Good News — Far Fewer Fatal Gun Accidents Than Ever
More guns, fewer fatal accidents — that’s the “take-away” from a report recently published by the National Shorting Sports Foundation (NSSF). We’re pleased to see that efforts to increase firearms safety are working. Even though the ranks of gun-owners have grown dramatically, the rate of unintentional firearms fatalities (per 100,000 persons) has dropped to an all-time low.
There has been a huge decrease in accidental gun-related fatalities over the last century (measured as a percentage of the population). NSSF reports: “The 2012 Center for Disease Control and Prevention WISQARS accidental fatality data shows the lowest number of unintentional firearm-related fatalities per year ever reported (going back to 1903)”. As Dean Weingarten of Gun Watch explains: “The accidental fatal firearm rate has dropped by 94% since we started keeping statistics, even though the total number of firearms per capita has likely at least doubled. You need to look at the rates — accidental firearm fatalities per 100,000 population — to see the stunning reduction in the last century.”
Only 0.4% of unintentional fatalities now involve firearms. The biggest killer, to our surprise, is poisoning, which accounts for 28.4% of accidental deaths. Motor vehicles, not unexpectedly, rank second at 27.3% (see chart below). Even suffocation, at 4.9%, accounts for 12 times more unintentional deaths than firearms.
GET NSSF REPORT HERE: DOWNLOAD NSSF Firearms-related Industry Safety Report.
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Tags: Accidental Death, CDC, Fatalities, NSSF
The first thing I asked myself was, “What’s the definition of ‘unintentional’ as used in the report?” While I was unable to find that “definition”, I confirmed my expectations as to what was not included.
See –
“10 Leading Causes of Injury Deaths by Age Group Unintentional Injury Deaths, United States – 2012″ – http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/pdf/leading_causes_of_injury_deaths_highlighting_unintentional_injury_2012-a.pdf
“10 Leading Causes of Injury Deaths by Age Group Highlighting Violence-Related Injury Deaths, United States – 2012″ – http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/pdf/leading_causes_of_injury_death_highlighting_violence_2012-a.pdf
Note the data for age groups 5-9 thru 25-34, especially age group 15-24. I will not repeat the numbers here so there is no chance you think there was a typo.
The only “offset” to the CDC data is that they apply to a country with a population exceeding 313 million for the year reported.
Data for earlier years are available at http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/leadingcauses.html
Anti gunners will site the ammo shortage, hence a new legislative battle will ensue.
There also happens to be 253 million cars and trucks on the road in the US alone!
Would accidental Poisoning entail drug overdose