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Do guns get more attention than they deserve?

Total gun deaths on average in recent years-35,000 per year.
Of those 62% are suicides leaving 13,300. Of those 64% are justified, officer involved,self defense, home invasion...etc leaving 4788. Of those its estimated at least 50% are crime on crime deaths leaving 2394. So if your NOT a criminal your just as likely to die in a fire, twice as likely from aids, fourteen times as likely from a fall or suffocation. Of those 2394 17% were mass shootings where automatic assault weapons were used leaving 400. Your one and half times as likely to be beaten to death with a blunt object, four times from being stabbed, or FIVE HUNDRED times more likely to die from a MEDICAL ERROR than from dying In mass shooting from an automatic weapon.

Tobacco cost taxpayers billions and kills a human every 60 seconds (500,000 per year) and cost taxpayers billions each year in medical cost and nobody hardly says a word. All this could easily be prevented without stepping on the constitution. When there are so many other preventable deaths out there why does the media and everybody else get fixated on guns???

Bucky12 5 Nov 29
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11 comments

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0

Because the liberals especially people like Obama and Clinton are gun control nuts and are intent on stripping us of our 2nd amendment rights through the appointment of liberals judges to the US Supreme Court. Hell 4 judges on the Supreme Court already believed the 2nd amendment did not apply to private citizens. With the election of Trump and the appointment of Neil Gorsush that has been averted.

0

Dear Mr. NRA 😉

I live in the UK, and we find your lack of gun control absolutely bizarre. "Total gun deaths on average in recent years - 35,000 per year". I think that says it all. I'm glad I live where I do 🙂

In England the crooks have more rights than you do. If someone bigger and stronger than you chooses to beat the crap out of you and take everything you have there’s not much you can do about it. Here in the US you can shoot them.

@Trajan61 Others have responded to me in a similar way and my conclusion is that you just don't get it because you live in a society where shooting someone in response to threatening behaviour is considered normal. I'm also not surprised that there so many are getting killed by police when everyone is able to carry a gun. Your answer (and that of your fellow countrymen) seems to be "more guns".

If someone were to break into my house and steal my stuff, then the trauma of being robbed would be tiny compared to the trauma of killing them. And I have insurance.

0

No.

It is one of the reasons I will never visit the US.

You don't have a gun unless you intend to use it.

0

The thing that is far more dangerous than guns is the mentality of the gun lobby and the power of big business in government. In 1996, the gun lobbyists and republicans passed legislation preventing the CDC from conducting research on gun violence. You cannot have any "proof" that gun violence is not a problem until that law is repealed and we investigate gun violence outright. If only the tobacco and asbestos people had thought to do that, huh?

[washingtonpost.com]

1

The answer is HELL NO! Cultures which limit access to guns have only a small fraction of the murders and suicides that we do. THAT is the important fact. Specifically, when Australia implemented strict gun control the results were astounding

If it were up to me, I would ban all pistols, assault weapons, and both semi-automatic and automatic weapons. I own a rifle and a shotgun, and that is all I will ever need, as I do not intend to kill anyone.

I apppreciate your opinion wordywalt. I conceal carry daily because of my circumstances and I don't intend on killing anyone either but I'm not gonna get caught empty handed. I personally don't believe a gun ban in the US is going to change the the bad guy shooting the good guy rate enough to constitute banning all weapons. I believe a ban could even make it go up. The law abiding citizen will be the only ones without a weapon. I have a friend who is a captain of twenty nine years in my hometown police department who generalizes homocide as 95/5 meaning 95% of the time it's one criminal killing another and the other 5%Is usualy domestic disputes among family members. He always says if you wanna fight crime, buy ammo and throw it out on twentieth street. All that being said my question was aimed more at why does the media and public pay MORE attention to the mouse in one corner and ignore the elephants in the other three.

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Better question is why is sensible gun reform a no go to the right wing. Everything else in the country is regulated for safety, but guns don't kill, people do.

I like your statement guns don't kill, people do.

1

I am not a gun owner. In fact, I haven't fired a weapon since I left the marines. With that preface, I am all for checks and waiting periods. People that are going to commit crime, are going to commit the crime of acquiring a gun if we make it illegal. Now. I believe these statistics are accurate...I have looked them up a few times when doing gun debates. A much more interesting thing to notice is when these things take place. I think we have heightened stress within our nation and the world at the moment. Probably 25 hours of news a day adds to the stress.

Stats are as close as I could get. You can't get consistent answers on anything related to causes of death. Gun violence.org has some on guns and the CDC on health issues. Your last statement is right to my point though. 25 freakin hours a day.

The gun people have made it impossible for an authoritative body to study gun violence. That is absolutely wrong.

[washingtonpost.com]

Gun owners feel their rights are guaranteed by the 2nd amendment. Of course they ignore the "well regulated" part. The one thing that is NOT guaranteed is the right to stop money to the CDC and NIH to research gun violence. To me, it proves they can't handle the truth and don't want others to know about it.

0

“If you’re not a criminal, youre just as likely to die in a fire, 14 times from a fall” (obviously)

The question isn’t what is the chance you will die, by accident with a gun, it’s WHY IS there so much crime and accidents involving guns? (Homicides, suicides, mass murders, accidents )

And I want to know where you got the statistics that 64% of the 13,000 is JUSTIFIED

So assuming your correct, there is STILL 4,788, on average, which includes crime deaths involving a gun and accidental deaths involving a gun. STILL a problem that is fairly bad.

And I know I’m nitpicking but 17 percent of 2394 is 407, leaving 1,987 accidental gun deaths, not 400.

2

More importantly, what is your source for all these statistics?

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Scholars don’t argue that mass shooting make up most of the gun deaths, although the sheer amount of mass shootings and frequency in which they occur are indeed unique to the United States. We (smart people) know semi automatic weapons aren’t the weapon that contribute to the most deaths. It’s the handgun. We know they make up the most of the deaths. It’s the fact that people are deligitimizimg the rest of the deaths in those crime situations and suicides and police situations. We have a gun culture that is unique to anywhere in the world and our lack of common sense regulations(back ground checks, closing loopholes, restrictions on magazines) is contributing to an unnecessary amount of preventable deaths. True- criminals will get guns anyway they can. But if there is a way to hinder their ability to access them at least a LITTLE bit- that’s a win.. responsible gun owner will still be able to get what ever they need to protect themselves or hunt or whatever. So what is the point of hyper-analyzing these gun statistics- just to rationalize that, oh gun deaths aren’t a big deal compared to medical malpractice or accidents or lung cancer? Everything is a big deal and everything needs to always be looked upon for ways in to improve society. Look to other countries for advice- japan on their policing methods- Portugal on their drug policies.. Canada on their healthcare.. improving society in these little intrigal ways builds the frame-work for people feeling happier, more free and in less fear

Sorry for grammar.

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The question isn't whether guns get more attention than they deserve, but rather why all of those other things on the list aren't getting the attention they deserve.

That's exactly what I was getting at. Why do you think " they " don't get attention?

Honestly, @Bucky12, I think it's because it's easier to think of them as more random. Accidents are easier to dismiss, for instance, because there's no intent behind them. It feels more like a violation when a gunman pulls a trigger than when a surgeon accidentally nicks an artery. I'm not saying I agree with it, though; I think we should take serious measures to reduce accidental deaths as well — but that doesn't mean I think gun violence isn't worth of our attention, too.

Sometimes it seems to me that the public focuses on the mouse in the room rather than the elephants.

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