Quote:
Originally Posted by bernardos70
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We're talking about a tool which has the purpose of killing/injurying people. It should be taken seriously.
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2007 Data:
Deaths and Mortality
(Data are for the U.S.)
Number of deaths: 2,423,712
Death rate: 803.6 deaths per 100,000 population
Life expectancy: 77.9 years
Infant Mortality rate: 6.75 deaths per 1,000 live births
Number of deaths for leading causes of death:
Heart disease: 616,067
Cancer: 562,875
Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 135,952
Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 127,924
Accidents (unintentional injuries): 123,706
Alzheimer's disease: 74,632
Diabetes: 71,382
Influenza and Pneumonia: 52,717
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 46,448
Septicemia: 34,828
—In 2007, motor-vehicle traffic-related injuries
resulted in 42,031 deaths, accounting for 23.0 percent of all injury
deaths
—In 2007, 31,224 persons died from firearm injuries in the
United States, accounting for 17.1 percent of all injury
deaths that year. Firearm suicide at 55.6 percent and homicide at
40.5 percent were the two major component causes of all firearm injury
deaths in 2007
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Right at 1/2 of 1% of the deaths in the US in 2007 was caused by Firearm homicide. I don't think you can add in the firearm suicide because suicide is suicide and they would do it with something else regardless of the laws. Also, not sure how many less of the 12,646 death in homicides there would be, even if there were no such things as guns.
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Cars on the other hand cause ~ 4 times more deaths in the US - and yet elderly, drunk, drugged, mentally ill, minors, etc all drive -- even though there are some laws against it.
WHERE IS ALL THE OUTRAGE? I mean when 4 times more people every year are killed on the roads, WHY AREN'T WE MAKING MORE LAWS AGAINST driving? WHY aren't we eliminating the ability to drive? Why isn't driving the major factor we are up in arms about? Shouldn't we do backgroud checks before a car is sold? How about one each time you fuel up, and no more than 100 gallons at a time being sold? Shouldn't we have the government invent a system for car traffic control like they have for air traffic where they can automate the movement in and around major metropolitan areas?
ANSWER Hipocrisy..................
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If you want a little history -- in the 11 years we were in Vietnam
Hostile deaths: 47,359
Non-hostile deaths: 10,797
Total: 58,156 (including men formerly classified as MIA and Mayaguez casualties).
On American Highways
1964 45,645
1965 47,089
1966 50,894
1967 50,724
1968 52,725
1969 53,543
1970 52,627
1971 52,542
1972 54,589
1973 54,052
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So why is this an issue?
If you want to be safe -- stop getting out on US highways.
If you want to be safe -- start worrying about your health and eating habits. (maybe we should be going after McDonalds, and fast food?)
Guns are so far down on the list it isn't funny -- they are just sensationalized by the media to produce fear so they can gain more power through fear and make more money on a story.
** Oh, and guns are not just a tool to kill people... they are a tool. People use them though for many things (hunting, plinking, putting holes in things, etc) which includes killing of people for both the WRONG and the right reasons. Sorry, but it is a good tool to have if some drugged out cartel stooge is trying to rape my daughter. It is a good tool to have if I am trying to stop someone who's intention is to kill someone else. It is a tool - period.
I don't need one more law or my name on one more government list allowing the government to know who has and doesn't have guns.