31,328 deaths and 70,000+ Injuries Not A Health Problem?
2April 23, 2015 by Chris Kite
Once again, the NRA is trying to lie about the facts. Gun deaths and injuries would seem to be a simple fact. Just count them up and you’ve got a total. Compare to previous history and you’ve got a trend.
Only the NRA and its mouthpieces decided to compare the current number of deaths to the worst year on record and come to the conclusion that there are less gun deaths. Compared to 1993, that is true. But the trend is also clear. Gun deaths peaked at 37,000+ in 1993. But since 2000 they have started to rise again. The deaths per capita is actually stable, but in any other industry, that would be considered a failure. Auto deaths? Hospital deaths? Children dying from toys? So 32,163 gun deaths in 2011 after 28,663 in 2000 sure seems like a bad trend to me.
The NRA doesn’t want doctors to exercise their first amendment rights. It appears the NRA and gun nuts are all for the constitution as long as it applies to their warped interpretation of the second amendment.
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
But please don’t tell us about the damage guns do. That would be bad for business!
http://thehill.com/opinion/letters/239436-treating-guns-as-public-health-issue-remains-wrong-headed
Elect2Care 
So 32,163 gun deaths in 2011 after 28,663 in 2000 sure seems like a bad trend to me.
Let’s see population of the USA in 2011 was 311,591,917. Population in 2000 was 281,421.906 – a 10.72% increase. Gun deaths increased 12.2% in the same time period. A slight increase and one no one wants, but hardly the huge increase that you are trying to portray.
It is pretty easy to cherry pick a point in time and say “see you are wrong” but that isn’t how statistics works and no one is saying that firearm related deaths are always going to decrease but historically they have been decreasing over time. That is called a trend – and it is a fact.
The NRA doesn’t want doctors to exercise their first amendment rights.
Nice straw man argument. What the NRA objects to is not doctor’s talking to their patients but doctors being forced to do so by law and patients being forced to answer by law. A big difference but I guess in trying to libel the NRA, accuracy doesn’t matter much, eh.
Bob S.
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Yes, statistics can be manipulated.
For example, while the population grew 10.72% from 2000 to 2011, many other “preventable” causes of death have decreased:
Auto deaths in 2000 = 41,945
Auto deaths in 2011 = 32,479
That is a decrease of 22.6%. It was achieved thru regulation, insurance industry involvement, and traffic laws and penalties. Including things like changing when young drivers can get their licenses and how often older drivers have to be tested.
Accidental toy deaths were at 17 in 2000 and 13 in 2010 (couldn’t find numbers for 2011). That is a decrease of 23.5%. Again, the government regulated toys, cracked down on manufacturers of unsafe toys, and huge lawsuits act as a major deterrent to making toys that kill kids.
Fire deaths in the US dropped from 3,420 in 2010 to 2,520 in 2011. That is a decrease of 26.3%. This was accomplished through building standards, mandatory smoke alarms in apartments in many areas, regulation of fire hazards like electrical appliances.
These are good examples of what can happen when government is allowed to look at solutions for health problems. But the NRA is not interested in deaths from guns. They are interested in manufacturers selling more guns and ammunition.
There have been no efforts to “force” doctors to talk about gun deaths. The efforts that the NRA has shut down have been efforts by groups like the AMA to recommend doctors talking to parents about guns in the house. Duh! Why shouldn’t doctors talk about protecting your child from that backyard pool, the staircase, medicines and chemicals, AND guns? Of course we don’t even have accurate measurements of accidental gun deaths for children because the NRA and the gun lobbyists fight every effort to study these tragedies.
I’m not opposed to people having guns. I am opposed to people having guns without training and without severe ramifications for misuse or improper storage.
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