OT: Americans love their guns

[Lulu of the Lotus-Eaters]

|> LotLE> USA automobile deaths are ^43k/year
|> LotLE> USA gun-related deaths are ~29k/year
|>
|> Where did you get your number?   29k a year???  Don't believe it.  I
|> would guess the number to be somewhere in the 1000 to 2000 range.

Take a look at the US National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
(part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention):

    http://webapp.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/mortrate10.html

I do not seem to be able to create a direct URL, but on the form select
"Firearm" as the "cause or mechanism" of injury.  This produces 28,663
deaths for Y2000.  Incidentally, you can slice-and-dice the numbers
using this same form.

It is true, of course, that no all those deaths are homicides.  Most of
them are suicides, and many are accidents.  In other words EXACTLY what
I wrote in my original post.  FWIW, gun accidents don't happen to people
without guns (or at least w/o nearby people having them).  And suicides
attempted by gun succeed at a much higher rate than those done by other
means (and are much more likely to be attempted in the first place
because of the "convenience").

Yours, Lulu...

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