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First recorded activity by BoatBanter: Jul 2012
Posts: 2,107
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Death statistics
On 2/19/2013 11:08 AM, jps wrote:
On Tue, 19 Feb 2013 10:10:15 -0500, "Eisboch" wrote:
"iBoaterer" wrote in message
...
In article ,
says...
For kicks I looked up the leading causes of death in the USA. Data
is the final numbers from 2010 as published by the Center for
Disease
Control.
Surprisingly, firearms related deaths didn't make the top ten and
firearms related homicides weren't even close to the top ten. It's
interesting that deaths caused by traffic accidents numbered about 3
times those of homicides involving firearms, but all the focus is on
more gun control laws.
Personal note: This is not a excuse of deaths caused by firearms,
but
rather an attempt to put it all in perspective.
Heart disease: 597,689
Cancer: 574,743
Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 138,080
Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 129,476
Accidents (unintentional injuries): 120,859
Alzheimer's disease: 83,494
Diabetes: 69,071
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 50,476
Influenza and Pneumonia: 50,097
Intentional self-harm (suicide): 38,364
Traffic accidents: 33,808
Firearms: 30,470 (19,392 suicides, 11,078 homicides)
Yes, all true, BUT, the thing is, a lot of the natural causes aren't
preventable, and besides, the ONLY one of the above that is
manufactured
to kill is the firearm.
---------------------------------------------
There are millions of gun owners who use, collect and enjoy firearms
who have never killed anything with one, let alone another human.
Realistically, it's a tiny percentage of the population who have and
most of them obtained their weapons illegally.
I am for permits, background checks and I don't object to the taking
of electronic fingerprints for each purchase. But what good does it
do to punish the law abiding population for the actions of a violent
few by limiting the number of purchases and taxing the bananas out of
ammunition?
Why is it considered punishment to limit the number of guns and ammo
that are owned by the public?
Is it punishment that I want to own a tank with the capacity to shell
an area of the desert that wouldn't be affected by my hobby? Why
can't I own surface to air missles so that I can shoot down my own
drones? Why can't I own a mortar setup so I can play with it when I
want to?
Why am I being punished?
I wonder what would happen with the suicide stats if guns were
incapable of shooting the person holding them. Would they find
another way? What percentage? Should we make other, less violent
methods available to suicidal persons?
Might I suggest Harri Kari by falling on a #2 lead pencil. Cheap quiet
and less messy.
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