Aguila Blanca
17th August 2009, 18:35
There's an old saying, "Figures never lie, but liars always figure." This seems to apply in spades to those on the "control" side of the gun control issue. Make no mistake about it, the issue is about "control," not "safety" as they would like us to believe.
Many of you have probably seen or at least heard about the various, hysterical claims from the handgun safety advocates about the alarming number of "children" being killed each year by guns. Of course, their statistics include everyone under 21 years of age as "children," and their numbers on deaths include inner-city drug-related shoot-out and drive-by assassination deaths, as if those intentional murders are firearms "accidents" involving "children" and that regulating lawful handgun ownership could somehow keep gang bangers from killing each other over drugs, turf, or "colors."
So it was a refreshing change when there came into my possession a copy of the latest staistics sheet compiled by the NSSF (National Shooting Sports Foundation). Of course, they aren't unbiased in this debate, either, but they don't cook the books to try to "prove" their point. It helps that they don't need to. They use statistics straight from such unbiased (mostly) sources as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Safety Council.
I think most of these figures are for 2007, which is apparently the most recent year for which complete statistics are available. Want to know what's REALLY killing children? Let's look at the numbers. There are for unintentional fatalities of children and youths under 14 years of age.
Motor vehicles: 2,210 deaths - 43%
Mechanical suffocation: 833 deaths - 16%
Drowning: 810 deaths - 16%
Fires: 460 deaths - 9%
Choking: 144 deaths - 3%
Poisoning: 92 deaths - 2%
Falls: 82 deaths - 2%
Firearms: 75 deaths - 1%
According to other statistics cited in this report, despite the growth in the U.S. population the number of firearms-related accidental fatalities has decreased, not only on a per capita basis but even in raw numbers. The number was 1440 for 1987, 981 for 1997, and 830 for 2007 (42% lower than 20 years before, and 15% lower than 10 years before).
If you find yourself in a debate with an anti, don't let them beat you over the head with bogus statistics. Find the source of their statistics, check them, and point out the ways in which they are twisting and cherry-picking their numbers to try to "prove" their point.
Many of you have probably seen or at least heard about the various, hysterical claims from the handgun safety advocates about the alarming number of "children" being killed each year by guns. Of course, their statistics include everyone under 21 years of age as "children," and their numbers on deaths include inner-city drug-related shoot-out and drive-by assassination deaths, as if those intentional murders are firearms "accidents" involving "children" and that regulating lawful handgun ownership could somehow keep gang bangers from killing each other over drugs, turf, or "colors."
So it was a refreshing change when there came into my possession a copy of the latest staistics sheet compiled by the NSSF (National Shooting Sports Foundation). Of course, they aren't unbiased in this debate, either, but they don't cook the books to try to "prove" their point. It helps that they don't need to. They use statistics straight from such unbiased (mostly) sources as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Safety Council.
I think most of these figures are for 2007, which is apparently the most recent year for which complete statistics are available. Want to know what's REALLY killing children? Let's look at the numbers. There are for unintentional fatalities of children and youths under 14 years of age.
Motor vehicles: 2,210 deaths - 43%
Mechanical suffocation: 833 deaths - 16%
Drowning: 810 deaths - 16%
Fires: 460 deaths - 9%
Choking: 144 deaths - 3%
Poisoning: 92 deaths - 2%
Falls: 82 deaths - 2%
Firearms: 75 deaths - 1%
According to other statistics cited in this report, despite the growth in the U.S. population the number of firearms-related accidental fatalities has decreased, not only on a per capita basis but even in raw numbers. The number was 1440 for 1987, 981 for 1997, and 830 for 2007 (42% lower than 20 years before, and 15% lower than 10 years before).
If you find yourself in a debate with an anti, don't let them beat you over the head with bogus statistics. Find the source of their statistics, check them, and point out the ways in which they are twisting and cherry-picking their numbers to try to "prove" their point.