Guns Kill More People Than Car Accidents In 14 US States

[SecularMotion]

Source: International Business Times

Firearm-related deaths in the United States are expected to surpass the number of traffic fatalities by 2015, according to at least one recent study. In some states, that is already the reality.

In fact, it’s the case in at least 14 states across the country, Mother Jones reported on Monday. The publication, using information compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, determined that in 2010 – the most recent year for which data is available – nine states experienced more gun than vehicle accident deaths. In an even more grisly revelation, gun suicides alone outnumbered traffic deaths in five states – Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Utah.

Those figures are striking, considering the statistics. Someone in the U.S. dies about every 15 minutes in a motor vehicle crash, the CDC estimates. Those accidents are currently the leading cause of death for individuals between the ages of 5 and 34.



Read more: http://www.ibtimes.com/guns-kill-more-people-car-accidents-14-us-states-1119072

[graham4anything]

1. It goes without saying. Working for bullet free streets in America one day at a time

all guns are born legal.

No gun saves anything
All guns are born to kill and born to have something die

All for a cult of the gun and bullet.

[cantbeserious]

5. Agree Completely - America's Gun Culture Must End

eom

[mwrguy]

76. Amen

I concur absolutely.

[Kolesar]

2. 22 veterans kill themselves every day

That was on 60 Minutes on March 3.

[michreject]

4. Get rid of those pesky guns

Then the suicide rate will drop to zero.

[AtheistCrusader]

37. Really? How will that prevent suicide by hanging?

That's the next most effective method used in the US. (Pills/overdose are at the bottom of the effectiveness scale)

There are dozens of ways that you can, and people DO use every day, which would require getting rid of the laws of physics to completely prevent.

[booley]

55. it's a matterof lethality

I am not sure about hanging being the most effective. That's the first I've heard about this.

BUT I do know that guns are incredibly effective for suicide since they are quick, easy to use and with almost no margin of error, increase the odds for a successful suicide.

A lot of people rethink their suicide while it's occurring. Guns provide no time for that.

This is also one reason why men tend to be more successful at suicide. They are more likely to use guns.

http://lostallhope.com/suicide-methods/statistics-most-lethal-methods

[AtheistCrusader]

60. Hanging is the *second* most effective behind firearms.

I meant it would then be the most effective, if you take guns off the table.
Firearms being around ~90% effective, hanging/strangulation being ~65% effective.

(Men also tend to shoot themselves in the head, where women tend to shoot themselves in the chest. Not sure if there are any sociological studies on why the two behaviors, but shooting yourself in the chest can be somewhat more survivable. I would suspect there is a measurable trend delta between men and women on the caliber of firearm, which will relate to the lethality of the wound)

The numbers in the site you linked are way different from the CDC...

Harvard did a study based on CDC data (which I have used the numbers for, above)
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/hicrc/firearms-research/gun-ownership-and-use/


(hanging http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/means-matter/bibliography/intent-lethality-and-method-choice-bibliography/ )

[booley]

65. a 25% drop seems pretty significant

I'm willing to accept those numbers.

So there is reason to think that access to guns increases the odds of a successful suicide. I dont' see why hangings would suddenly become more effective if guns are removed as a factor.

and yes I understand michreject was saying something off the wall and that was what you were responding too

[AtheistCrusader]

68. Yep, I agree.

Access to guns increases the odds of a successful suicide.

I don't know what to do about that, because the proposals on the table now, like an AWB, don't impact the firearms in any meaningful way that would reduce that. A single-shot weapon is sufficient to accomplish the job.

Edit: Increases the odds in two dimensions, for lethality, and spontaneous availability.

[Mojorabbit]

72. A razor blade can be mighty effective also. nt

[mountain grammy]

3. But, if we don't keep records of gun deaths, they don't really happen...

do they? That's been the mantra of the NRA for years.

[hack89]

10. The FBI keeps very good records of gun deaths

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/ucr

[mountain grammy]

12. A "good" record of gun crime, but accidental and self inflicted gun incidents, not so much.

[hack89]

13. The CDC keeps those records.

you are conflating two separate issues. The NRA got Congress to pass laws restricting the CDC's ability to do studies on gun violence. Those laws had no impact on the CDC's ability to collect data.

Here is the 2010 CDC report on Deaths in America. Read the Data Sources and Methods section to see where the data comes from.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr60/nvsr60_04.pdf

[Hassin Bin Sober]

15. Why the hell would Congress pass laws restricting......

.....the CDC's ability to do studies on gun violence?


What possible reasoning could they use?

[hack89]

17. Because of the NRA. Fortunately the president has reversed that law

through executive order.

[Doctor_J]

36. Because the NRA has completely run amok

they own a huge portion of our "representatives". If they were asked to fellate LaPierre on the floor of the house, you'd get to see on CSPAN about 400 grown-ups crawling around on their knees

[LanternWaste]

66. Bad commercial branding for their products.

"What possible reasoning could they use?"

Bad commercial branding for their products. Science often does that to our sacred cows (think tobacco, too). I think it was in '95 or '96 that two GOP congressmen bought by the NRA removed from the CDC budget the precise amount of money that was being used to fund into gun-related deaths (or is it "people-using-guns related deaths" being more PC among the dogmatic these days...?).

The negative perception of the studies done to that point by the CDC was used as evidence that the CDC was trying to "eliminate" guns. The NRA was successful at de-funding a study concerned with a national health issue.


And yet we still have a handful of posters who believe that the NRA is indeed, a "necessary evil" (as was posted in Meta last month). Dogmatic idiots.

[mountain grammy]

20. Well, to some extent they do, but the NRA has their dirty hands in this also

http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/01/14/blackout-how-the-nra-suppressed-gun-violence-research/

[hack89]

22. Your link confirms what I just told you.

The CDC collects data from many sources. There were limited in their ability to use that data. But the data is there for all to see.

[mountain grammy]

28. Not so, you read the article!

[AtheistCrusader]

39. I read it.

Talks specifically about cutting funding for research. Nothing about preventing collection of raw data, not at the CDC, not at the FBI/USDoJ, and not at the NCIPC. All entities still collect raw data on injuries and deaths related to firearms.

[mountain grammy]

45. underfunded to collect data, forbidden to report it or make any conclusions.

There ya go, plenty of "raw data," but maybe they could've educated "responsible gun owners" like Nancy Lanza.
Ask yourself: Are you a "resonsible gun owner" like Nancy Lanza? Maybe you have a child or unstable person in your home or neighborhood who knows you have weapons. Maybe Nancy even locked up her weapons, and her son forced her to unlock them. We may never know, but we do know children shoot themselves or their friends. What we don't know is how often that happens. Maybe some CDC reports could enlightened and educate us. Or maybe, you would just prefer we stay ignorant and armed to the teeth.

[AtheistCrusader]

47. The data collection costs pretty much nothing, because the states collect it and report up

to the various federal agencies that require it.

Yes, I am a responsible gun owner. I keep my guns in a safe. Well, two, since they won't fit in one. I also keep my oxy-acetylene torch heads in that safe, so someone breaking into my garage won't find the tools necessary to crack into the safes. I also have measures that will notify the police if I am not home, and entry to the home is forcibly gained. Etc.

I have a kid. Keeping my firearms locked in a safe place is pretty much mandatory, since I love my kid.

No Lanza's in my house. Not today, not ever.

[mountain grammy]

61. What can I say? You have all the answers. I'm sure Nancy thought she did too.

[AtheistCrusader]

63. Apparently she didn't secure her guns at all.

And for that a lot of people died.

[caseymoz]

6. What? Cars don't kill people.

Incompetent drivers kill people. The solution here is obvious. We need more cars on the road.

[Ikonoklast]

24. Licensing laws for motor vehicles are too stringent, we need to relax them.

Anyone that wants to drive should have the right to do so with no interference from teh eeeebil gubbamint.

[caseymoz]

30. I've heard radical conservatives actually say that.

A Texas secessionists, when asked what would change under an independent Texas, mentioned vehicle licensing as the first priority. Licenses violated rights, because licenses were to allow something that was otherwise a tort, a trespass or illegal. He thought the state should issue a "Certificate of Competence."

So, our comedy bit is old. Conservative loons have already covered it in depth.

[roxy1234]

70. Wrong comparison

Anyone who can afford a car can buy one. Registering and licensing is only necessary if u want tp drive it on public roads. So unlike cars, u need a check to buy a gun even if you dont ever plan on taking it out of your property.

So control of guns is still more stringent than control on cars.

[Ikonoklast]

75. Nonsense. You need to title a vehicle, pay a transfer tax, sales tax, etc, even if you never

drive it on a city street, or else whoever's name is on that title can claim it off of your property.

I can buy a long gun just by showing ID, and if it's from a private owner, legally purchase and show nothing in the way of ID at all.

[L0oniX]

33. Well ...at least cars are safer these days ...oh wait ...hmmm ...was that figured in the op?

Agenda based skewed stats and reframing seem to be the norm these days.

[AtheistCrusader]

40. Fatalties are certainly down, for both firearms and cars.

Due in large part to medical advances in trauma care and EMT response times, but also in safety advances in both cars and firearms.

The accidental gunshot deaths have been, in my lifetime, in the 900's nationwide, and fatalities related to cars in the 44-45k's. Now the accidental fatalities related to guns hover around 500 per year, and traffic fatalities below 40k.

[valerief]

7. Gungeoneers will say it's because they're safe drivers in those states.

[onehandle]

11. And they'll doubt the accuracy of the data.

Math is hard.

[hack89]

8. So your graph counts gun suicides twice

because there were only 14,748 deaths due to murder and manslaughter in 2010.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/tables/10tbl01.xls

On edit: there were 8,775 murders by firearms in 2010

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/tables/10shrtbl08.xls

[hack89]

9. Thanks. A very strong indictment of the state of mental health care in America.

time for a single payer system with full mental health coverage.

[TheCowsCameHome]

14. Calling Orville Redenbacher.

This is gonna require a huge batch.

[sinkingfeeling]

16. And every car in use is registered. Not so with the guns.

[AtheistCrusader]

41. Not true.

Only automobiles that are used on public roads, which, not all are.

[askeptic]

46. Oh, is driving listed in the Bill of Rights?

No? May be not quite a comparison...

[sinkingfeeling]

49. Missed the word 'regulated' did you?

[askeptic]

57. Missed the words Shall not be infringed, did you?

[sinkingfeeling]

62. Oh, so infringed upon!! Asking somebody to register something!! Lord have mercy!!

[askeptic]

69. If you want money as well, absolutely. Why not register to exercise free speech?

It's ONLY registration! How could that possibly infringe free speech?

The "regulate" word is associated with militia - not the keep and bear arms part, so I think you are seriously misreading the Constitution to suit your agenda.

[sinkingfeeling]

74. And, I , sir think the same of you.

[booley]

77. can you kill people with words?

That might be a fundamental difference between a fire arm and free speech. As well as why the regulation of one would differ from regulation of the other.

(and no someone acting on those words is not the same.)

Though to be accurate, we do regulate certain forms of speech through "registration". Radio and TV stations all have to be licensed and assigned a frequency.

The point being that we can and do regulate rights when done in the narrowest possible way to satisfy a legitimate government interest.

Reducing the number of people murdered seems a legitimate government interest.

The "regulate" word is associated with militia - not the keep and bear arms part,...

And yet the militia part is right there in the same sentence as the "bearing arms " part. In fact the militia part leads into the other "bearing arms" part.

So either the militia does have something to do with bearing arms.. or the founding fathers all sucked at English grammar.

Yes I make grammatical mistakes too. But if I was writing a legal document that would define a national government, I would make sure to get the thing checked.

[Doctor_J]

18. There goes one talking point

there is still the baseball bat problem

[hack89]

23. Baseball bats are not used for suicides

but I am sure that someone can come up with a dishonest graph like the OP to twist it someway.

[JayhawkSD]

19. Which means that cars cause more deaths than guns in 36 states. So?

[raging moderate]

21. Wait a minute.

Some traffic deaths are actually suicides. Shouldn't they also be in a separate column?

[AtheistCrusader]

42. Super difficult to prove.

Then again, same problem with some deaths in the accidental death column for firearms. Who's to say when some old guy sits down at the range after firing a few rounds, breaks out a can of breakfree, a rag, and shoots himself in the head, that it was an accident or a suicide intended to preserve life insurance payouts for the survivors?

In all likelihood, the accidental death number is much smaller than 500.

[zipplewrath]

25. What everyone misses

One could probably plot a very similar chart with respect to elevator deaths, and air passenger deaths. Strangely, what you'd probably find is that, on a per capita basis, elevators are the safest of the lot. The root conclusion there is that elevators have been heavily designed over the years to prevent death and injury. We are willing to put great burdens on elevator design and maintenance to ensure safety. Likewise with aircraft. Not so much with automobiles, but none the less auto safety design, as well as improved roadway design, we have advanced in auto safety.

Then there are firearms where we have huge arguments about trigger locks. Thank goodness the gun industry came up with the "safety" switch well before these arguments started.

I remember once a discussion amongst some product safety engineers about gasoline. They said it was a good thing cars were invented before agencies like the consumer product safety commission were formed. It'd be almost impossible to get a gasoline powered car approved these days unless it was design to run on about a half gallon of gasoline. The air pollution alone would kill it.

Same way with guns. No one would allow you to build them commercially these days in any form that we would recognize today. They will ultimately be killing more people than cars because we design guns to kill and we design cars to try NOT to kill. Ultimately, both efforts improve with time.

[liberal N proud]

27. Elevators don't kill people, people in elevators kill people.

[Paul E Ester]

26. Why only 14 states?

Does 50 states break the meme generator?

[L0oniX]

29. People are too stupid to wear seat belts in those states. n/t

[happyslug]

53. Because these states have good roads, and high gun ownership

It's little surprise that many of these states—including Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Utah, and Virginia—are notorious for lax gun laws. What's more, the numbers aren't driven just by "bad guys with guns." Nationally, close to two-thirds of gun deaths are suicides, and the split is much higher in states such as Alaska, which reported more than twice as many gun suicides as traffic deaths in 2010. Utah (the "most depressed" state, whose suicide problem we cover in detail here), Nevada, Oregon, and Washington are also seeing more gun suicides than traffic fatalities. Idaho, Montana, and others are close behind. We'll leave you with this chart showing the most recent nationwide numbers available:

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/03/state-map-gun-suicides-traffic-deaths

Alaska, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, Washington are seeing more suicide then traffic deaths (I suspect with the Dot-Com bust of 2000 leading to a lot of lay off middle age men, who can not find a job, this same group was the most likely to commit suicide in Russia in the 1990s, as they had a hard time finding jobs, much harder then younger people, and to young to retire). That these have some of best roads in the Country also drives down traffic related death rates.

I suspect a similar problems in Colorado, California and Arizona (Three states where suicides are BELOW traffic deaths, but total firearm deaths exceed traffic related deaths).

Missouri, Illinois, Ohio and Michigan, more the long term effect of de-industrialization. They did not participate in the Dot-Com Boom, but did participate in the Housing boom. de-industrialization has continued in the midwest, leaving more and more middle age men without employment. As I mentioned above, this is the group most likely to commit suicide, to young to retire, to old to pick up and move and be hired as a 20 something. This was the age group most likely to kill themselves during an economic upheaval, as seen in Russia in the 1990s, and in the industrial Mid West in the 1980s (and Much of the old dot-com areas since 2000).

Louisiana, I suspect is because of Katrina (and the lost of low income housing) and the fact many people go their to pick up their spirits, but stay in a sour mood and end up killing themselves there rather then back at home.

I suspect the North East is not in the list, due to increase pedestrian-automotive interaction and thus higher rates of motor vehicle related deaths. The South (outside Louisiana) has both a high rate of deaths by firearms, but also poor roads outside the interstates (and newer cities that tend to be non-walkable by design), thus the South has even higher auto death accident rates.

[Paul E Ester]

54. Very interesting the sad correlation between the economy and suicide.

Free trade, reaganomics, and corporate governance have real casualties.

The bodies quietly continue to pile up in the class war.

[truthisfreedom]

31. The only protection against a bad guy with a car...

Is a good guy with a gun. Apparently.

*sarcasm*

[L0oniX]

32. Relative to how much safer cars are today? There used to be about 45k auto accident deaths a year.

To put your figures in a more proper and balanced perspective you should have also posted the drop in auto accident deaths at least from over the last decade. It's like saying that the DOW is the highest its ever been ...with out figuring in inflation.

[hack89]

34. Car accidents kill more people than guns in 36 states

looks like we are focusing on the wrong problem. Thanks for pointing this out.

[Hoyt]

56. Fortunately, we don't have to pick just one to focus on. Besides, guns have few redeeming qualities

And the gun cultists really have to stretch to manufacturer those few redeeming qualities.

[askeptic]

35. ...and everyone KNOWS those suicides wouldn't happen without guns

- riiiight

[Remmah2]

38. The graphics are incorrect.

But who cares about the truth?

[Phillip McCleod]

43. wow gun nuts will go to any length to dismiss incovenient facts.

even here on this liberal site?

nuts.

really..

pro-gun? you're nuts.

and you will lose this debate in the end. we're coming for your ak's so bury 'em deep 'wingers.

[Eleanors38]

44. Workin' for the other side?

[Phillip McCleod]

48. no. holding the line far to the left of where it is now.

so more 'moderate' voices have some room to breathe.

you're welcome.

[Cali_Democrat]

50. Many of the gun nuts on this site

are actually Republicans.

[actslikeacarrot]

51. "and you will lose this debate in the end"

What debate? all it is is shit slinging and appeals to emotion/authority.

[DreamSmoker]

52. More Laws don't make anyone any safer..

Deadly Accidents happen every day..
This is like comparing Apples to Watermelons..

Its People shooting People with those Guns...
Killing people using a Gun is criminal..
If that Gun just disappeared suddenly???
Violent acts will not stop by Violent People..

here is an example:

Two Men Lose Legs in Strip Club Fight

http://ktla.com/2013/03/11/two-men-lose-legs-in-strip-club-fight/#axzz2NLTVKCVk

[Remmah2]

58. Laws create job security for lawyers.

[DreamSmoker]

59. Stop signs don't prevent People from running them..

Agreed..

Stop signs don't prevent People from running them at an intersection..

[Remmah2]

64. Don't need no stinkin STOP signs.

In the right neighborhood they'll steal them and sell them for the scrap aluminum.

[LanternWaste]

67. I'd imagine that should we remove all stop signs, traffic lights, speed limits, etc.

I'd imagine that should we remove all stop signs, traffic lights, speed limits, etc., we would become rather inconvenienced as drivers... to the point to which we may believe the lack of laws are restricting part and parcel of our freedom.

[onehandle]

71. States with more gun laws have less gun violence. nt

[booley]

78. what if they can't get the guns because of the law?

What if the law allowed the ATF to do surprise inspections of gun stores?

What if the law mandated that gun stores had to account for all of it's inventory so unscrupulous sellers doing straw purchases could be spotted out?

What if federal money could be used to determine which gun laws were effective and which were not so we could tweak the system to make it better?

What if we had universal back ground checks?

I think it may be possible that more laws could make people safer, depending on the law in question.

Also a pet peeve of mine is the " enforce the laws we have argument" since the same people pushing that meme are the same people lobbying to get rid of the guns we still have.

I know that's not part of what you said here. It's just a pet peeve of mine, a gaping blind spot in the gun laws debate.

[rrneck]

73. ...

[ileus]

79. Why do guns or cars kill people?

I'll never understand what they have against the human race.


Car's also hate small animals...

[Skittles]

80. guns hate small AND big animals