A hard look at the facts about guns

To The Eagle:

Much ado on these pages when the county commissioners and sheriff reiterated the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

Let’s look at the numbers:

There are 32,000 gun related deaths per year by firearms, U.S. population 324,059,091. So 0.00987% of the population dies from gun related actions each year.

Let’s break down those 32,000 deaths, to put them in perspective as compared to other causes of death:

• 65% of those deaths are by suicide which would never be prevented by gun laws.

• 15% are by law enforcement in the line of duty.

• 17% are through criminal activity, gang and drug related, etc.

• 3% are accidental discharge deaths.

So technically, "gun violence" is not 32,000 annually, but drops to 5,100.

How are those deaths spanned across the nation?

• 480 homicides (9.4%) in Chicago.

• 344 homicides (6.7%) in Baltimore.

• 333 homicides (6.5%) in Detroit.

• 119 homicides (2.3%) in Washington D.C.

So basically, 25% of all gun crime happens in just four cities. All four of those cities have very strict gun laws.

This leaves 3,825 for the entire rest of the nation, or about 75 deaths per state. That is an average because some states have much higher rates than others.

Of note, more people are beaten to death than killed by “Assault Weapons."

What about other deaths each year?

• 40,000+ die from a drug overdose.

• 36,000 people die per year from the flu, far exceeding the criminal gun deaths.

• 34,000 people die per year in traffic fatalities.

• 200,000+ people die each year (and growing) from preventable medical errors.

• 710,000 people die per year from heart disease.

So you have to ask yourself, why the focus on guns? Simple: Taking away guns gives control to governments.

The founders of this nation knew that regardless of the form of government, those in power may become corrupt and seek to rule as the British did by trying to disarm the populace of the colonies. A disarmed populace is a controlled populace.

The second amendment was proudly and boldly included in the U.S. Constitution. It must be preserved at all costs.

M. Moneyhan

Puget Island