According to New York City’s Chief Medical Examiner, 2,750 death certificates were issued for those who died in the World Trade Center attack.
According to data from death certificates collated by the Centers for Disease Control, more than one-quarter of 1993 deaths due to homicide, suicide, and accidental injury involved the use of firearms (28 percent). Another 26 percent of deaths due to these causes involved motor vehicles.
Annual U.S. deaths by firearms in 1993 (last date on the web): 39,000. These figures exclude deaths of persons under 15 years of age and deaths in South Dakota, which did not participate. Perhaps someone knows how many children died by gunshot that year.
Emergency medical statisticians say you can figure on three severe disabilities for each fatality, or 117,000 per year.
Firearms regulation is a public health measure. Until the federal government takes responsibilty for the health of its citizens, regulation of firearms is well within the purview of state and local governments.
(Souce: U.S. Centers for Disease Control)
Top image by Mike Licht. Download a version here. Creative Commons license. Credit: Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
March 18, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Great graphics, I agree that firearm regulation is a public health issues, but the debate is much more comprehensive. This is another view: http://sethandray.wordpress.com/2008/03/07/the-2nd-amendment-of-the-us-constitution-the-debate/
March 18, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Sethandray:
The public health issue must predominate; the personal self-protection issue is a complete fantasy. There are only about 160 legal self-defense shootings in the U.S. each year by civilians, a statistically negligible number.
The last thing law enforcement professionals want is a bunch of amateur, untrained vigilantes in our communities. Handguns in homes mean dead children and wives, and men killing wives and children before committing suicide. It means sworn police officers will be confronted by armed men when they intervene in domestic calls (full disclosure: I am from a law enforcement family).
Sworn police officers are trained in use of handguns and under the command and control of law; they overwhelmingly support handgun control laws. It is only elected sheriffs and elected DAs whoring after easy votes and campaign contributions — knowing they will not personally face armed, drunk, angry spouses — who want everyone to have handguns (pardon my emotion on this issue — too many police wakes).
I have posted on other aspects of this case and will do so again, but the fact that 39,000 Americans die and 117,000 are seriously incapacitated by firearms in this county every year must remain foremost in any discussion. Local jurisdictions and states must determine how best to save lives of their citizens; this cannot be decided by gun-happy strangers who live thousands of miles away. DC has enough unique challenges without suffering the whims of those who don’t live, vote, and pay taxes here.
See previous posts and reponses from gun enthusiasts at
http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2008/03/11/a-real-capper/
http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2008/02/24/president-cheney-of-the-senate/
http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2008/02/22/backfire-indeed/
http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2008/02/22/gun-case-brief-backfires/
http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2008/01/24/virginia-gun-show-privacy/
http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2008/01/22/gun-show-show-and-tell/
http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2008/01/21/anything-goes-gun-shows-in-virginia/
- Mike