Quote Originally Posted by Samurai Jack
Sorry it's taken me so long to respond. I've been out of the country. Here are some quotes, and thier sources:



Below is a chart showing the rates of accidental gunshot deaths between the years 1993 and 2002. Note the fact that these individuals were police, government agents, and military who shot and killed themselves or a by-stander in the course of doing thier jobs. These statistics do not include either gulf war, for obvious reasons.

http://www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/tables/sh20040903ar01t1.htm



So there you go. Some statistics and comments from our governement, the National, and International Crime Victim surevey (used by law enforcement to track trends in crime), Scientific American, and the New England Journal of Medicine.
Thanks for all the data. I have to admit I see some weaknesses in the way the data are interpreted in the reporting, but it is something we'll likely have to agree to disagree on. The fact is that the base rates for accidental shooting deaths are extremely low. 175 over a 10 year period, many of which occurred in occupations where firearms were regularly carried is not very many. Further, if 50% of American homes contain firearms then it is erroneous to claim, as one of the above mentioned authors do, that "most of these weapons inflict injuries on the owners and their families." Clearly most of these weapons are never used in any violent way whatsoever. Including data on intentional suicides is just a way to inflate the numbers, as it is irrelevant to the topic of accidental injuries and fatalities. Anyway, yes firearms can pose a danger. Certainly lots of people buy guns and store them unsafely in homes with kids, etc... and I would never advocate any of that. However, you'll note in looking at my original quote that I was specifically referring to people who legally carry firearms, as in those with concealed carry permits who have gone through the required training and people who are otherwise permitted to carry firearms. I suppose these people would fall into the 175 work related accidental firearm fatalities, which again, is not very many given that the data included police officers and such. Data on injuries and fatalities related to guns are some of the most manipulated data there are - both sides of the fence (the gun owner people and the gun control people) have their extreme supporters and both are certainly guilty of skewing the stats in their favor. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle and is basically common sense.