Introduction
The Problem with Guns
Self-Defense
Handguns
Gun Availability
Second Amendment
Gun Control
Sources and Resources
The Problem with Guns
Guns make it easy for people to kill or injure someone. That's what guns are designed to do. The availability of a gun makes it more likely that impulsive feelings of anger or thoughts of suicide end in either death or serious injury.
In the year 2000 in the U.S.A. an average of 77 people lost their lives and 207 people were injured through guns each day.
Gun-related deaths and injuries in the U.S.A. for the year 2000 (1)
| Homicide | Suicide | Fatal Unintentional Injuries | Non-Fatal Injuries | |
| All ages | 10,801 | 16,586 | 776 | 75,685 |
| Children (0-19) | 1,776 | 1,007 | 193 | 18,358 |
Top 3 methods used for homicides in the U.S.A. for the year 2000 (1)
|
Total homicides all ages: 16,765 |
|||
| All ages | 1 | Gun: 10,801 | 
64.4% |
| 2 | Cut/pierce: 1,805 |
10.8% |
|
| 3 | Unspecified: 1,463 |
8.7% |
|
| Total homicides children (1-19): 2,641 | |||
| Children (1-19) | 1 | Gun: 1,764 |
66.8% |
| 2 | Unspecified: 228 |
8.6% |
|
| 3 | Cut/pierce: 201 |
7.6% |
|
Top 3 methods used for suicides in the U.S.A. for the year 2000 (1)
|
Total suicides all ages: 29,350 |
|||
| All ages | 1 | Gun: 16,586 |
56.5% |
| 2 | Suffocation: 5,688 |
19.4% |
|
| 3 | Poisoning: 4,859 |
16.6% |
|
| Total suicides children (1-19): 1,928 | |||
| Children (1-19) | 1 | Gun: 1,007 |
52.2% |
| 2 | Suffocation: 689 |
35.7% |
|
| 3 | Poisoning: 126 |
6.5% |
|
Law Enforcement Officers killed in the line of duty from 1991 to 2000 (3)
|
Weapon Used |
Total Officers Killed from 1991 to 2000: 644 | |
| Gun | 601 |
|
| Other | 43 |
|
Another 643 officers were accidentally killed, 25 by a gun.
51 of the 601 officers killed by a gun were killed with their own service
weapon.
When you check the Uniform Crime Reports of the FBI for the year 2000, you get some idea of the reason people were murdered and by whom. That year there were 12,943 murder cases reported to the FBI, of which 8,493 (65.6%) by gun.
Top 5 Murder Circumstances by Relationship in 2000 (3)
| Rating |
Circumstance |
Total | Gun Used | Family Member/Acquaintance | Stranger | Unknown |
| 1 | Arguments | 3,959 (31%) | 2411 (61%) | 2,838 (72%) | 513 (13%) | 608 (15%) |
| 2 | Robberies | 1,048 (8%) | 771 (74%) | 237 (23%) | 376 (36%) | 435 (42%) |
| 3 | Juvenile gang killings | 650 (5%) | 613 (94%) | 190 (29%) | 129 (20%) | 331 (51%) |
| 4 | Narcotic drug laws | 572 (4%) | 503 (88%) | 254 (44%) | 69 (12%) | 249 (44%) |
| 5 | Romantic triangle | 122 (1%) | 85 (70%) | 109 (89%) | 8 (7%) | 5 (4%) |
"Arguments" include arguments over
money or property, brawls due to influence of alcohol or narcotics or other
arguments.
"Acquaintance" includes friend, boyfriend, girlfriend, neighbor, employee, employer
or other person known to the victim.
Unless someone close to you died or was injured by a gun, it might be hard to look at these statistics and see more than just numbers. However, we should never forget that behind these numbers is a lot of pain and mourning. Behind each death statistic, someone mourned losing a father, mother, child, sibling or friend.
The saddest part of all these gun-related deaths and injuries is that a great number of them could have been prevented.