Gun Control in the United States

This is the first of two posts about Gun Control in the United States.
The second post discusses recent events, and is found here:

http://debatablypolitical.blogspot.com/2012/12/gun-control-in-united-states-2-this-is.html

My ideas about gun control formed at a young age.  

I was about ten years old.  My brothers were16 and 17.   They had a standard BB gun (hand-pumped air gun), and a more powerful pellet gun that used compressed air cartridges.  But what they really wanted was a real gun – the American boys’ dream, a 22 caliber rifle, and they persistently but unsuccessfully pestered my father for permission to own one.

As the youngest boy I had toy guns.  I was especially proud of a fine imitation of the Winchester rifle, “the gun that won the west”.  In fact, my brothers’ BB gun was also an imitation of the famous Winchester.  The two guns were practically identical.  And at ten, I was allowed to borrow and shoot the BB gun, though I barely had the strength to work the hand pump to compress the air.   I spent afternoon hours shooting at empty tin cans, hoping for a satisfying “ping” with each shot.

One day my mother called while I was shooting the air rifle.  We had to go on some errand; we had to leave NOW.  I left the BB gun on the couch, and went to find shoes or something.   My brother came into the room, saw the BB gun on the couch, and mistook it for my toy Winchester rifle.   He picked it up, jokingly pointed it at my mother, and said “pow”, as he pulled the trigger.  The BB knocked out her front tooth.  Instead of our urgent errand, my brother drove her to the emergency room with a mouthful of blood.

When my father heard the story that evening, sitting in shock, his only words were: “If that were a 22 (caliber rifle), you would have killed her!!” 

That was the last time I played with the BB gun.   We never owned a 22 caliber rifle.

And I learned that guns are not safe in the home.

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Statistics:

There are over 100,000 shootings every year in the United States. 

In 2009, shootings resulted in 31,347 deaths.   

Annual shooting deaths in the United States are approximately double the worst single year of the Vietnam conflict.

About 23,000 shootings annually are accidental.  In 2009, these resulted in 554 fatalities.  There were 3985 accidental shootings of children in 2009, but only 96 of these resulted in death.

Every year there are about 11,000 shootings involving children (< age 18). 

In 2009, 1568 children died as the result of gunshot injuries. 

The great majority of firearm deaths are suicides, which account for 60 percent of all fatalities, and homicides, which account for 36 percent of all fatalities.  These are distributed differently by age, with homicides claiming more victims between the ages of 18 and 30, and suicide peaking in middle age.

Blacks are more two to three times more likely to die from firearms than the general population.  

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In 1990, over 75 percent of the American public favored additional restrictions on gun ownership, and the nation was on the path to greater gun regulation.  However, the NRA (National Rifle Association) fought the regulations, directing millions of dollars into Republican campaigns for both national and local public office.  Control of congress passed from the Democratic party to the Republican party in 1994, in part due to campaign funding regarding gun control.  Public sentiment also gradually changed.  By 2012, the percentage of Americans favoring additional restrictions on guns had fallen from over 75% to under 45%.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/20/gun-control-polls-aurora-shooting_n_1690169.html

Given the political history of gun control in the 1990s, Democrats have given up on this issue.  The Republican party continues to push for reduced gun regulation, including banning local regulation of guns, concealed gun-carry laws, blocking registration of ammunition sales, and blocking regulation of assault weapons.

The political battle over gun control has been fought and won by the Republican side.   

But the body count continues to climb.   

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References:

Vietnam war deaths:

http://www.archives.gov/research/military/vietnam-war/casualty-statistics.html

Injuries data:

http://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/nfirates2000.html

2009 Firearm fatality statistics:

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr60/nvsr60_03.pdf

Preliminary 2011 Firearm Fatality statistics:

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr61/nvsr61_06.pdf