Gun Violence Statistics

[billh58]

http://smartgunlaws.org/category/gun-studies-statistics/gun-violence-statistics/

The United States experiences epidemic levels of gun violence, claiming over 30,000 lives annually, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For every person who dies from a gunshot wound, two others are wounded. Every year, approximately 100,000 Americans are victims of gun violence. In addition to those who are killed or injured, there are countless others whose lives are forever changed by the deaths of and injuries to their loved ones.

Gun violence touches every segment of our society. It increases the probability of deaths in incidents of domestic violence, raises the likelihood of fatalities by those who intend to injure others and among those who attempt suicide, places children and young people at special risk, and disproportionately affects communities of color.

Mass shooting tragedies like the school shootings at Virginia Tech in April 2007 and Northern Illinois University in February 2008 – or the 1993 office shooting in San Francisco that led to the formation of the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence – receive significant media attention. However, gun deaths and injuries in the U.S. usually occur quietly, without national press coverage, every day.

Just a few statistical highlights:

* In 2010,guns took the lives of 31,076 Americans in homicides, suicides and unintentional shootings. This is the equivalent of more than 85 deaths each day and more than three deaths each hour.

* Guns were used in 11,078 homicides in the U.S. in 2010, comprising almost 35% of all gun deaths, and over 68% of all homicides.

* Regions and states with higher rates of gun ownership have significantly higher rates of homicide than states with lower rates of gun ownership.

* The risk of suicide increases in homes where guns are kept loaded and/or unlocked.

* In the United States, over 1.69 million kids age 18 and under are living in households with loaded and unlocked firearms.

* Abused women are five times more likely to be killed by their abuser if the abuser owns a firearm.

* Once all the direct and indirect medical, legal and societal costs are factored together, the annual cost of gun violence in America amounts to $100 billion.

Click on the link for more statistics and information.

The NRA, and their apologists, claim that these statistics are "insignificant" and are not cause for the enactment of sensible gun control legislation and regulation. They counter any and all calls for sane steps to reduce gun violence with false cries of, "the Democrats want to take my guns," which is the NRA's main fear-inducing marketing tactic and is repeated by the right-wing gun lobby continuously.

Take action today, and make your Liberal Democratic voice be heard. Support a gun control organization of your choice, and insist that your local, state, and federal political representatives support sensible gun control measures.

[CTyankee]

1. And there is nothing anybody can do. We are all powerless.

We may have won WW2 and put a man on the moon but we can't solve this problem because stupid lawmakers can't write laws that are really "sensible" or "constitutional." They know nothing about guns because if they did they'd know, too, that it is impossible to impose ANY restriction ANYWHERE at ANYTIME that will make a whit of difference in gun violence AND not violate the 2nd A. And do you want us to be China?

Would you like to see my flashing chart that shows that gun violence has actually gone DOWN in the last 10 (or 5 or 2 or whatever) years, clearly demonstrating that your charts are all bullshit, made up by god knows who, people who don't know the ins and outs of all guns so how can they know what an assault weapon looks like and did I mention China?

Oh, and I'm a liberal. Did I tell you about the time I was an escort at an abortion clinic?

[billh58]

2. I refuse to believe that

"we are powerless," regardless of what Second Amendment absolutists claim. The NRA and the right-wing gun lobby can and will be marginalized and shown to be the un-American neoconservative cabal that they actually are.

It took the right-wing and the NRA several decades to bring us to this sorry state of Second Amendment absolutism, and it will take as long as it takes to reverse this public health menace on our society.

[CTyankee]

3. sorry, I should have added the sarcasm thingie...

just my lame try at "irony" here...sorry, I didn't mean it. I'm just so tired of all these whiners whose standard response is always "no can do" when it comes to regulating guns.
Which they hasten to add, they want to regulate "sensibly" too, but of course, sadly (sniffle) that never happens...I'm sick of them and their caterwauling and sorry ass excuses...buncha babies and jerks...

[billh58]

4. I knew that you

were being sarcastic, but you also outlined the NRA apologist position perfectly: 30,000 gun deaths annually is just the price we must pay for Freedom and Liberty!

[CTyankee]

5. Let's just keep throwing it back in their faces and maybe they'll realize the game is up

and come up with an entertaining new "excuse." They certainly aren't fooling anyone with their garbage...

[flamin lib]

6. The last paragraph says it all. Find and support a group with time energy and money.

The gun lobby has been at this for decades while supporters of curtailing gun violence have been isolated. The Brady organization and Handgun Control have been alone against the NRA, GOA, and a host of other gun and sporting organizations and industry lobby's.

At last we have Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Mothers Demand Action, Sandy Hook Promise, Americans for Responsible Solutions, Brady and others. There has been a tipping point. We have the numbers. It will take time. And energy. And money.

But Goddamit we're NOT GOING AWAY.

[billh58]

7. Exactly.

The tide is turning in favor of sanity and reason, and a new demographic of young enlightened Liberal Democrats is emerging. Contrary to NRA apologist claims, gun sales are falling and there are fewer gun owners with every survey.

Die-hard "cold-dead-hands" Second Amendment absolutists are buying multiple lethal weapons, and stockpiling arsenals because they actually believe that only they can defend our Freedoms against a tyrannical government who would confiscate all of their precious guns.

The times, they are a changing...