The statistic is grim and dramatic. More people died from gun shots in 2014 than from auto accidents. The good news, if there is any, is that auto deaths have been consistently dropping, so it isn’t that gun deaths are going up. But they also aren’t declining much.

Imagine if we put the same research, regulation, and training into guns that we put into cars! Auto deaths have declined because of many reasons. Cars are safer in many ways. They have bodies that are meant to disintegrate upon impact, rather than passing the impact onto the occupants of the vehicle. Airbags are widely prevalent. Safety features like anti-lock breaks and stability control have been introduced.

Licenses to drive are harder to get. Young drivers need more hours before they can be licensed. Older drivers must be tested more often. Drunk driving has decreased through strict laws and enforcement of those laws. Drive drunk and you are much more likely to lose your license.

Highways are safer. Commercial drivers must take breaks more frequently and cannot drive for as long a period of time as used to be common.

All of these things came about from constant studies and investigations and putting what we learned into practice.

Imagine if we learned from gun deaths the way we learn from auto deaths. Unfortunately, the NRA and it’s bought and paid for representatives won’t allow the government to research gun violence. Why? Simply put, they are worried the research will show a link between easy almost uncontrolled access to guns and gun deaths.

So while the news isn’t as grim as it might sound on the surface, it also isn’t very good. We try to decrease deaths from virtually every cause in our country except one. Gun deaths don’t seem to matter because it isn’t in the Gun Manufacturer’s best interest. Imagine if the airlines, auto industry, or health care industry could fight research into deaths where we would be today!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/12/18/how-gun-deaths-became-as-common-as-traffic-deaths/