Speaking of suicides, having a gun in the house increases the chance of a suicide by 5x(A). Between 1993 and 1997, an average of 1400+ kids and teens committed suicide with guns(B).
In 1999, there were only 154 justifiable homicides by private citizens(C). At the same time, 30,000+ thousand were killed by guns; 12,000+ by homicide alone(D). Seem like a good trade off to you?
Handguns have one purpose: to kill. I've never seen someone turn a log on a fire with a handgun. You come at me with a poker, I've got a good chance. You come at me with a gun, and I'm dead.
Gunshot wounds are the second leading cause of injury death to men and women between 10-24, behind only traffic accidents(E). Your chances of being murdered increase three fold if you have a gun in the house(F).
For every self-justified shooting (self defense), there are 22 shooting deaths from suicide, homicide, and accident(G).
(A) Kellermann, AL Rivara FP, Somes G, et al. Suicide in the home in relation to gun ownership. N Engl J Med. 1992;327:467-472.
(B) Calculated by the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence from mortality data obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Available at: wonder.cdc.gov.
(C) Crime in the United States, 1999. Washington DC. Federal Bureau of Investigation. 2000.
(D) Center for Electronic Records. National Archives.
(E) cdc.gov
(F) Kellermann, AL, Rivara, FP, Rushforth NB, et al. Gun ownership as a risk factor for homicide in the home. N Engl J Med. 1993;329:1084-1091.
(G) Kellermann AL, Somes G, Rivara FP, et al. Injuries and deaths due to firearms in the home. The Journal of Trauma. 1998;45:263-267. |
