 25 other industrialized nations combined.
The overall firearm-related death rate among U.S. children aged less than 15 years was nearly 12 times higher than among children in 25 other industrialized countries combined.
18. Guns stored in the home are used 72% of the time when children are accidentally killed and injured, commit suicide with a firearm.
In 72% of unintentional deaths and injuries, suicide, and suicide attempts with a firearm of 0-19 year-olds, the firearm was stored in the residence of the victim, a relative, or a friend.
19. Medical costs from gun injuries and deaths cost $19 billion. The US taxpayer will pay half of that cost.
Direct medical costs for firearm injuries range from $2.3 billion to $4 billion, and additional indirect costs, such as lost potential earnings, are estimated at $19.0 billion.
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FOOTNOTES:
1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Injury
Prevention and Control, National Injury Mortality Statistics, 1994-1998
2. Peter Hart Research Associates Poll, July 1999
3. The RAND Corporation, "Guns in the Family: Firearm Storage Patterns in
U.S. Homes with Children," March 2001, an analysis of the 1994 National
Health Interview Survey and Year 2000 objectives supplement. Also
published as Schuster et al., "Firearm Storage Patterns in U.S. Homes
with Children," American Journal of Public Health 90(4): 588-594, April
2000
4. Journal of Trauma, 1998
5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, June 1999
6. U.S. Department of Justice, March 2000
7. Injury Prevention, 1999
8. 1998 National Gun Policy Survey of the National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago
9. 1998 National Gun Policy Survey of the National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago
10. 1998 National Gun Policy Survey of the National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago
11. ATF report, Crime Gun Trace Analysis, February 1999
12. Handgun Control 12/30/99 (Press release from CDC data)
13. Unpublished data from the Vital Statistics System, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, 2000.
14. Centers for Disease Control, National Center for Health Statistics,
Deaths: Final Data for 1999. NVSR Volume 49, No. 8. 114 pp. (PHS)
2001-1120.
15. Johns Hopkins University Center of Gun Policy and Research, 1997/1998
16. Johns Hopkins University Center of Gun Policy and Research, 1997/1998
17. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Rates of Homicide,
Suicide, and Firearm-Related Death Among Children -- 26 Industrialized
Countries," Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 46(05): 101-105,
February 07, 1997.
18. Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center Study, Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, August 1999
19. Miller and Cohen, Textbook of Penetrating Trauma, 1995; American
Academy of Pediatrics, 2000; Journal of American Medical Association,
June 1995; Annals of Internal Medicine, 1998
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The U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that only one percent of the estimated 200 million privately-owned firearms in the U.S. -- owned by over 90 million people -- is ever linked to a crime . And fedgov is NOT friendly to gun ownership AT ALL.
Even if 99% were linked to crime, the right to keep and bear arms would still exist.
Australia and Britain have near-total gun bans, and have experienced a 200% INCREASE in violent crime involving guns . Criminals feel a lot safer preying on the law-abiding and helpless.
The maps of homicides in U.S. cities vary almost none from year to year. The same neighborhoods, the same street, the same BLOCK. It's not the guns, it's the culture. A subculture of machoism and barbarity. It COULD be stopped, with truth-in-sentencing and closing the revolving prison doors on repeat violent offenders, but then people who want a socialist dictatorship without the possibility of resitance would have no statistics to use to impose a total ban, because that is the stated goal.
But keep pushing. You only THINK you see excessive gun violence. Wait until the call goes out, Mr. and Mrs. America, to turn them all in. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (who is licensed to carry a handgun in DC and in the halls of Congress) said if she could get that law passed, she would.
California tried it with semi-auto rifles. About two percent of owners obeyed. And that's loopy Left California.
Think about that. Think hard.
responses to your facts
1. first of all suicides make up over 1/2 of gun deaths [1], also for something to compair your deaths to, over 13 teenagers die per day from car accidents, 7 in cars that they were driving [2]
4. guns are used 65 more times to prevent a crime than to commit one[3]
5. 70% of these deaths are of people 17-20 during gang wars[7], also most violent crimes are commited by males 16 to 25[7]
6. irrelevant, the people in other countries just use a different way, such as hanging themselves or ODing on pills or something, if you want to commit suicide are you gonna decide that you wont because you dont have a gun on hand
7. makes sense, why would you steal a gun or use a friends gun to commit suicide, im willing to bet that if someone is going to hang themselves and already has adaquate rope in the home that they arent gonna steal/buy/borrow a rope
8. sorry but i think these numbers are false, you stated it was from a university of chicago study, did they just intervew people from chicago or from everywhere in the united states
9. however the murder rates between 18 states that had waiting periods to 32 states that had none, there was an insignificant difference in homicide rates[4]
10.there are different standards for saftey, i know that there is a "sporting purpose" point system for imported handguns and they have to have so many points for things such as being over a certain size, weight , having adjustable sights, not being in a small calliber but i dont recall a saftey part in that
12. 43,664 people died from car accidents in 2006 alone[5], also does your gun death statistic include gun uses out of self defense and criminals shot and killed by police officers? also i think that your people killed in war statistic might be a little under, is that only wars that the US has been involved in
13. suicides make up over 1/2 of gun deaths[1], over 13 teenagers die per day from car accidents, 7 in cars that they were driving[2]
15. 43,664 people died from car accidents in 2006 alone[5]
17. there are differences in culture between countries, also there are less guns in other countries because of more gun control , are you more likely to be killed by a car in a country that has a higher percent of the worlds cars than a country that has a lower percent of the worlds cars?
18. it makes sense that 72% of accidents, suicides, and suicide attempts are with guns that the people are normally around, also are you going to be more likely to be killed from a gun accident at the gun range from a gun that a family member that you regularly go to the gun range with or a different person at the gun range that you have only seen once
19. the medical cost of gun violence is only .16% of the united states' annual medical expendatures[6]
sources:
[1] National Vital Statistics Report - Deaths: Final Data for 1998,,Center for Disease Control July 24, 2000
[2] U.S. Department of Transportation's Fatality Analysis Reporting System, 2001
[3] Taking Dr. Gary Kleck’s estimate of 2.5 million gun defenses each year, divided by the FBI estimates of crimes committed with a firearm.
[4] Dr. Jens Ludwig , Dr. Philip J. Cook, Journal of the American Medical Association, August 2000
[5] http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/acc-inj.htm
[6] Shooting in the dark: estimating the cost of firearm injuries, Max W and Rice DP, Health Affairs, 1993
[7] FBI Uniform Crime Statistics, 1997
I could address each of those points one-by-one and disprove each and every one of them. But in particular, number four (4) made me laugh out loud. I quote:
"A gun in the home is 22 times more likely to be used in an unintentional shooting , than to be used to injure or kill in self-defense .
A gun in the home is 22 times more likely to be used in an unintentional shooting, a criminal assault or homicide , or an attempted or completed suicide than to be used to injure or kill in self-defense."
In the year 2006, there were 642 accidental deaths in the U.S. that resulted from the mishandling of a loaded firearm. This is the LOWEST number of accidental gun-related deaths since records have been kept in 1903.
In 1904, the rate of accidental death was 34 deaths per million citizens. The 2006 rate was 2 per million. If we're going to focus on children , the rate was about 1 per million. The rate of accidental gun related death has fallen 94%.
According to the most comprehensive study ever done on defensive gun use (DGUs) there are about 2.5 million DGUs per year in the U.S. and in over 90% of those DGUs the defender's firearm is never discharged.
There are considerably more DGU's than fatal firearm accidents and there are considerably more instances of felonious thugs dying at the hands of their armed victims than accidental deaths. Wow. I knew that anti-gunners posted contrived 'statistics' and 'studies' where everything that didn't support their position was disregarded, but number four just made me burst out in spontaneous laughter.
Oh, if you don't think I know what I'm talking about, try 'googling' the term 'firearm education ' and see who comes up number one in the world.
I honestly don't think tearing apart these 19 'facts' would be worthy of my time, but I could dismantle each and every one with referenced statistics.
All this information is extremely old for try to prove a point. Why don't you tell us how dangerous Nazis are from all the 1940s data you have? Likewise most of these statistics are biased, produce by biased sources from biases questions.
Also, according to the FBI crime reports as Americans stock up on guns , violent crime has been dropping for over a decade...
If any of those "facts" are true, they miss the point. The problem has nothing to do with the gun. The problem has to do with who has a gun and what they do with it. Nothing in this realm will get any better until the source of the problem is addressed. The source is not the problem. The source is people that use or handle inappropriately. Deal with them.
Anything can be made deadly. It depends on who has it and how they use it. Car? Plane? Boat? Bomb? Knife? Hammer? Baseball bat? Screw driver? Humans are one of the few species that take joy in killing and torture . If there were no guns , humans would continue to do what they do.
Claim: A gun in the home is 22 times more likely to be used in an unintentional shooting , than to be used to injure or kill in self-defense
False: This claim is based on a thoroughly refuted study. Further, it assumed that a firearm must be discharged and cause injury or death to be succesfully used for defense.
Claim: 5 children were killed every day in gun related accidents and suicides committed with a firearm, from 1994-1998.
False: To get that figure requires age groups legally considered adults. Also, that data is way out of date.
5 per day = 1825 per year.
According the CDC's WISQARS tool, for ages 0 thru 17:
From 94-98 there were 5244 such deaths or 2.8 per day.
For 2006, the most recent data, there were 473 such deaths or 1.3 per day.
In response to point 4, a firearm does not need to kill or injure to do its job. In most cases, just the sight or sound of a firearm is enough to end the conflict.
in my city alchohol is banned, the city is very safe, but todays newspaper there was a strange news.
A bullet grazed a man in a very residential locality.
It is middle class locality and no they cannot afford guns since it is banned a gun costs above of 60000 bucks(120$ and thats for a .22), and that is most of their annual income . (unless you want to blow of your hand there are cheaper stuff)
The forensics came in and found the bullet and are not trying to find from where it was fired.
The man has not enemies that he knows of atleast.
SO much for banned guns.
Another story from my country, a man sees another man kicking a dog mercilessly. He intervenes politely. The man kicking the dog tells him to F off. The other man realises he has messed with the wrong person so he apologizes profusely and tells the other man to continue what he was doing and again repeated "I was only requesting you, I felt pity for the dog no anger for you".
But that was not enough the man says "wait here" and he goes into a nearby "religious place" and comes out to man who has had not gone anywhere (as some passerby and held him up and were telling him "why do you want to simply fight with such people".) and shoots him thrice in the stomach.
No witnesses even thought it was a crowded street.
The man dies(for a dog imagine!!)
So much for banned guns.
Now my story, I was in a fight once and the person looked like he was pulling out a gun, I told him, "First rule of a gun only point at some if you intend to shoot it or else I am going draw quicker that you and shoot at you, you might also shoot me but you will also get shot"
The worst part I did not have a gun with me(Did I mention guns are banned in my country) I just bluffed and he fell for it.
Another story my friend got into trouble once and was called to "compromise" but the news was they were going to beat him up there.
Another common friend had lighter that looked exactly like a revolver.
My friend takes that Fake gun with him and when he is entering the permises to "talk" with them. He takes out his fake gun wrapped in a handkerchief(thats was thugs do so that they do not get their prints or others prints on the gun when giving it to someone, but my friend wrapped so that they would not see the nozzle on top where the flame came out.) and simply hands it to his friend and tells him to wait outside.
The talks were all smooth and they never messed with him again.
So much for guns laws.
Now about guns in homes and kids using them wrongly.
Wow I don't see you blaming the violence that kids see everyday on tv that make them pick up any object resembling a gun and "mock shoot" it at their friends while playing.
Tommorrow if movies start showing how to make bombs with household articles at the rate at which they show a gun being fired, we would have to ban a lot of household articles and keep them out of the house.
If this is true that means only .0003314% of children exposed to guns are killed by them.
(5 children * 365 days * 4 years)/22,000,000