Reply #130: There are far fewer fatal shootings in Canada, [View All]

[pnwmom]

even when accounting for their smaller population.

http://www.everydayhealth.com/blog/zimney-health-and-medical-news-you-can-use/firearm-fatalities-the-awful-toll/

Firearm Fatalities – The Awful Toll
The tragic murders of 32 innocent people at Virginia Tech on April 16 should be a wakeup call to the shocking fact that, on average, and in some macabre coincidence, 32 people are murdered by firearms every single day in the United States. This is based on data from 2004 (the most recent figures available) in which there were 11,624 firearm-related murders. That’s in comparison to a total of 184 firearm murders in Canada in 2004, 73 in England and Wales, 56 in Australia, 37 in Sweden, and 5 in New Zealand.

In 2004, there were 29,569 total firearm fatalities, including 16,750 suicides, 649 accidents and 235 with unknown intent. That’s 81 firearm-related deaths every single day in the United States.

The presence of a gun in the home triples the risk of homicide in the home and raises the risk of suicide fivefold. There are approximately 194 million privately owned firearms in the U.S., including 65 million handguns. In 1998, licensed firearm dealers sold an estimated 4.4 million guns, of which 1.7 million were handguns.

In 2004, nearly 8 children and teenagers, ages 19 and under, were killed by guns every single day. Each year during 1993-1997, an average of 1,621 murderers were under the age of 18 when they took someone’s life with a gun.