Monday, January 7, 2013

Gun ownership is 4 times safer than car ownership in America


In 2009, there was 1 person killed by a gun for every 31,000 guns owned by Americans. In that same year, there were 4 people killed by cars for every 31,000 cars owned by Americans.  Car ownership is 4 times more deadly than gun ownership in America.

You are unlikely to hear this comparison from Democrat politicians and the mainstream media as they push for more gun control and bans, of course.

Here's how I arrived at these numbers.  According to CNN, Americans owned 310,000,000 guns in 2009.  That same year there were 9,146 gun homicides and 789 accidental deaths, for a gun fatality rate of 0.0032%.  By comparison, in 2009 Americans owned 254,000,000 cars and there were 33,808 traffic fatalities, for a car fatality rate of 0.013%.  These numbers exclude suicides, which I believe makes for a more relevant comparison.  If suicides are included, the gun fatality rate is 0.0087%, still 35% lower than the car fatality rate.

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